Patent piques
A CONTROVERSY is raging between the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, over the issue of bio- patents. While sources within the MEE believe that the WII has sold off India's bio-diversity to the US, officials at the institute vehemently deny the charge.
In early November, 1995, the WII signed a five-year research project contract - "Management of Forests in India for Biological Diversity and Forest Productivity: an Ecosystem Perspective" - with the us department of agriculture. It would cover approximately 23,000 sq km of forest area and would cost a little less than Rs 1 crore.
According to S K Mukerjee, director, WII, the primary aim of the project is to "map and measure our rich biodiversity". However, some MEE officials feel that there is more to the project than is apparent. "We did not have any inkling of such a project being signed," a senior bureaucrat told Down To Earth. "We came to know of this only when the WII sent their enhanced budget requirements. Wittingly or unwittingly, a copy of the agreement came along with it. When we went through the project we realised it's implications," he said, on request of anonymity.
WII officials expressed their resentment about the allegations. "Every agreement has a certain format which includes a large number of clauses," said Mukherjee. "Those clauses that do not conform with the project under consideration are subsequently deleted. The same happened in this case. And the MEE had been informed about this. I also have a covering letter from the us department of agriculture which specifies that the clauses have been deleted."
Contesting the patenting claim, V B Savarkar, joint-director of the WII and the project's investigator says, "The project is purely and simply a transfer of technology. We intend to create a sustainable form of forest management that would also help maintain the biodiversity of the concerned area. The US department of agriculture has vast expertise in this field and we are using their expertise for the benefit of our forests."