Conhecimentos tradicionais associados à biodiversidade: uma análise da sua efetiva proteção sob o viés do meio ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado e da cultura

Abstract

Brazil is a megadiverse country with great ecological and cultural diversity. This allows various Brazilian regions to be perpetuated with different traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity. Thus, in order to protect this diversity, the Federal Constitution safeguards ecologically balanced environment and culture as fundamental rights. For this reason, the variety of traditional knowledge attracts the attention of many people outside the traditional communities and holders of technology, so called bioprospectors, seeing that some traditional knowledge allows their holders greater economic growth. As a result, a clash emerges between socio-biodiversity and bioprospecting, traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge, and countries holders of capital and technology and megadiverse countries. In view of this, it is worthwhile to assert which public policies and legal instruments would be able to revitalize and protect traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity in the Brazilian setting. Therefore, this study seeks to assess whether the existing legal instruments to protect traditional knowledge, which are based mainly on the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights Related to Trade, are effective as forms of protection of ecologically balanced environment and culture, and also from what interpretive perspective, or, contrarily, how urgent the creation of new legal instruments and social policies is to enable real and effective protection and revitalization of the collective intellectual rights. Thus, hypothetico-deductive model was used as approach. Structuralist and comparative approaches were employed for procedures. Systemic theory was used as a basis. From the application of these methods, it was found that the standard norms that deal with associated traditional knowledge are not sufficient to protect them effectively. Similarly, the alternatives presented to resolve the impasse are also ineffective. Public policies follow the same path. They are few, scattered and do not accomplish their role. Therefore, it is necessary to create measures in the short and long term so that the ecologically balanced environment and culture are not annihilated.