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Grand Challenges in Biodiversity Informatics.

Using Biodiversity Information Effectively.

Biological diversity (biodiversity) is an essential issue in conservation and environmental impact assessment (EIA). Though Korea is relatively small, the country harbours over 29,800 species, making biodiversity and ecosystem conservation a central issue when an EIA is undertaken during development site selection. Indeed, an unfavourable biodiversity evaluation can halt a proposed or in-progress development, creating a societal conflict between conservationists and developers. To solve this, the Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) legislation was created in Korea to provide a systematic instrument for improving decision-making through early-stage environmental assessment. The SEA legislation was recently passed by the President's cabinet and is poised for implementation during 2005. Adoption of the SEA will facilitate better assessments of biodiversity during the early stages of the developmental process, preventing late-stage interruptions such as those seen in the Korean High-speed Railway Project (KHRP), which was recently halted due to poor biodiversity conservation around the development site. The original EIA of the KHRP did not appropriately address the biodiversity issues because most of the developmental plan had been set in place prior to evaluation of biodiversity in the affected areas. The KHRP caused leakage of mountain groundwater such that high elevation wetlands marked as ecosystem conservation areas by the Ministry of Environment became dry and lost their endemic amphibian species. Upon learning this, several national NGOs filed court cases on behalf of the Korean clawed salamander (Onachodaytylus fisheri), halting the project for some time. Thus, the lack of biodiversity consideration at the earliest stages of the KHRP created a social conflict. This paper examines how the implementation of an SEA during the KHRP would have minimised the social conflicts between biodiversity conservation and developmental processes.

Commentary on the relationship between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

Susan Finston is Executive Director of the American BioIndustry Alliance (ABIA), a new advocacy organization that seeks enabling conditions for biotechnology through sustainable, mutually beneficial Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) policies. Previously, she worked for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), where she was Associate Vice President for Intellectual Property, Middle East/Africa and South Asian Affairs. Prior to joining PhRMA in 1999, Finston served in the U.S. Foreign Service, specializing in intellectual property and international trade policy. She received two meritorious Honor Awards for work on bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. From 1986 -1988, Finston served as a Motions Clerk working with active judges at the Federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Illinois. She was admitted to practice before the Illinois Bar, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1986 with a joint J.D./M.P.P. degree and with a B.S. in Philosophy in 1982. Her recent article, “The Relevance of Genetic Resources to the Pharmaceutical Industry—The Industry Viewpoint,” appeared in the March 2005 Journal of World Intellectual Property.