Biodiversity and Conservation

About this book

Chapters include: Biodiversity: An Overview; Genetic Resources; Biotechnology and Biodiversity; Biodiversity Prospecting; and Conservation.

Contents

Part 1 Biodiversity - an overview: why is biodiversity important?; plant diversity; animal diversity; marine biodiversity; human diversity - the indigenous peoples; indigenous knowledge and biodiversity. Part 2 Genetic resources: crop genetic diversity; uniformity versus diversity; agricultural biodiversity; green revolution - the cost and remedy; who controls genetic diversity?; animal genetic resources; erosion of animal genetic diversity; aquatic diversity; is aquaculture the solution?; human genetic diversity; the convention on biological diversity; the north and south - need for shared responsibility. Part 3 Biotechnology and biodiversity: the techniques; the dream and the nightmare; the cases; release of GMOs into the environment; biosafety. Part 4 Biodiversity prospecting: the problems; the mechanisms and the economics; human diversity prospecting?; prospecting or bargaining?; intellectual property rights (IPR); the tangled genes - invention or discovery?; why should patents not be extended to plants and animals? Part 5 Conservation: the principles and rationale; parks versus people; conservation outside protected areas; ex situ conservation; ex situ - UN FAO's State of the World report; conservation of animal biodiversity; wild - the hidden harvest; global programmes of conservation - FAO, NGOs and the CGIAR.

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