A well-known deal that aimed to benefit both users and providers of biodiversity is the collaboration between Merck – an international pharmaceutical company – and the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) of Costa Rica. Dating from the early 1990s, their agreement grants Merck access to natural material from which compounds are extracted and screened using various bioassays to see whether they have medically useful properties. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck supports the strengthening of INBio’s capacity to carry out its work, as well promising a portion of the profits arising from any successful drug produced. INBio in turn provides a share of this funding to Costa Rica’s PAs. INBio has negotiated similar agreements with a number of other companies, including Givaudan-Roure, Recombinant Bio-Catalysis, Bristol-Myers Squib, AnaLyticum and Indena. Despite criticism of these deals, mainly relating to concerns about transparency, public accountability and the price paid by companies for access to resources, INBio has demonstrated the potential of securing funds for public conservation from commercial bioprospecting.

Under an agreement between INBio and Diversa, an American company located in San Diego, California, two products have been developed from Costa Rican biodiversity: an enzyme used in the manufacturing of cotton (Cottonase) and a fluorescent protein that is used as a “marker” for interesting chemical compounds. Diversa has transferred to INBio a percentage of its earnings from the sale of both products, to be shared between InBio and the Ministry of the Environment. These resources will be used, as established by the INBio-MINAE agreement, to generate information about biodiversity and to support conservation efforts by the National Conservation Areas System (SINAC).
Upon reaching its tenth anniversary, INBio decided to consolidate its effort to promote bio-literacy in society and created INBioparque in February of 2000 to teach people about Costa Rica’s biological diversity, its value and the importance of conserving it. INBioparque is athem e park that offers an interactive experience with nature. Visitors see plants and trees from the tropical rainforest, Central Valley forest and species from the dry tropical forest and wetlands. On our campus, which covers an area of more than 5 hectares, visitors can observe many bird species and marvel at the colors of the orchids, heliconias and bromeliads. Around the lagoon is a butterfly garden and aquarium. Trails give visitors a close look at poisonous frogs, bullet ants, boas, caimans, turtles, iguanas and tarantulas, as well as sloths and other native species.