XVI International Botanical Congess

With renewed interest in natural product research in the 1980's the NYBG formed inter-institutional collaborative research programs with NGO's, governments and private industry. In order to address NYBG's role as an independent, not for profit organization, its Board of Managers put forth this policy, which clarifies the role of the NYBG and its collaborators. It includes the following points:· Sharing of data and joint authorship of all resulting publications· Promoting the documentation and conservation of biological diversity· Compensating collaborating organizations equitably if commercial products are developed from plant resourcesThis document was initiated in 1991 and completed in 1996, but it did not address compensation for private landowners. A new NYBG policy for individual landowners is presented here for the first time.