As 187 governments gather in Kuala Lumpur today for the latest round of talks on biodiversity, an environmental group warned that the focus on the commodification of the world's resources will only derail the original aim of the meeting, which is to conserve biodiversity.

In a press statement, Friends of the Earth International (FOE) said international rules that allow life and traditional knowledge to be patented, and activities such as large-scale commercial logging in the tropical forests of Malaysia, are unacceptable.

"There are many activities that are directly responsible for the loss of biological and cultural diversity. Logging and mining industries are two major culprits," warned the world's largest grassroots environmental organisation.

Held at the Putra World Trade Centre until Feb 20, the seventh conference of parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, better known as 'COP 7', is expected to focus on negotiations over rules on genetic patents and commodification of genetic resources.

Discussions will also cover the role of protected areas, technology transfer, and the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Interest groups such as FOE want governments to halt their negotiations on biopiracy rules - which allow for the ownership of patents on genetic material and traditional knowledge.

"New rules based on the commodification of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge would be unacceptable because they would facilitate biopiracy instead of halting it. This would make the CBD lose its credibility," said FOE 's Simone Lovera in the statement.

Ban large-scale logging

Meanwhile, another environmental group Greenpeace said rather than wasting money talking about protecting biodiversity, governments should put a ban on large scale logging operations and industrial activity in marine protected areas, which deplete most of the world's resources.

"World governments have a huge task ahead of them. They must take these next two weeks seriously...(and) honour their commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2010,"said Martin Kaiser of Greenpeace.

The organisation said it will be releasing its document on illegal logging practices in Asia Pacific tomorrow, as part of Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior's first leg of the tour of the region.

The Convention on Biological Diversity, a key agreement adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, is aimed at conserving of biological diversity, its sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits on the use of genetic resources.

The treaty is signed by 187 countries, with some notable holdouts including the United States.