Vandana Shiva

The 'enclosure' of biodiversity and knowledge is the final step in a series of enclosures that began with the rise of colonialism. Land and forests were the first resources to be 'enclosed' and converted from commons to commodities. Later, water resources were 'enclosed' through dams, groundwater mining and privatization schemes. Now it is the turn if biodiversity and knowledge to be 'enclosed' by IPRs. In the globalization era, the commons are being enclosed and the power of communities is being undermined by a corporate enclosure in which life itself is being transformed into the private property of corporations.