Dragon's blood latex has been used since ancient times by indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin because of its anti-inflammatory and cicatrizing properties. It´s obtained from a variety of species of an Amazonian tree called Croton lechleri.
In 1991 the pharmaceutical company called Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc. came to the province of Pastaza (located in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon) with the intention of carrying out ethno-botanic research about dragon's blood. However, the final objective was to exploit the dragon's blood tree and obtain some active ingredient that would be patented and commercialized later on. Indigenous communities and peoples who collaborated would be offered a compensation, but, after initial negotiations, due to the past negative experiences regarding patenting and bio-prospecting activities Ecuadorian indigenous organizations refused to participate. They were driven by an opinion that the knowledge needs to remain shared by all indigenous people of the Amazon basin and therefore could not be patented by any company. As a result, the company sought the support from the communities that were not affiliated with the main indigenous organizations in order to begin with the planned activities, which triggered a conflict between the company and the indigenous organizations. There were 300 000 potentially affected people, the indigenous inhabitants.
Forms of mobilization included official complaint letters and petitions. Also, the representatives of CONAIE (Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador) travelled to the USA in order to meet the managers of Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc. and convince them to abandon activities in Ecuador.
The project was never realized because the company did not have success in commercializing two medical products derived from the dragon's blood tree. As a result, it declared bankruptcy, which stopped the project as well.
Socio-economic impacts:
Potential: loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures
Location
Ecuador, Pastaza, Puyo
Google Maps: http://bit.ly/2u4APmA
Environmental impact
- Land degradation (e.g. drought, soil contamination, erosion and desertification)
- Biodiversity loss – Ecosystem destruction
- Depletion of natural resources (fossil and mineral, forest, water, etc)
Ethical/ legal issues
- Life and personal security
- Health and well-being
Information sources & materials
Scientific/ academic journal papers
-
EJAtlas.org https://ejatlas.org/conflict/dragons-blood-tree-biopiracy-shaman-pharmaceuticals-in-the-amazon-ecuador
- BRAVO, Elizabeth, 1997, La bioprospeccion en el Ecuador, en VAREA, Ana Mara, Comp., Biodiversidad, bioprospeccin y bioseguridad, ILDIS, Abya-Yala ediciones, Instituto de Estudios Ecologistas del Tercer Mundo, Proyecto FTPP-FAO, Quito
- BUITRN, Ximena, 1999, Ecuador: uso y comercio de plantas medicinales, situacion actual y aspectos importantes para su conservacion, Traffic Internacional, Cambridge, Reino Unido
- DORSEY, Michael, 2005, Commercialization of biodiversity: processes, actors and contestation in Ecuador. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Natural resources and environmental in the University of Michigan
- Pohlenz de Tavira, Ana. 2009. Conflictos por acceso biotecnolgico de los recursos genticos y conocimientos tradicionales en la regin andino-amaznica: los casos de patentes de la maca, el yacn y la sangre de drago. Mater thesis. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) – sede Ecuador. Programa de Estudios Socioambientales
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