the group of mega-diverse
countries
In 2001
the Group of Mega-diverse countries was
created, and is composed of Bolivia,
Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, Philippines, India, Indonesia,
Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, South Africa
and Venezuela. They claim to represent 75%
of the biological diversity and 45% of the
cultural diversity in the world and act as
an advisory and consultative body to
promote the common interests linked to the
conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity at the United Nations and
other forums.
In practice, this means developing
common activities to achieve better results
in negotiations related to biodiversity
such as at the CBD. This group of countries
accepts the patenting of their biodiversity
in exchange for the disclosure and
recognition of the origin of the resources
and if they are paid a certain percentage
of the royalties claimed from the
industrial applications of the patented
materials.
