Using Intellectual Property as a Tool to Protect Traditional Knowledge: Recommendations for Next Steps (November 1997) (Downes) [BW97-1]

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The knowledge, innovations and practices (traditional knowledge) of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for conservation/sustainable use of biodiversity are being lost at an alarming rate. Traditional knowledge is a valuable heritage for the communities and cultures that develop and maintain them, as well as for other societies and the world as a whole. In the context of biodiversity, it is valuable for achieving conservation and identifying sustainable uses of biodiversity and genetic resources in important sectors such as agriculture and medicine.

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