The United Nation's ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (cop 9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd) was recently held in Bonn, Germany. Amidst contentions relating to bio-fuels and abs (Access and Benefit Sharing), Meena Gupta, secretary, ministry for environment and forests, finds time to give an update on India's position on these issues to Yashvendra Singh

This paper aims to assist the international community in its efforts to curb the misappropriation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge through IPRs. It outlines how an international legal regime may assist the enforcement of decisions made under national access and benefit-sharing regulations by providing for the recognition of such decisions in foreign jurisdictions.

the ninth meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity concluded on May 30 in Bonn, Germany, with measures to protect ecosystems. The Conference of Parties (cop), the governing body of the convention, agreed on regulating the international biofuel sector. It also passed a moratorium on ocean fertilization

It all seemed too easy by half: to beat global warming just sprinkle some iron in the ocean, then watch as algae bloom en masse, sucking up carbon dioxide by the tonne. Now the idea is looking increasingly unlikely to go ahead in a big way. In the wake of a UN moratorium on the practice, the latest research suggests that seeding will trigger the build-up of an acid that can be lethal to marine organisms and humans.

This publication highlights the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond.

The global wildlife population has fallen by almost a third since the early 1970s, a latest data on biodiversity shows. The WWF Living Planet Index (LPI)

The global scenario on preserving biological diversity remains dismal. The latest findings of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) show that nations, including India, all signatories to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), are unlikely to achieve the target set for them by 2010 to protect their biodiversity.

The term bioprospecting has been widely used to assess the economic potential of different plant species and their value-addition. Our folklore with embedded cultural heritage has tremendous possibilities and potential for bioprospecting. Among the over 8000 species of flowering plants growing in the Himalaya, nearly 4000 are identified from the Garhwal Himalayan region. This part of region enjoyed a significant place throughout its history.

Need for identification and value assessment of agro-biodiversity heritage sites in the context of recent Acts has been highlighted to facilitate conservation and evolution of sustainable agriculture.

A principal aim of this study is to get a better sense of what the World Bank (WB) needs to know in order to engage Indigenous Peoples (IPs) more effectively in biodiversity conservation projects and programs.

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