Some of these steps were also advocated at the recent (February 1999) Workshop on Biodiversity Conservation and Intellectual Property Rights, organized by the Research and Information System on Non-Aligned and Developing Countries (RIS), and Kalpavriksh - Environmental Action Group, under the sponsorship of IUCN - The World Conservation Union. While largely arising from the experiences of South Asian countries, the recommendations of this workshop have much wider applicability. Their recommendations relating to international processes are therefore reproduced as an appendix to this article. Current international regimes which have relevance to IPR and biodiversity issues need to be substantially reviewed, and attempts made both to use die spaces available within diem and create new spaces and alternative regimes which can help to conserve biodiversity and protect the rights of indigenous and local communities. In particular, actions are needed in the World Trade Organization (WTO), concerning specifically the Agreement on (TRIPs), die Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the odier relevant international processes, including diose that have been initiated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Besides, the search for alternative international regimes is also important. Keywords: Biodiversity; intellectual property rights; Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, World Trade Organization; World Intellectual Property Organization; genetic resources.