Biodiversity and Business: Coming to Terms with the 'Grand Bargain'

The Convention on Biological Diversity incorporates an exchange that has been described as a 'grand bargain' which balances the needs of both technologically and biologically endowed countries. The role of genetic resources in R&D and sales varies by industry sector, however, so it is difficult to generalize on company demand for genetic resources and fair and equitable benefit-sharing. It is important, therefore, to examine the particular features of industry R&D programmes, providers of genetic resources, and trends in benefit-sharing partnerships in specific industry sectors. This article examines markets for genetic resources, costs and duration of R&D, types of genetic resources accessed, providers of genetic resources and benefit-sharing partnerships in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, crop protection, seed, botanical medicine, horticulture, and personal care and cosmetic industries. The article concludes that experience and 'best practice' in benefit-sharing have progressed quite significantly on a number of fronts in the past decade, including the development of corporate policies in response to the CBD. The most effective form of benefit-sharing, and realization of the ' grand bargain' envisaged by the CBD, is found through partnerships between private-sector and source-country institutions that link commercial use with sustainable development and biodiversity conservation.     

Fields,Ritual and Religion: Holistic Approaches to the Rural Landscape in Long‐Term Perspective (c.1500 BC–AD 1086)

This paper discusses the relationship between agricultural activity and ritualized/religious practices in England from the middle Bronze Age to the early medieval period (c.1500 BC–AD 1086). It is written in the context of the ERC‐funded, Oxford‐based ‘English Landscapes and Identities project’ (EngLaId), which involved the compilation of an extensive spatial database of archaeological ‘monuments’, finds and other related data to chart change and continuity during this period. Drawing on this database alongside documentary and onomastic evidence, we analyze the changing relationship between fields, ritual and religion in England. We identify four moments of change, around the start of the middle Bronze Age (c.1500 BC), in the late Bronze Age (c.1150 BC), the late Iron Age (c.150 BC) and the middle/late Anglo‐Saxon period (c.800 AD). However, despite changes in both agricultural and ritual/religious practices during this extensive timeframe, a clear link between them can be observed throughout.