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Published online 17 September 2008 | Nature 455, 276 (2008) | doi:10.1038/455276e
News in Brief
Court fines entomologists for illegal collecting in India
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It is wrong to say that conservation legislature need to change when people get caught in the act. The scientists should have simply got a permit before they start collecting butterflies in a national park.
Exchange of ideas, materials and reagents form the very basis of academic research. The pace of research would be hampered if such exchanges did not take place. Today, the situation has changed. Most countries have restrictions on exchange of research materials and as long as it is not a level playing field, no country would allow unrestricted use of its resources for another country's research. In addition, claiming of IPR on material derived from other countries is making people very suspicious of such activities. Some time back I went to collect Pokkali seeds from a rice breeder for my research work and during conversation, I mentioned that my project might develop into a major international collaborative project. The rice breeder became defensive and warned me not to send these seeds out of the country. In fact, when I find it difficult to source seeds from local breeders, I depend on the International Rice Research Institute to get seeds. IRRI cannot maintain a germplasm if they do not source it from different countries. Thus, the situation is very complex. We need international exchange of material. But today, there are restrictions and regulations and visiting scientists have to work within the framework of those regulations. For example, I have heard the story of Novo's most successful product being developed from a soil sample brought in by a vacationing employee. Today, if anyone takes soil samples out of any country, they could be arrested because many countries do not permit it. If such stringent rules were in vogue earlier, we probably would not have seen many of the wonderful products that make our life comfortable. It is a matter of debate as to whether such restrictions are good or bad.
Every time you drive a car, you turn on a lamp in the forest, you walk, or you eat almost anything you kill directly or indirectly dozens if not hundreds of insects without "permits". Something must be going wrong in the way we develop our wildlife laws if we imprison naturalists for collecting specimens with discovery purposes during the largest Biodiversity crisis has surely this planet experienced.
What conservation ? Removing those butterflies from the wild is science, not an infringement on conservation. The problem is the mindset in India. Does any government own life ? I don't think so. Furthermore, they are not even that good at conservation. This is only the tip of the iceberg of what is wrong with the third world. After billions in aid, endangered wildlife is being eaten out of existence, and they jail butterfly collectors. The only thing more idiotic, is giving these mindless bureaucrats money.