There is not a spot on Earth where human footprints or fingerprints can’t be found, Walter Reid said during his keynote address for the 1997 Institute of World Affairs at Iowa State.

Reid, vice president of programs at World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington, D.C., talked to about 75 people on “Who Owns the World? Biodiversity, Bioethics and World Trade” Monday night in the Memorial Union.

“I think if you take the broad definition the way [Reid] did, I think it is very true. Human society has had a vast influence on all biological processes,” said Travis Franck, co-chairman for the 1997 Institute of World Affairs and a junior in computer and environmental sciences.

Reid discussed the increasingly complicated conservation, equity, human rights and ethical dilemmas that surface when dealing with biodiversity, bioethics and world trade.

Reid said the continuing reduction of biodiversity is due to the fact that only one-fifth of the world’s forests remain in a fully intact ecosystem.

Quoting WRI research, Reid said 700 known species are extinct because of humans. Approximately 5 to 15 percent will become instinct in the next 15 to 20 years because of loss of habitat due to humans, he said.

The conservation dilemma deals with the history of commercial overexploitation of public resources, Reid said.

He said an example of conservation is how a pharmaceutical company will compensate the indigenous people of an area for taking natural resources from their land.

The equity dilemma, Reid said, is addressed when the trade-off between the industry and the community is not fair.

Another factor Reid discussed is that biotrade is growing and threatening human rights and ethical norms.

Genes and biochemicals have become a hot commodity, Reid said, and the goal is to control growth so it can contribute to sustainable development.

Reid is currently doing research on the legal aspects and regulations on environmental and economic development issues at the international level.

He has co-authored and written numerous reports and articles, and he is the primary author of 1992’s Global Biodiversity Strategy.

Reid received his doctorate in zoology from the University of Washington in 1987 and currently lives in Takoma Park, Md.

Franck said the lecture series will hopefully increase student awareness about international affairs.

The topics picked for the lecture series will hit a variety of central themes so all students can become involved.

The next lecture will discuss “Who Owns Nature?”

Jan Narveson and Ned Hettinger speaking today at noon in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.