Seeding legal options

The Seeding Solutions series addresses issues related to plant genetic resources, their use, conservation and property rights. Volume I, published in 2000 (see Spore 90), dealt with facts and figures, and now Volume II focuses on the national laws needed for the conservation, innovation and enhancement of plant genetic resources and the rights of indigenous people as the owners and guardians of biological resources. Legal issues often seem boring to many, but the authors have served their readers well and enlivened the subject matter. They chew over the judicial implications of having complicated issues covered by laws and present the reader with options. All the issues confronting a policy maker on one topic are presented in one article, pointing out possible conflicts, complementarities and options. This is a novel way to prepare a policy maker s homework. The real proof of the pudding will come when the first national body tries the options. Who wants to go first? Seeding Solutions: Volume 2 Options for national laws governing access to and control over genetic resources The Crucible II Group, Co-publication by the International Development Research Centre, the Dag Hammerskjöld Foundation and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, 2001. 300 pp. ISBN 0 88936 958 5 CAD 35 Euro 23.25 For IDRC s address, see 'In short: water'