Instead of hooks for hands and cannon balls, “biopirates” use patent lawyers in big-city office suites to pilfer biological riches while destroying the rainforests of the world.

In this article, I’ll explain how blockchain technology — the technology responsible for bitcoin — could stop biopirates in their tracks and save the world’s rainforests. But first, it’s important to understand what biopiracy is and how it’s contributing to the merciless destruction of the Earth’s most precious natural resources.

The History of “Biopirates” and Rainforest Exploitation

Biopiracy is the modern equivalent of the Dutch settlers, who acquired the rights to Manhattan Island in 1626 for $24 worth of beads and trinkets. The native Americans who made this deal believed they were giving away hunting rights and shared use of their island. Instead, they lost everything.

“Bioprospectors” — as they’re called in the boardroom meetings of billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies — do something similar. They search for new drugs, plants and molecular compounds with specific properties in the remotest parts of the world. They interview local farmers, herbalists and medicine men to extract eons-old information about herbal remedies and chemical mixtures. Then they steal these precious riches for their own profit and gain.

Image by stardust19855 from Pixabay

The biopirate’s mission is to extract, patent and control the resources they take from indigenous communities. This allows them to earn the kind of money that would make a Rockefeller blush.

And what do the ancient caretakers of these precious resources get? They get to watch corporate loggers and cattle herders besiege and destroy their ancient homelands. Since the owners of the land cannot earn royalties by licensing the use of their biological resources, they have to sell their otherwise-worthless rainforest property to the highest bidder: Developers who end up mowing down the rainforest for logging and cattle-ranching purposes.

The sad part is how valuable this land could be to its owners —far more valuable than cattle land — if “biopirates” offered fair compensation for the wealth they extract.

How a 19th-Century Biopirate Singlehandedly Destroyed the Brazillian Rubber Industry

Last year, The Economist published a video explaining how biopirates are destroying the environment (and how blockchain technology could stop them). In the video, we’re warned of the “seed-pilfering” Sir Henry Wickham, who earned a king’s ransom off the backs of 19th-century Brazillian rubber farmers.

Brazil (Image by Paula Paulinha from Pixabay)

At the height of the Brazilian rubber boom, Sir Henry Wickham saw the opportunity to export rubber tree seeds from the Amazon and plant them in Southeast Asia. Wickham turned himself into “The Thief at the End of the World” by growing massive plantations that obliterated the Brazilian rubber industry.

Through the theft of natural resources, modern biopirates prevent the true owners of rainforest wealth (indigenous communities, landowners, and the governments of developing nations) from earning an income. This eliminates a tremendous financial incentive for local communities to preserve their natural environments.

Why It’s Hard to Stop Biopirates

Ever since the days of Wickham, hordes of biopirates have engaged in the relentless exploitation of natural resources found in rainforests all over the world. To stop this abuse, a group of 100 nations signed the Nagoya Protocol in 2010. Since then, the number of participants has grown to 116.

In case you’re wondering, the United States is not a member of the Nagoya Protocol. However, according to the Berkeley Journal of International Law in 2013, the United States was close to ratifying the agreement:

“President Obama has remained largely non-committal to seeking ratification of the Convention or to signing the Nagoya Protocol. However, there are signs that the administration may push to ratify the treaty before the end of President Obama’s second term, as indicated by the Obama Administration’s position on genetic resource cases before the Supreme Court.”

Nearly a decade since the Nagoya Protocol went into effect, the United States still hasn’t joined.