Industrial reliance on biodiversity. WCMC Biodiversity Series 7

104 Pages·1997·3.1 MB·English

by  Swanson, T.M., Luxmoore, R.A., WCMC

WCMC
Biodiversity Series No. 7
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WCMC
Biodiversity Series No. 7
Industrial Reliance
on Biodiversity
A Darwin Initiative Project
T. M. Swanson
Faculty of Economics and Politics
Cambridge University
R. A. Luxmoore
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
WORLD CONSERVATION
MONITORING CENTRE
World Conservation Press
1997
The World Conservation Monitoring Centre, based in Cambridge, UK, is ajoint venture between the
threepartners in theWorldConservation Strategyandits successorCaringForTheEarth: lUCN -The
World Conservation Union, UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme, and WWF - World
Wide FundforNature. WCMC provides information services on conservation and sustainable useof
species and ecosystems and supports others in tedevelopmentoftheirown information systems.
Prepared forpublication by the World Conservation MonitoringCentre with generous funding from
the Darwin Initiative.
VMDRLDCONSERVATION
MONITORINGCENTRE
Published by: Worid Conservation Press, WCMC, Cambridge, UK.
ISBN: 899628 06
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Copyright: 1997 WorldConservation MonitoringCentre, Cambridge
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whatsoever by WCMC. the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Darwin
Initiative for the Survival of Species, or other participating
organisations concerning the legal status ofany country, territory, or
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orboundaries.
Citation: Swanson, T. M. andLuxmoore, R. A.. 1997. IndustrialRelianceon
Biodiversity. WorldConservationPress, WCMC, Cambridge, UK.
98pp.
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11 11
CONTENTS
INDUSTRIAL RELIANCE ON BIODIVERSITY: A SUMMARY
1. 5
1.1 INTRODUCTION: THE INDUSTRIAL USEFULNESS OFBIODIVERSITY 5
1.2 BIODIVERSITY AS A COMMODITY: DIRECTUSE OF DIVERSE WILDLIFE RESOURCES 5
.
1.3 BIODIVERSITY AS AN INFORMATIONALINPUT INTO BIO-INDUSTRY 6
THE PROJECT ENVIRONMENT (INDUSTRIALAND NATURAL)
1.4
PROPERTY RIGHTS ISSUES 8
1.5 CONCLUSIONS 9
1.6 REFERENCES 10
THE VALUE OF THE WILDLIFE TRADE
2. 13
2. INTRODUCTION 13
2.2 FORESTRESOURCES 14
2.3 FISHERIES 17
2.4 WILD ANIMALTRADE 18
2.4. FurTrade 18
2.4.2 Reptile SkinTrade 20
2.4.3 Live Animal Trade 26
2.4.4 Corals, Pearls, Shells and Other MarineTrade 33
2.4.5 Rhino Hornand Elephant IvoryTrade 37
2.4.6 Animals as Food: Game Meat 41
2.4.7 Animals for Medicinal Use 42
2.4.8 Animals for Biomedical Research 43
2.5 PLANTTRADE 46
2.5. Ornamental Wild Plants 46
2.5.2 Plants as Food 47
2.5.3 Plant Genetic Resources 48
2.6 TOURISM 49
2.7 OVERVIEWOFTRADE AND CONCLUSIONS 51
2.8 REFERENCES 54
BIODIVERSITY AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
3. 57
3. INTRODUCTION 57
3.2 SURVEY RESULTS 57
1 1
3.2.1 Drug Discoveryand Natural Products Research: Evolutionto the 1990s 57
3.2.2 Expenditure on Researchand DevelopmentofNatural Products 60
3.2.3 Company Strategies 62
3.2.4 Sample Collections 64
3.2.5 Work with Extracts 67
3.2.6 Screening 68
3.2.7 Details ofNatural Product Research Programmes 70
3.2.8 Collaborations 70
3.2.9 Chemical Libraries 73
3.2.10 The Conventionon Biological Diversity 73
SUMMARY
3.3 75
3.4 CONCLUSIONS 75
4. THE USE OF PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES IN AGRICULTURE 77
4. INTRODUCTION 77
4.2 THE BASICSOF PLANT BREEDING 77
4.2. Determinants ofGermplasmUse 78
4.2.2 The Dynamic UseofWildGenes inResearch: TheCascade Effect 79
4.3. SURVEY RESULTS 80
4.3.1 Seed Companies and Plant Breeders 80
4.3.2 UseofGermplasm inthe Breeding Industry 82
4.3.3 Institutional Sources ofGermplasm 86
4.3.4 Allocation ofBreeding Activities 88
4.3.5 Research Priorities 91
4.3.6 Breeding Methods 92
4.3.7 The Industry's Perceptions ofthe Maintenance ofGermplasm 93
4.3.8 Biodiversity and Agriculture 97
4.4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 97
TABLES
2.1 Worldtimbertrade: roundwood, sawnwood andotherforestproducts 1980-1991 15
2.2 Worldtimberprices: sawlog and veneer logprices ofconiferous andnon-coniferous 1980-1991 16
2.3 Estimatedtotal international trde infishery commodities 18
2.4 European importsofwhole, raw furskins from 1986 to 1989 19
2.5 Majorcountries oforiginofthe trade in reptile skins and items to the USA (1984-1990) .... 21
2.6a Majorcountriesoforiginand importingcotmtries ofskinsofCaiman cwcodilus (1990-1) ... 22
2.6b MajorcountriesoforiginofCaiman cwcodilusmanufacturedproducts exportedby Italy
and France (1990-1) 23
2.7 JapaneseTestudinata skinimportsby region(kg) 23
2.8 Minimumnettrade inclassic crocodilian skins detailed inCITES annual reports 24
2.9 Japanese imports ofreptile skins and leather (1983-90) 25
2.10 MinimumnumberofCITES Appendix II speciestraded(1983-1988) as liveanimals,
Parts andderivitives orboth 27
11
2.11 Net imports inlive reptiles and amphibians in species listed inCITES, 1988-1992 29
2.12 CITES reponedtrade inselected live reptiles originating inChinabyreportingcountry,
1988-92 29
2.13 Trade inliveI.iguanaby maincountriesoforiginandtypeofsourcereportedin CITES
1988-92 30
2.14 Net live imports ofCITES-listedmammals, 1988-1992 31
2.15 Liveornamental fish imports into the EuropeanCommunity 32
2.16 Summaryofreported trade inCITES-listedstonycorals bycountryofexport (1986-1989) ... 34
2.17 Europeanannual imports incoral, shellsandcuttlebone 35
2.18 Pearl imports into the EuropeanCommunity 36
2.19 Volume andprice (inkg and USS/kg) ofrhino hornbycountry 38
2.20 Japanese imports ofivory: 1980-1990 39
2.21 Net imports (tonnes) ofraw and worked ivorybymajorconsumers, 1979-1988 40
2.22 Estimatedminimumnet imports (tonnes) ofgamemeat: 1980-1985 40
2.23 European imports ofgame meat (excluding rabbits andhares) 41
2.24 Frogs' legs imports intothe European Commtmity 42
2.25 Fats and oils ofmarine mammals, fractions ofoils, excluding chemicallymodifedproducts . . 43
2.26 Importsofmedicinal products ofdeertothe Republic ofKorea 44
2.27 Medicinal products ofanimal origin importedbyJapan 44
2.28 Japanese imports ofmonkeys: 1980-1990 45
2.29 Value (USS millions) ofworld trade inflowers andplants, 1981-1985 47
2.30 Cactus andorchidtrade datafor 1989 48
2.31 Distributionofinternational tourismrevenues (1987) 50
2.32 Reasons forselectingtravel destinations in Latin America 50
2.33 Estimatedminimumvalueofwildlife imports into the USA, the EC andJapanbytype of
Resource(excludingfisheries andtimber) in USS 52
3.1 Majorgroups oforganisms screenedby 15 pharmaceutical companies questioned 72
3.2 Majorregions andecosystems usedforsource material for NPRby differentpharmaceutical
Companiesquestioned 74
4. Cropscoveredby Survey 83
4.2 Source ofgemplasmused inall crops and infourcrop types 85
4.3 Organisationofresearchandbreedingactivities 89
FIGURES
4. Investment inR&D as apercentageoftotal turnover 81
4.2 Percentageofmarketed varieties that recoup R&D costs 81
4.3 Sources ofin-house germplasm 87
4.4 Determinants oftheextentofin-house germplasmholdings 87
4.5 Distributionofgermplasmenhancementactivities 91
4.6 Properties ofnew germplasmincorporated into new varieties 92
4.7 Methods ofdevelopment in new marketed cultivars 94
4.8 Propertiesoffirms accessing insimsources directly 94
4.9 Replies tothe question "Dogenebankshave/give sufficicientinformationregardingthe
following:"? 96
PREFACE
This report presents the results of industrial surveys undertaken under the auspices of the U.K.
Department of Environment's Darwin Initiative between 1994 and 1996. The project was entitled
"Sustainable Utilisation for Global, National, and Community Benefit: An Analysis ofUtilisation and
Biodiversity Conservation". It was conductedjoindy by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (Dr
Richard Luxmoore, principal investigator) and the Faculty ofEconomics, Cambridge University (Dr
TimothySwanson, principal investigator). The investigatorwhoconductedmostofthesurveys andwrote
up the majority ofthe reports under this portion oftheproject was Nathalie Olsen, now ofthe Food and
Agricultural Organisation, Beijing, China. Also contributing to this portion of the project were Jose
Carlos Fernandez (Department of Applied Economics, Cambridge University) and Harriet Gillett
(WCMC). Dr Caroline Harcourtassisted with the fmal editing. We would also like to acknowledge the
timeandassistance received firomthenumerousmembersofindustrywhoparticipated inthe survey. The
views expressed in this report are those ofthe authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the Darwin Initiative nor those ofthe Department ofthe Environment ofthe UK.
INDUSTRIAL RELIANCE ON BIODIVERSITY: A SUMMARY
1.
Timothy M. Swanson
1.1 mXRODUCTION: THE INDUSTRIAL USEFULNESS OF BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity, acontraction of'biological diversity', isthetermused todescribethetotal variety ofliving
organisms. Biological diversity is customarily addressed by biologists at three different hierarchical
levels: genes, species andecosystems, but, for general usage, the term is most oftenused as a collective
noun meaning natureor all life on earth (WCMC, 1996). Biodiversity is ofclear importance. It is, for
instance, the primary source offoods and medicines for most societies. It is also the source ofmany
forms of "non-use values" e.g. the value which many western societies wouldgive in order to "save the
tropical forest" or the "ecological value" ofdiverse eco-systems. These values are very important, but
they are the subjects ofotherenquiries (Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen, 1986; Perrings etal., 1995;
Barbier, Burgess and Folke, 1994; Pearce, 1991) and are not dealt with here.
Instead, the object ofthis study is to ascertain the extent ofindustrial reliance on biological diversity;
we are attempting to determine the extent to which biodiversity feeds directly into western industries,
and theextentto which they rely upon it. There is a general consensus among environmental scientists
thatbiological diversity plays avery important role in the activities ofsome ofour industries. However,
there isvery littledirectevidenceofthedegreetowhich the industriesdepend onthis biodiversity. There
has beensome work inthepastwhichhas attempted to setoutthecase for the role ofbiological diversity
as an input into standard western industry (Wilson, 1986), but much ofthis previous work has been
anecdotal in nature. For example, there have been reports ofthe "serendipitous" discovery of "weedy
tomatoes" or the fortuitous discovery of a remnant patch of "perennial maize". These finds are
undoubtedly useful (the tomato variety alone is estimated to be worth millions ofUS dollars), but the
process by which they are identified and the way they are used by western industries are too haphazard
to ascertain their real importance.
This reportattempts toprovideclearer and moreconcrete evidence ofthe industrial use ofbiodiversity.
The study looked attwo differentways inwhich industry used the world's biological diversity. Firstly,
in Chapter 2, theuse ofbiodiversityas a commodity is studied. This chapter presents data on the direct
trade in various diverse biological products as commodities for manufacture and sale. Secondly, in
Chapters 3 and 4, data on the use of biodiversity as information is presented. In these chapters,
information obtained in response to questionnaires sent to pharmaceutical companies and plant
breeders/seed companies is presented. The object of the questionnaires was to get some precise
information on the degree to which these industries relied on biological diversity in the production of
their products and, thereby, obtain data on the use of diverse organisms to inform research and
developmentprocesses in these industries.
1.2 BIODIVERSITY AS A COMMODITY: DIRECT USE OF DIVERSE WILDLIFE
RESOURCES
The two most significant industries which deal in commodities from namral habitats are forestry and
fisheries. The value ofwood products exported worldwide in 1991 amounted to around US$65 billion
(FAG, 1993). Exports offish at about the same time (1989) raised some USS32.8 billion (FAO, 1991).
Inaddition, many forestproducts and fish are consumed within their country oforigin, thereby raising
thevalueofthese commodities immensely. Although much less significant than forestry and fisheries.
INDUSTRIAL RELIANCE ONBIODIVERSITY
there is also a considerable trade by other industries which rely upon biodiversity. These include, for
example, those that trade in: furs; reptile skins; game meat; live animals, for the pet trade in particular;
crude shells; corals; natural pearls; ivory and plants. Altogether these other industries trade in diverse
biological commodities worth, perhaps, $l-5b. per annum. Almost the entire trade flows from less
developed countries to Europe, the USA and Japan. Table 2.33, showing the estimated minimum value
of wildlife imports to these areas, is certainly an underestimate of the overall value of the trade in
biodiversity as a commodity, but it gives a clear idea ofthe relative magnitudes ofthe trade in these
various industries.
It is evident from the extensive data presented on direct use ofwildlife resources that it is extremely
difficult to obtainan accurate figure for the value ofthe trade in theseproducts and even more difficult,
almost impossible, to quote a figure for their total value, asuseby local communities goes more or less
unrecorded. It is clear, though, that the conservation ofthe world's wildlife resources is essential for
human well-being. Sustainable wildlife management has to be practised to allow the continued use of
these resources.
1.3 BIODIVERSITY AS AN INFORMATIONAL INPUT INTO BIO-INDUSTRY
The pharmaceutical and agricultural industries are concentrated on in this publication as the activities
of these businesses are most closely linked to the biological-industrial interface. In these industries,
biodiversity functions primarily as an informational input to their research and developmentprocesses,
and is essential to this purpose.
Some areas within agriculmre and medicine can be conceived ofas living defence systems rather than
static technologies. That is, rather like the sea defence systems ofa low-lying country, these fields of
humanactivity consist ofcontinuing efforts to combat the erosion ofhuman-erected defences against a
hostile biological world. Inagriculture, we constantly attempt to keep at bay the always-evolving pests
and predators ofour food crops. In medicine, we continue in our efforts to defend ourselves against
diseases caused by many different organisms, as these have an even more direct impact on human
beings. In both cases, the defences are neither absolute nor perpemal - as with the Dutch dykes - they
are constantly eroding under the pressure ofthe forces ofnature.
The fight against malaria is an excellent paradigm for the namre of the front-line battle between the
human species and its potential biological invaders. It illustrates that any gains in terms ofdevelopment
ofnew drugs or strategies to counter the parasite, mustbe perpetually defended against the ability ofthe
parasite to evolve resistance. The namreofthe biological worldassures that these gains are always under
assault. This is generally true throughout society; whereverhumans have successfully appropriated some
portion ofthe world's bounty for themselves (cultivated crops, domesticated species), there are forces
within the biosphere that will place these holdings perpetually under assault.
In short, having a large proportion of the biosphere invested in a small number of species (namely,
humans and their associated domesticated/cultivated species) results in an inherently instable system.
This simation represents an oppormnity for exploitation by other biological organisms: successful
invasion confers massive gains in fitness. Evolution will constantly and perpetually introduce new
variants ofpests and parasites for the invasion ofthis niche.
Humanscontinuetoexpand the niche whichmustbeprotected - withapproximately 5 billion individuals
and 40% of the terrestrial biosphere used by them (Vitousek et al., 1984) and they have to be ever
vigilant in the protection oftheir gains. Ifthey are not, these gains will be eroded by the forces within