Presentation given on October 27, 2016 at Data Reproducibility: Integrity and Transparency program as part of Open Access Week 2016. / The NIH is now requiring the authentication of Key Biological Resources to be specified in a scored portion of most grant applications, but what does it mean to authenticate? We will discuss what Key Biological Resources are, the ongoing efforts to understand how to authenticate them and of course the resources available, including examples. The journal response to authentication will also be pointed to and practical steps that every researcher can take today to improve reporting of research in scientific publication.

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This thesis critically explores the issue of access to biological resources and Indigenous knowledge Historically, biological resources collected and documented, and knowledge associated with their use, have been considered the 'common heritage of mankind' The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) changed this understanding to tights of states over biological resources, but also gave rise to issues of equity and justice, especially with regard to Indigenous Nations encapsulated within First World states-so-called 'Fourth World Nations', A central concern of Fourth World Peoples is their marginalisation within access negotiations, despite their claims of connate (birth) rights to r esou.r ces and knowledge they identify as their own. Increasing global Indigenous activism over their concerns, has in turn raised an increasingly important policy gap that is becoming recognised in fora and processes with regard to access to biological resources. My thesis addresses this policy gap. I explore some of the complex historical, political and cultural dimensions that led to the emergence and resilience of this policy problem The failure to address the concerns of Indigenous peoples, and Fourth World Nations in particular, is more important and problematic now because of contemporary biotechnological developments and the emergence of bioprospecting. Bioprospecthg refers to the practice of appropriating biological resources, and Indigenous knowledge of those resources, and incorporating them into biopharmaceutical processes. Literature on bioprospecting as a problematic issue for Third World States has been emerging steadily over the last decade under the impact of the commercialisation of biodiversity, which has become big business for biopha.rmaceutical companies. The unique interests and experiences of Fourth World Nations are not recognised within this literature as significantly different to that of the Third World, and of their encapsulating states.. This study has addressed this significant gap by utilising and developing an analytical approach that uses Fourth World theory, synthesised with elements of Foucault's analytics of power. When combined, these two theoretical approaches provide a new and rich under standing of how dominant 'ways of knowing' and 'ways of owning' have been privileged, while other knowledge and ownership systems have been, and continue to be, marginalised, Eoucault's understanding of discursive power as having the capability to be either, or both, dominant and resistant is important to my analysis, as it accommodates the Fourth World as a discursive site of resistance to dominant power. I posit that richer insights are gained through the development and application of this theoretical framework to the issue of fair and equitable access to biological resources, than other approaches offer. I demonstrate the framework's utility by applying it to a case study on bioprospecting in Australia. Important findings have emerged while tracking the activities of Fourth World peoples on the international stage, and their attempts to challenge dominant power/knowledge structures within political institutions For example, participation at the international level has enabled Fomth World peoples to apply pressure on their encapsulating states to accommodate their interests. This has been furthered through forming alliances with, for example, environmentalists, and through the adoption of the language of effective participation within international fora.. Overall, however, the study found that the participation of Eourth World peoples within international, central state and local state policy processes is not always empowering in challenging dominant interests Instead, the more accurate impression is that at this stage of the discursive policy terrain, it may only create an illusion of participation that actually serves to entrench their disempowerment. This places pressule on policy processes to address and resolve this access issue equitably if social turbulence is to subside, justice be served, and certainty provided for all.

Vietnam is considered as one of the countries having rich resources from forest and sea, with a high average annual rainfall. However, in view of IWRA, water volume per capita annually in Vietnam is lower than the standard for nations having water resources at average level. Vietnam was recognized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as having three out of more than 200 biological zones of the world. Flora and fauna in Vietnam are very rich and abundant, but due to indiscriminate exploitation, along with weak management, biodiversity levels are significantly reduced. This is also one of the causes of environmental pollution and degradation in Vietnam, besides the impacts from production activities, population migration from rural areas to urban areas, rapid urbanization, climate change and sea level rise, etc. / Tảo đóng vai trò quan trọng trong mạng lưới thức ăn và chu trình sinh địa hóa của thủy vực và chúng chịu sự chi phối của nhiều yếu tố môi trường như ánh sáng, pH, nhiệt độ và dinh dưỡng. Nghiên cứu này trình bày đa dạng thành phần loài và biến động sinh khối thực vật phù du tại hồchứa Hòa Bình từ tháng 3 đến tháng 12 năm 2011. Các mẫu thực vật nổi được thu thập hàng tháng tại 4 điểm. Kết quả đã xác định được 6 lớp tảo chính bao gồm: Vi khuẩn lam, tảo lục, tảo silic, tảo mắt, tảo giáp và tảo lông roi hai rãnh. Nhóm tảo silic và Vi khuẩn lam chiếm ưu thế với độ phong phú tương đối là 61% và 32% tương ứng trong quần xã thực vật nổi. Vi khuẩn lam dạng tập đoàn và dạng sợi (Microcystis aeruginosa, M. wesenberg, Oscillatoria sp. tương ứng) chiếm ưu thế trong quần xã thực vật nổi vào các thời điểm đầu hè và mùa thu (tháng 4 và tháng 9). Tổng mật độ tế bào thực vật nổi dao động từ 84210 đến 100 x106 cell/L. Mật độ thực vật nổi biển động theo mùa với sinh khối tê bào cao vào đầu hè và mùa đông (tháng 4 và tháng 12) và sinh khối tếbào thấp vào các mùa hè và thu (tháng 6 đến tháng 10).

Vietnam is considered as one of the countries having rich resources from forest and sea, with a high average annual rainfall. However, in view of IWRA, water volume per capita annually in Vietnam is lower than the standard for nations having water resources at average level. Vietnam was recognized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as having three out of more than 200 biological zones of the world. Flora and fauna in Vietnam are very rich and abundant, but due to indiscriminate exploitation, along with weak management, biodiversity levels are significantly reduced. This is also one of the causes of environmental pollution and degradation in Vietnam, besides the impacts from production activities, population migration from rural areas to urban areas, rapid urbanization, climate change and sea level rise, etc. / Tảo đóng vai trò quan trọng trong mạng lưới thức ăn và chu trình sinh địa hóa của thủy vực và chúng chịu sự chi phối của nhiều yếu tố môi trường như ánh sáng, pH, nhiệt độ và dinh dưỡng. Nghiên cứu này trình bày đa dạng thành phần loài và biến động sinh khối thực vật phù du tại hồchứa Hòa Bình từ tháng 3 đến tháng 12 năm 2011. Các mẫu thực vật nổi được thu thập hàng tháng tại 4 điểm. Kết quả đã xác định được 6 lớp tảo chính bao gồm: Vi khuẩn lam, tảo lục, tảo silic, tảo mắt, tảo giáp và tảo lông roi hai rãnh. Nhóm tảo silic và Vi khuẩn lam chiếm ưu thế với độ phong phú tương đối là 61% và 32% tương ứng trong quần xã thực vật nổi. Vi khuẩn lam dạng tập đoàn và dạng sợi (Microcystis aeruginosa, M. wesenberg, Oscillatoria sp. tương ứng) chiếm ưu thế trong quần xã thực vật nổi vào các thời điểm đầu hè và mùa thu (tháng 4 và tháng 9). Tổng mật độ tế bào thực vật nổi dao động từ 84210 đến 100 x106 cell/L. Mật độ thực vật nổi biển động theo mùa với sinh khối tê bào cao vào đầu hè và mùa đông (tháng 4 và tháng 12) và sinh khối tếbào thấp vào các mùa hè và thu (tháng 6 đến tháng 10).

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Magister Legum - LLM / Traditional Knowledge (TK) is the long standing wisdom, teachings and practices of indigenous communities which have been passed on orally, in the majority of cases, from generation to generation. TK is expressed in the form, medicine, agriculture, understanding of the ecology, music, dance, stories, folklore, poetry, spiritual, cultural and artistic expressions, and knowledge relating to bio-diversity. This thesis focuses on plant bio-diversity, as part of TK, and the problem of bio-piracy. We attempt a definition of TK; its characteristics; possible measures that can be taken to ensure its protection; and challenges that are likely to be faced in seeking to ensure its protection, first at the global level, then with particular attention to South Africa. Some of the suggested measures include the enactment of sui generis laws to protect plant biodiversity, rather that the adaptation of the existing IP regime. Some of the challenges include unwillingness of some countries to participate in international initiatives, like the US, which is not even a signatory of the CBD, and the difficulty of identifying the persons in whom ownership of the TK should be vested when it is possessed by many communities. This issue is a very sensitive one because there have been numerous cases of bio-piracy in developing countries perpetrated by corporations from industrialised countries. Some of the notable examples of bio-piracy include; The Neem tree from India whose products are used in medicine, toiletries and cosmetics; the Ayahuasca a vine used in India for religious and healing ceremonies; the Asian Turmeric plant used in cooking, cosmetics and medicine, the Hoodia Cactus plant in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa used by the San people to stave off hunger. These instances have given rise to increased talks about the necessity of a law on the protection of TK relating to bio-diversity in general at the international, regional and national levels. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is working on enacting measures to ensure the protection and conservation of TK at the international level; in 2002 it created nine fact finding commissions on TK in general. These fact finding missions on TK innovation and creativity were undertaken with the intention of seeking possibilities of protecting the intellectual property rights of TK holders. In 2002, The WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) was created to continue with this task. The 1993 Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) encourages States to enact measures to implement its provisions on the protection of knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities. This trend in protection of TK relating to biological resources has been followed by the Nagoya Protocol of October 2010. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) also makes mention of protecting plant varieties. The research suggests that one could use both Intellectual Property Rights and Sui Generis measures to address and secure protection of TK, and provide compensation to holders for the use of the intellectual property. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / Traditional Knowledge (TK) is the long standing wisdom, teachings and practices of indigenous communities which have been passed on orally, in the majority of cases, from generation to generation. TK is expressed in the form, medicine, agriculture, understanding of the ecology, music, dance, stories, folklore, poetry, spiritual, cultural and artistic expressions, and knowledge relating to bio-diversity. This thesis focuses on plant bio-diversity, as part of TK, and the problem of bio-piracy. We attempt a definition of TK; its characteristics; possible measures that can be taken to ensure its protection; and challenges that are likely to be faced in seeking to ensure its protection, first at the global level, then with particular attention to South Africa. Some of the suggested measures include the enactment of sui generis laws to protect plant biodiversity, rather that the adaptation of the existing IP regime. Some of the challenges include unwillingness of some countries to participate in international initiatives, like the US, which is not even a signatory of the CBD, and the difficulty of identifying the persons in whom ownership of the TK should be vested when it is possessed by many communities.

Le droit international de l’environnement est fondé sur deux principes fondamentaux qui sont le principe de la souveraineté permanente sur les ressources naturelles et le principe de la conservation de la nature. La conjoncture économique contemporaine se caractérise par la systématique violation de ces normes juridiques à travers la surexploitation et la pollution des écosystèmes, ainsi que l’accès clandestin aux ressources biologiques, c’est-à-dire, la biopiraterie. Cette thèse a été développée spécialement à partir des discussions sur la gestion quantitative des ressources biologiques biotiques (la faune et la flore) et des ressources biologiques abiotiques (l’eau), ainsi qu’à partir d’analyses sur le problème de la pollution. Ces analyses sont cependant toujours en connexion avec la surexploitation et la biopiraterie, qui sont vraiment deux des grands enjeux contemporains du droit international de l’environnement. Afin de démontrer combien ces questions environnementales sont désormais de portée universelle, tous les régimes d’utilisation des ressources ont été étudiés, qu’ils soient relatifs à l’air, à la mer ou à la terre. L’on a ainsi pu vérifier l’existence d’un système juridique commun de l’utilisation des ressources biologiques fondé sur la coopération internationale, la bonne foi et le devoir de ne pas causer un préjudice aux autres États, outre les deux principes fondamentaux supra. Toutes ces normes juridiques de gestion de la nature sont matérialisées dans les accords internationaux d’utilisation d’une ressource biologique fondés sur les notions de quotas de durabilité et de quotas nationaux d’exploitation. Par conséquent, les États ont la capacité d’assurer le respect du droit international de l’environnement en assurant la conservation de la nature et la lutte contre la biopiraterie. / Environmental international law is based on two fundamental principles: the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, and the principle of conservation of nature. The contemporary global economy is characterized by systematic violations of these legal norms through overexploitation and pollution of ecosystems, as well as the clandestine access to biological resources, or biopiracy. This thesis has been especially developed from discussions on the quantitative management of biotic biological resources (fauna and flora) and abiotic biological resources (water), in spite of the analysis on pollution, which can be found in the body of the thesis. The latter analysis is, however, always connected with the overexploitation and biopiracy, which are actually two major contemporary issues of environmental international law. For the demonstration of the generalization of these environmental issues, all regimes relating to the use of resources have been examined, independently of whether they concern the air, the sea, or land. That which could be verified is the existence of a common legal system for the use of biological resources based, in addition to the two fundamental principles mentioned supra, on international cooperation, good faith and the duty not to cause transboundary harm to other States. All these legal norms on nature management are established in international agreements on the use of a biological resource based on the notion of sustainability quotas and national quotas of exploitation. Therefore, States may control the compliance with environmental international law by ensuring the conservation of nature and the fight against biopiracy.