Links to this page were:
Section Subnavigation Links:
Glossary of Terms
- Bioactive/bioactive compound
- a biologically active compound derived from biological material that has the potential to confer benefits to people, plants or animals.
- Biodiscovery
- the analysis of a biological material's properties, or its molecular, biochemical or genetic content, for the purpose of developing a commercial product.
- Biological material/biological resources
- includes organisms, parts of organisms, genetic resources, populations and any other biotic component of an ecosystem with actual or potential use or value for humanity.
- Bioprospecting
- the collection of biological material and the analysis of its material properties, or its molecular, biochemical or genetic content, for the purpose of developing a commercial product. Bioprospecting policy excludes the later steps in the chain of product development.
- Biotechnology
- any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives of living organisms, to make or modify products or processes for commercial use.
- Crown Research Institute(s)
- New Zealand government-owned science research businesses, for example, AgResearch Ltd, Industrial Research Ltd and Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.
- Endemic
- a term describing species that are native to a particular geographic area or continent. For example, the kiwi is endemic to New Zealand.
- Endemism
- the percentage of the fauna or flora that is endemic.
- Ex situ
- biological material located outside an organism's natural environment, such as in a zoo, aquarium, botanical gardens nursery, herbaria, or storage place. Ex situ collections include collections of biological material held in storage as an extract or in a frozen state.
- Genetic resources
- any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin that contains functional units of heredity and has actual or potential value for humanity.
- Indigenous
- native organisms, not introduced by humans.
- In situ
- located inside an organism's natural environment.
- Mätauranga Mäori/traditional knowledge
- mätauranga Mäori is a term often used in New Zealand in preference to the term traditional knowledge, because mätauranga Mäori refers to Mäori knowledge originating from Mäori communities (usually, a link could be expected to exist between the location of specific biological material and local communities' knowledge about and relationship to that material). Mätauranga Mäori is the generally preferred term used in the WAI 262 claim. Part of this consultation process is directed at developing our understanding of these concepts in relation to bioprospecting.
- Mätauranga Mäori/traditional knowledge in the public domain
- mätauranga Mäori/traditional knowledge that is publicly available, for example, on the internet or in published material.
- Material transfer agreements
- agreements about the transfer of biological specimens, after collection, to third parties.
- Mutually agreed terms
- in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 7 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), there are some basic requirements for the development of "mutually agreed terms". For example:
- legal certainty and clarity;
- minimisation of transaction costs;
- inclusion of provisions on user and provider obligations;
- development of different contractual arrangements for different resources and for different uses, and development of model agreements;
- different uses may include, inter alia, taxonomy, collection, research, commercialisation;
- mutually agreed terms should be negotiated efficiently and within a reasonable period of time; and
- mutually agreed terms should be set out in a written agreement.
- Prior informed consent
- in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 5 of the CBD, access to genetic resources is subject to "prior informed consent" given by the contracting party providing the resources, unless determined otherwise. The basic principles of prior informed consent are:
- legal certainty and clarity;
- access to genetic resources should be facilitated at minimum cost;
- restrictions on access to genetic resources should be transparent, based on legal grounds, and not run counter to the objectives of the CBD;
- the consent of the relevant Competent National Authority(ies) in the provider country should be obtained; and
- the consent of the relevant stakeholders, such as subject to domestic law, should also be obtained.
- Taxonomic
- the practice of classifying, for example, living organisms.
- Traditional knowledge/mätauranga Mäori
- traditional knowledge is a phrase in common domestic and international usage, encompassing knowledge arising from all local communities, including that held by indigenous communities. This phrase is the language used in the CBD. In this document, we have generally used "mätauranga Mäori" instead of "traditional knowledge", when discussing Mäori traditional knowledge.
Back to Top