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While not being directly involved in the conservation of biological diversity, the NCI, 

 through its extensive contract-supported collection programs, has provided support for 

 research activities by source country botanists and botanical institutions in the expansion of 

 inventories and herbarium holdings of their flora. The NCI collection program has also 

 provided the stimulus for obtaining additional support from other organizations, such as the 

 United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Wildlife Fund, and 

 the National Geographic Society. 



The International Cooperative 

 Biodiversity Groups program 



The purpose of the International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) Program is to 

 address the interdependent issues of biodiversity conservation, sustained economic growth, 

 and human health, in terms of drug discovery for diseases of concern to both developing and 

 developed countries. The NIH's FIC serves as the organizational locus for this program, 

 which involves joint participation with the NCI, the National Institute of Allergy and 

 Infectious Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of 

 Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, and the USAID. The unifying theme 

 underlying this program is the belief that the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals 

 from natural products can, under appropriate circumstances, promote sustained economic 

 activity in developing countries while conserving the biological resources from which these 

 products are derived. 



The ICBG Program is a result of a workshop, sponsored by the three Federal agencies, held 

 in 1991. This workshop brought together experts from developing countries, ethnobiologists, 

 conservation biologists, representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, and legal experts on 

 intellectual property rights. 



The ICBG Program accomplishes its goal by linking developing country organizations and 

 indigenous peoples with United States' academic and industry partners to develop and 

 implement innovative strategies for the conservation and sustainable management of biological 

 diversity. This occurs through economic returns from screening medicinal and other 

 organisms for compounds active against both developing- and developed-country diseases, 

 agricultural and veterinary purposes, and in some instances parallel development of medicinal 

 or other products for host country markets. 



ICBGs have active and substantial participation by United States and developing country 

 scientists and institutions. A critical component of the activities is to ensure that equitable 

 economic benefits from these discoveries accrue to the country of origin. This is 

 accomplished through benefits sharing agreements drawn up among members of each ICBG. 

 Group activities include, for example, implementation of strategies to support the selection 

 and acquisition of natural resources and novel agents, including the use of ethnobiological 

 studies and equitable collaborations with indigenous peoples; the preparation of crude 

 materials for testing activity against relevant diseases; development of long-term ecological 



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