Genetic resource policies and rights: Opportunities and limitations for community biodiversity management

Many policies are translated into rights, such as intellectual property rights (IPRs), national sovereign rights over biological resources, and community and farmers’ rights over genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. These policies and rights establish the rules concerning incentives that target farming communities and other stakeholders in PGR management. Moreover, they define the room for manoeuvre for farming communities and stakeholders to engage themselves in practices for community biodiversity management (CBM); such practices have an impact on the future of conservation and the sustainable use of PGR, at local and global levels. Figure 6.1.1 illustrates how the diversity of areas of policies and rights as defined by the various functions of seed determine the rules of the game for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The figure guides the structure of this section and the current introductory chapter.