1. Biopiracy refers to the unauthorized commercial use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. It occurs when biological material or traditional knowledge is collected without permission from the indigenous community and then patented. 2. Farmers' rights and plant breeders' rights aim to protect the contributions of farmers and plant breeders. Farmers' rights recognize the role of farmers in conserving biodiversity, while plant breeders' rights provide legal protection for new plant varieties. 3. Biopiracy can negatively impact biodiversity and food security by altering the environment and reducing genetic diversity. The loss of biodiversity also means a loss of future options.

1. Bio piracy and Bio
prospecting Farmers Rights
and Plant Breeder Rights
Biodiversity
Prepared By:
Syed Dawood Shah
Mirpur University Of Science &
Technology AJK Pakistan
MUST
2017/5/15 1

2. From the root words “bio” and “piracy”, biopiracy literally
means “the patenting of life.”
Genetic materials from plants, animals, and other
biological resources that have long been identified and
developed, are being “owned” by companies and
manufacturers through patents.
In Short, Collection of genetic materials are usually taken
without prior consent.
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3. Biopiracy is the illegal appropriation of life microorganisms,
plants and animals (including humans) and the traditional
cultural knowledge that accompanies it.
It is illegal because, in violation of international
conventions and corresponding domestic laws, it does not
recognize, respect or adequately compensate the rightful
owners of the life forms appropriated or the traditional
knowledge related to their propagation, use and
commercial benefit.
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4. Traditional Knowledge Biopiracy
Genetic Resource Biopiracy
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5. Traditional knowledge (TK) is the long-
standing traditions and practices of
indigenous peoples and communities.
These traditions and practices passed
on from generation to generation can
include different aspects of a particular
culture, including the arts and farming
techniques.2017/5/15 5

6. Genetic Resource Biopiracy is the way
to use and practices of indigenous
peoples and communities by using
Genetic resources instead of
Traditions.
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7. Bioprospecting, also known as biodiversity
prospecting, is the exploration of biological
material for commercially valuable genetic and
biochemical properties.
In simple terms this means the investigation of
living things to see how they can be commercially
useful to humans
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8. When biodiversity or related knowledge is
collected without permission from the owners of
these resources and then patented, it is known as
biopiracy.
Traditional or indigenous knowledge (IK).
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9. The underlying aim of bio prospecting is to find
new resources and products from nature that can
be used by humans.
Improving human health, through both medicine
and better nutrition are key focal areas.
It plays a dominant role in discovering leads for
drug development, since existing/known
compounds for developing drugs for human use
are limited.
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10. Due to the competition in the
pharmaceutical and agricultural
area, big companies do not have
time to collect samples legally, so
they engage in biopiracy in order
to be the first to patent biological
material.
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11.  Plant variety protection provides legal
protection of a plant variety to a
breeder in the form of Plant breeder’s
rights.
 Plant breeders' rights (PBR), also
known as plant variety rights (PVR),
are rights granted to the breeder of a
new variety of plant that give them
exclusive control over the propagating
material (including seed, cuttings,
divisions, tissue culture) and
harvested material (cut flowers, fruit,
foliage) of a new variety for a number2017/5/15 11

12. With these rights, the breeder
can choose to become the
exclusive marketer of the variety,
or to license the variety to
others. In order to qualify for
these exclusive rights by plant
breeders' rights, a variety must
be new, distinct, uniform and
stable.
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13.  A variety is:
 New if it has not been commercialized for more than one
year in the country of protection;
 Distinct if it differs from all other known varieties by one or
more important botanical characteristics, such as height,
maturity, color, etc.;
 Uniform if the plant characteristics are consistent from plant
to plant within the variety;
 Stable if the plant characteristics are genetically fixed and
therefore remain the same from generation to generation, or
after a cycle of reproduction in the case of hybrid varieties.
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14. Farmer’s rights are the traditional rights farmers
have on the seeds or the propagating material of
plant varieties. This right arises from the important
role farmers have been playing to conserve and
enrich varieties and the knowledge they hold on the
total genetic variability of the country.
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15.  The rights of both commercial plant breeders and farmers in
respect of their contribution made in conserving, improving
and making available plant genetic resources for
development of new plant varieties and to encourage the
development of new plants varieties.
 Protection of the plant varieties under the Act accelerates
agricultural development and stimulates investment for
research and development for the development of new plant
varieties which in turn facilities the growth of the seed
industry and ensures the availability of high quality seeds
and plant in material to the farmers.2017/5/15 15

16. The owner of the protected variety has the
following rights:
 To produce
 To Sell
 To market
 To distribute
 To import and
 To export the variety.2017/5/15 16

17. The salient features of Farmers Rights as described in
PPV&FR Act, 2001 are as followings:
1. A farmer who has bred or developed a new
variety shall be entitled for registration and other
protection in like manner as a breeder of a variety
under this Act.
2. The farmer’s variety shall be entitled for
registration if the application contains declarations as
specified in clause (h) of sub-section 18.
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18. 3. A farmer who is engaged in the conservation of
genetic resources of land races and wild relatives of
economic plants and their improvement through
selection and preservation shall be entitled in the
prescribes manner for recognition and reward from
the Gene Fund, under this act.
4. A farmer shall be deemed to be entitled to save,
use, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including
seed of a variety protected under this Act in the same
manner as he was entitled before the coming in the
force this Act.2017/5/15 18

19. 1. Right on Seed
2. Farmers’ Right to Register
Traditional Varieties
3. Farmers’ Right for Reward
and Recognition
4. Farmers’ Right for Benefit
Sharing
5. Farmers’ Right for the Seeds
of Registered Varieties
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20. Biopiracy alters the environment, which in turn causes
Biodiversity depletion
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21. 1. Biopiracy alters the environment,
which in turn causes Biodiversity
depletion.
2. Food security is affected as biodiversity
is a “safety net” that increases food
security.
3. Loss of biodiversity, which is
sometimes irreversible, often means a
loss of choices.
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22. 4. Greater wildlife diversity may
decrease the spread of many
wildlife pathogens to humans.
5. In addition to agriculture,
biodiversity contributes to a
range of other sectors, including –
fisheries
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23. Thank you
Mirpur University of science and Technology
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