Ethnobotany is the documentation of traditional knowledge of ethnic groups so that the valuable knowledge is not lost from the community as all the communities undergo changes in the due course of time. An ethnobotanist mainly documents the different tribes, ethnic groups, their life styles, plants used for various purposes, their traditions, beliefs etc.
An ethnobotanist identifies the plants used by the tribes as medicine, food, fodder, and other miscellaneous uses. Indigenous knowledge is usually hidden among the ethnic groups, as they don't usually mingle with the external world. However, a few intelligent men intrude into these societies, steal their intellectual property, and take patents, in some distant place for the commercial use of the knowledge. In such cases, the original creator of the knowledge is the community and it is not properly benefitted. Such incidents have been reported from various parts of the world.
The popular cases of biopiracy of Azadirchta indica, Basmati rice, etc. are some classical examples.
Azadirachta indica or Neem was used by the Indians from time immemorial but was not properly documented under the IPR. Some foreign company had taken a patent on the use of Neem which prevented all others from using the knowledge. In such cases, proper documentation of the indigenous knowledge is important.
The Indian government has started a web initiative called TKDL - Traditional Knowledge Digital Library to document all such indigenous knowledge so that any patenting authority can inspect false claims made by frauds. Therefore, ethnobotanical documentation is very important for the interests of ethnic groups.
In addition there are Patenting Laws, IPR rules , etc to protect the interests of the ethnic groups.
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