HANDBOOK OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY. Published by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, December 2001. The handbook contains the full texts of the Convention, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the decisions of the Conference of the Parties from 1994 to 2000. It presents all the most important information about the Convention and the Protocol, including a description of the background to the Convention and its institutional arrangements, a guide to the decisions adopted and a guide to ongoing activities in relation to particular Articles and thematic areas. The accompanying CD-Rom contains the electronic book (e-book) of the Handbook. Further information available at: http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=3557.
THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001, FAO, 2001. The latest edition of FAO’s flagship publication on forests is now available electronically on the FAO Forestry website. See http://www.fao.org/forestry/fo/sofo/sofo-e.stm.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: PATENTING OF HIGHER LIFE FORMS AND RELATED ISSUES. An Interim Report to the Government of Canada Biotechnology Ministerial Coordinating Committee, by the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee, 2001. The interim report is intended to present not only the array of draft recommendations proposed by CBAC, but also the background and context against which the major facts and arguments considered in arriving at those recommendations must be understood. Available at http://www.cbac- cccb.ca/documents/IP_ExSumm_en.pdf.
"Biological adversity: the hidden costs of trade and economic Globalization," by C. Bright in HARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW 22 (4, 2001): 24-27. Human activities have enabled just about every form of life - pathogens, plants, insects, fish, and mammals - to invade non- native territories. According to the publication, bioinvasions are occurring in most major landmasses, rivers, lakes, and probably along most stretches of tropical and temperate ocean coastline.
Electronic Resources
IATP is sponsoring a new listserv on the proposed Development Box being debated at the WTO. The listserv is for posting articles and documents, not for debate. To subscribe: in the body of a message addressed to listserv@iatp.org, type: subscribe wto-development-box
BIOSAFETY CLEARINGHOUSE TOOLKIT. As part of the pilot phase of the Biosafety Clearinghouse, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity has developed an online Toolkit . The Toolkit is meant to serve as an informative and instructional tool to assist interested users with the use of the pilot Biosafety site. The tool kit includes the interoperability standards/guidelines for the BCH database prepared by the Secretariat to facilitate exchange of information with existing international, regional or national databases. Database developers can follow these standards to establish national databases or to make the existing databases interoperable with the BCH database.