Managing genetic resources and traditional knowledge is critical to one of the most significant issues facing the global environment - maintenance of biodiversity. Written by a team of expert academics and practitioners in the field, this innovative book makes a timely and valuable contribution to academic and policy debates in International Environmental Law, International Biodiversity Law, Intellectual Property, Climate Law and the Law of Indigenous Populations. Taking an inductive approach, it starts from existing pools and discusses how they could be further developed to cope with the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol.

Introduction 1. Common Pools of Genetic Resources and Related Traditional and Modern Knowledge. An Overview Part 1: Local Approaches 2. Traditional Knowledge Common Pools: The Story of the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners of Bushbuckridge, South Africa 3. Common Pools of TK and Related Genetic Resources - A Case Study of San-Hoodia 4. Reinventing Traditional Medicine - Pacari and its Struggle Towards Health, Environmental Protection and Benefit Sharing 5. Guardians of the Seed: The Role of Andean Farmers in the Caring and Sharing of Agrobiodiveristy Part 2: National Approaches 6. Genetic Resources Common Pools in Brazil 7. Developing a Common Pools Strategy for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: A Case Study of Malaysia 8. Common Pools of Traditional Medical Knowledge in China 9. Common Pools in Aquaculture - Exploring Patent Law, ABS and Sui Generis Options Part 3: Transitional Approaches 10. Practices of Exchanging and Utilizing GRFA and the ABS Regime 11. Global Scientific Research Commons under the Nagoya Protocol: Governing Pools of Microbial Genetic Resources 12. Networks of Ex-Situ Collections in Genetic Resources 13. Biological Data Banks For Marine Organisms: What They Contain and How They Can Be Used in ABS Contexts 14. Knowledge Commons, Intellectual Property and the ABS Regime Part 4: International Approaches 15. ABS, Justice and the Nagoya Protocol 16. The World Health Organization's Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework as a Public Health Resources Pool 17. The Multilateral System of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources: Lessons and Space for Further Development 18. Exploring Bases for Building Common Pools in Eastern Africa 19. Common Pools for Marine Genetic Resources - A Possible Instrument for a Future Multilateral Agreement Addressing Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

Dr Evanson Chege Kamau is senior researcher of the Research Centre for European Environmental Law (FEU) at the University of Bremen.

Professor Gerd Winter is Co-Director of the Research Centre for European Environmental Law (FEU) at the University of Bremen.