Gram Mooligai Limited Company (GMCL) – An Alternative Bioprospecting and Development Model: Constitution, Structure and Its Functioning

Traditional or Indigenous science relates to both the science knowledge of long-resident, usually oral culture peoples, as well as the science knowledge of all peoples who as participants in culture are affected by the worldview and relativist interests of their home communities. Traditional science (TS) has been recognized only lately in western science as a valuable source of products and treatments for health care. As a consequence, diverse components of IS have been appropriated under intellectual property rights (IPRs) by researchers and commercial enterprises, without any significant compensation to the knowledge’s creators or holders. This chapter investigates whether novel forms of commercial uses of biodiversity and associated knowledge carried out by indigenous communities are possible through the creation of enterprises such as GMCL. The chapter aims to shows how an alternative representation of bioprospecting at grassroots level can be an instrument to enhance the local livelihoods of communities and promote their empowerment and capacity building. The results show that positive outcomes of this innovative form of participative bioprospecting initiative are evident but that challenges still remain.