"...a detailed analysis of the economic and scientific rationales for the use of property rights-based approach to biodiversity conservation....The book will be of interest and relevance to a broad spectrum of conservationists from research students to policy makers." Environment International

• List of contributors; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Diversity and sustainability: evolution, information and institutions Timothy Swanson; Part A. Plant Communities and the Generation of Information: 2. Chemical diversity in plants Linda Fellows and Anthony Scofield; 3. Ethnobotany and the search for balance between use and conservation Jennie Wood Sheldon and Michael J. Balick; Part B. The Value of Plant-Generated Information in Pharmaceuticals: 4. The pharmaceutical discovery process Georg Albers-Schönberg; 5. The role of plant screening and plant supply in biodiversity conservation, drug development and health care Bruce Aylward; 6. The economic value of plant-based pharmaceuticals David Pearce and Seema Puroshothaman; Part C. The Institutions for Regulating Information from Diversity: 7. The appropriation of evolution's values: an institutional analysis of intellectual property regimes and biodiversity conservation Timothy Swanson; 8. Preserving biodiversity: the role of property rights Ian Walden; Part D. The Importance of Cultural Diversity in Biodiversity Conservation: 9. Medicinal plants, indigenous medicine and conservation of biodiversity in Ghana Katrina Brown; 10. Biodiversity and the conservation of medicinal plants: issues from the perspective of the developing world Mohamed Khalil; Index.