Chapter 9: Unmined Riches

Pharmaceuticals Catharanthus roseus

Madagascar periwinkle

Cures: Hodgkin s disease, acute lymphocytic leukemia

http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/600max/html/starr_031108_3175_catharanthus_roseus.htm

Pharmaceuticals
Filipendula ulmaria meadowsweet

Has salicylic acid

Combined with acetic acid = aspirin

Sources of the United States Pharmaceuticals 3% 13% 25% >40% organisms Plants Other Microorganisms Animals

Pharmaceuticals
Azadirachta indica neem
Lowers cholesterol, repels mosquitoes

http://www.hear.org/pier/imagepages/singles/azindp59.htm http://www.herbmed.org/Herbs/Herb116.htm

Pharmaceuticals
Claviceps purpurea ergonovine

Fungus - causes ergot = abnormal growth on rye Controls hemorrhaging and migraine headaches

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/oct99.html

3 species (wheat, maize, rice) provide 50% of the WORLD S Food versus 30,000 other edible plants?

Agriculture

Ullucus tuberosus ullucu

potatopotato-like tubers with edible leaves, adapted to cold climates

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/tubers.html#Ullucu

Agriculture
Curcurbita foetidissima Buffalogourd

Buffalo Gourd = tuber, rapid growth, adapted to arid land otherwise unusable for conventional crops

http://spuds.agron.ksu.edu/cufo.htm

Agriculture
Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Winged bean, Goa bean, Four angled bean, Frijol alata

Can eat leaves, pods, seeds Very fast growth = 4 metres in a few weeks

http://www.leafforlife.org/PAGES/PSOPHOCA.HTM#aa10

Farming
Cultivating the Giant Amazon River turtle can produce 25,000 kg meat/ha

In comparison, in the 1990s an extremely high level of livestock production was 3,000 kg meat/ha/year

Podocnemis expansa
http://www.painetworks.com/pages/em/em0846.html http://www.fao.org/ag/AGa/AGAP/FRG/FEEDback/War/u7600b/u7600b04.htm

Nikolai Vavilov's centers of origin:

Southeast Asia - coconut, rice, sugarcane China - Chinese cabbages, soybean India - cucumbers, eggplant, pigeonpea TurkeyTurkey-Iran - wheat, barley, oats, figs Mediterranean - almonds, cabbage, olives Mexico/Central America - maize, tomato Andes/Brazil/Paraguay - peppers, potato, rubber

http://pas.byu.edu/AgHrt100/vavilovs.htm

Biodiversity prospecting is the exploration of wild plants and animals for commercially valuable genetic and biochemical resources.

http://www.expressindia.com/fe/daily/19990208/fec08011.html http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=13900 http://www.perc.org/publications/percreports/tang_aug1997.php?s=2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioprospecting

Bioprospecting is *the collecting of biological samples (plants, animals, micro-organisms) *the collecting of indigenous knowledge to help discovering genetic or biochemical resources Bioprospection is intended for economic purposes (e.g. new drugs, crops, industrial products). Before 1992, biological resources were considered common heritage of Humankind. Scientists could take samples from anywhere in the world without any specific permission. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) establishes sovereign national rights over biological resources. Though not granted property upon natural resources, biodiversity-rich countries are committed to: *conserve their biodiversity *develop it for sustainable use *share the benefits resulting from their use In short, bioprospection has to be allowed by the biodiversity-rich country and must bring as much benefit to it (and to the communities that traditionally use these resources) than to corporations (usually from developed countries) and universities collecting the bioresource.

Bioprospecting must follow the new rules of international treaties and national laws. More specifically, it must respect *informed consent (the source country must know what will be done with the resource, which benefits will be shared and must give permission for collecting) *fair agreement on benefit sharing (benefits may be, support for conservation, research, equipments, technologies, transfer, formation, royalties) Bioprospection can become a type of biopiracy when these principles are not respected. Some even argue bilateral agreements of bioprospection between a country or a community and a corporation are a sort of juridical validation of biopiracy toward traditional communities whose values and rights are not considered and respected.

Improving seeds through experimentation is what people have been up to since the beginning of agriculture, but the term "Green Revolution" was coined in the 1960s to highlight a particularly striking breakthrough. By the 1970s, the term "revolution" was well deserved, for the new seedsseedsaccompanied by chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and, for the most part, irrigationirrigation-had replaced the traditional farming practices of millions of Third World farmers. By the 1990s, almost 75 percent of Asian rice areas were sown with these new varieties. Because farming methods that depend heavily on chemical fertilizers do not maintain the soil's natural fertility and because pesticides generate resistant pests, farmers need ever more fertilizers and pesticides just to achieve the same results.

Green Revolution = more specialized farming = homogeneity = less biodiversity

http://www.foodfirst.org/media/opeds/2000/4http://www.foodfirst.org/media/opeds/2000/4-greenrev.html

Multinational Corporation Definition Economists are not in agreement as to how multinational or transnational corporations should be defined. Multinational corporations have many dimensions and can be viewed from several perspectives (ownership, management, strategy and structural, etc.) The following is an excerpt from Franklin Root (International Trade and Investment, 1994) Ownership criterion: some argue that ownership is a key criterion. A firm becomes multinational only when the headquarter or parent company is effectively owned by nationals of two or more countries. For example, Shell and Unilever, controlled by British and Dutch interests, are good examples. However, by ownership test, very few multinationals are multinational. The ownership of most MNCs are uninational.

Nationality mix of headquarter managers: An international company is multinational if the managers of the parent company are nationals of several countries. Usually, managers of the headquarters are nationals of the home country. This may be a transitional phenomenon. Very few companies pass this test currently. Business Strategy: global profit maximization According to Howard Perlmutter (1969): Multinational companies may pursue policies that are home country-oriented or host country-oriented or world-oriented.
*Howard V. Perlmutter, "The Tortuous Evolution of the Multinational Corporation," Columbia Journal of World Business, 1969, pp. 9-18.

Biopiracy

http://resurgence.gn.apc.org/articles/kimbrel.htm

Genetic Engineering We could use species with disease resistance, larger fruit mass, cold hardiness, etc. to transform our edible plants into super plants

Ecological economics integrating Ecology and Economics to help develop a sustainable world

http://www.ecologicaleconomics.org/about/intro.htm

Ecotourism =3rd most important source of income for Rwanda defined as responsible tourism focused on the natural world, has emerged as a concept that unites the interests of environmentalists and developers.

may be endangering the survival of the very animals people are flocking to see, according to researchers.

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-03http://www.enn.com/news/2004-03-04/s_13696.asp http://www.csa.com/hottopics/ecotour1/overview.html

Ecosystem Services
For example, forests can affect entire regional climates because they pump enough water from the soil to the air, causing more rainfall. LargeLarge-scale deforestation could cause serious drying of regional climates. For example, wetlands are increasingly being used to treat sewage effluent, and vegetated water catchments supply much cleaner water to water storages than cleared catchments. The quality of our drinking water is directly affected by the quality of our catchment areas. Oxygen is provided by plants and algae through photosynthesis. So clearing vegetation and polluting the ocean may threaten the very air we breathe. The total annual value of the Ecosystem Services in Australia has been estimated by the CSIRO to be $1327 billion

http://www.wri.org/wr-98http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/ecoserv.htm http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/ecosystem_services.htm

Ecosystem Services
Estimates of Human economic Activities and Ecosystem Services

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

VALUE (trillion $US)

Soil formation Recreation Nutrient cycling Water regulation and supply Climate regulation (temperature and precipitation) Habitat Flood and storm protection Food and raw materials production Genetic resources Atmospheric gas balance Pollination All other services Total value of ecosystem services

17.1 3.0 2.3 2.3 1.8 1.4 1.1 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.4 1.6 33.3

http://www.wri.org/wr-98http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/ecoserv.htm http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/ecosystem_services.htm

The benefits of species diversity can be approached from two angles, one is the Cost Benefit approach of our monetary based value system, and the other is the Safe Minimum Standard which holds each species as irreplaceable and worthy of preservation for its own sake.

The cost benefit analysis would be quite adequate if all the costs and benefits were included, but many benefits are not known and the potential benefits cannot be known. For example, in 1970 Grassy Stunt devastated rice crops in India and Indonesia. Severe famine was averted by the development of a resistant strain. After testing 6,273 varieties, the resistant gene was found in only one variety discovered in 1966.

http://hkkk.fi/oppimateriaali/semmat/sust.html http://www.wholehttp://www.whole-systems.org/extinctions.html http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biodiversity/#2.1

Option value conserving an element of biodiversity for later use (i.e., setting catch limits of a specific lake to ensure continuous opportunities for sport fishing).

http://www.iucn.org/bil/value.html http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/fordev/biodiversity/module01/biodiversityhttp://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/fordev/biodiversity/module01/biodiversity-importance.htm

http://stort.unephttp://stort.unep-wcmc.org/imaps/gb2002/book/viewer.htm

http://www.fao.org/es/ess/chartroom/gfap.asp

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/worldsoils/mapindex/

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/worldsoils/mapindex/

Biodiversity and Human Health

http://ecology.org/biod/index.html

http://www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/legislation/index.htm

http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct5/index_e.cfm