Lacandon Jungle - "Bio-piracy"

"Bio-piracy"

Its management plan endeavors to strike a balance between habitat conservation and the demand for research into its vast genetic resources. There are some researchers collecting plants in the reserve but they are looked upon with suspicion and considered to be thieves by many in indigenous communities. One of these is a station run by Conservation International to map the flora and fauna of Montes Azules. Mexican agro-business and biotech enterprise Grupo Pulsar also has research stations in Chiapas. However, the pressure from academics, biotech firms, pharmaceutical companies and others to explore the area’s natural resources have raised concerns of “bio-piracy” or the patenting of wild plants and animals at the expense of native peoples.

Various groups with cultural and environmental interest in the area have generally opposed research into the rainforest’s biodiversity. In 2002 a coalition of traditional Maya healers called Chiapas Council of Traditional Indigenous Midwives and Healers (COMPITCH) managed to get a U.S. funded program into indigenous herbal cures canceled. In the same year, a venture between the Mexican government and the U.S. firm Diversa was cancelled as well due to public pressure, causing the Mexican attorney general to state that the agreement with the national university UNAM was invalid.