Abstract:

Ethnopharmacological information is an important component in both traditional health systems and for future medicine development. Biodiversity-rich countries, indigenous cultures with their knowledge of the use of biosources as medicines and companies that seek to discover new therapeutics through medicinal plants and traditional knowledge are on the way sharing common interests. The value of plants for medicines is more widely recognized and the “intellectual property rights” (IPR) connected with their use have been debated worldwide. “Convention on Biological Diversity” (CBD) which was signed in Rio in 1992, enforces protection of the rights of local people and local knowledge as well as conservation of the biological resources which forms the basic of all those health systems. Thus, conservation of local and indigenous peoples’ rights over their knowledge and resources are an important element of all contemporary conservation approaches.Generally, the intellectual property rights are protected under the patent systems in many countries, whereas access to such legal procedures are not easily available for most of the indigenous communities. Present and future perspectives on the subject are discussed in this article

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