Benefit-sharing is the principle that when genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge are used, for research, breeding or commercial products, the providers receive a fair and equitable share of the resulting benefits. Under the Nagoya Protocol it is agreed on mutually agreed terms before access.
In practice
Benefits can be monetary (royalties, licence fees, a share of sales) or non-monetary (credit and naming, sharing research results, training, returning improved seed, supporting local seed conservation). For cannabis landraces, even the simplest step, naming the region and community on every record and pack instead of relabelling the material, is rarely done.
GenetixBay's position: landrace growers built the foundation of nearly every modern line and deserve far more credit and compensation. Recording source communities on GB-ID records is one practical step. See landrace hunting and biopiracy.
Rules differ by country, state, province and city, and change often. This is a general definition, not legal advice: check local rules.
Don't confuse with
- Charity: benefit-sharing is an obligation agreed in advance, not a donation.
Germplasm is living genetic material (seeds, pollen, tissue or plants) kept for breeding, research or conservation, representing the genetic diversity of a crop.The Nagoya Protocol is a 2010 international treaty under the Convention on Biological Diversity governing access to genetic resources and fair sharing of their benefits.A landrace is a traditional, locally adapted cannabis population kept by farmers in one region over many generations, with its own type and plenty of internal variation.A GB-ID is GenetixBay's permanent identifier, such as GB-GEN-0001842-6, for a genetic line, landrace, seed batch, plant, cut, grow, harvest, trial or document, so records never get lost or renamed.Prior informed consent is permission given in advance, with full information about intended use, by a country or community before its genetic resources or knowledge are accessed.Biopiracy is taking genetic resources or traditional knowledge from a country or community without consent or benefit-sharing, especially to patent or profit from them.A landrace hunter travels to cannabis-growing regions to collect seed from local farmer populations, ideally with consent, credit and benefit-sharing for source communities.
