Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
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- Meeting prep: UNPFII-11
- This week in review … Revised draft articles on TK available on WIPO website
- This week in review … ICTSD article comments on WIPO IGC negotiations
- This week in review … Tribal farming beats climate change
- Job vacancy: Ford Foundation program officer on climate change
- This week in review … EU-funded project looks into TK for adaptation in the Pacific
- Resource: Case study on customary law in forest resources use and management
- Resource: Law of self-determination and UNDRIP
Posted: 02 May 2012 03:44 AM PDT Eleventh session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues The special theme for this year's session will be: the doctrine of discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests (articles 28 and 37 of UNDRIP). The meeting's agenda also includes: a high-level commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the adoption of UNDRIP; a comprehensive dialogue with WIPO; and dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights on indigenous peoples and the Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Half-day discussions will focus on: the rights of indigenous peoples to food and food sovereignty; Central and Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; and the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. The meeting will also address a study on shifting cultivation and the socio-cultural integrity of indigenous peoples, as well as a study on the impacts of land use change and climate change on indigenous reindeer herders' livelihoods, including culturally adjusted criteria for indigenous land uses, requested by the Forum at its previous session. Visit the meeting's website … Read the meeting's documents … Download the study on shifting cultivation [pdf] … Download the study on reindeer herders [pdf] …
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This week in review … Revised draft articles on TK available on WIPO website Posted: 02 May 2012 03:41 AM PDT Draft articles on traditional knowledge GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: The draft articles on traditional knowledge, as developed by WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) at its 21st session in April 2012, are currently available online. In other WIPO-related news, applications for accreditation at IGC-22, which will be held from 9-13 July 2012, must be submitted to the WIPO Secretariat by 9 May 2012. Applications for funding from the WIPO Voluntary Fund for Accredited Indigenous and Local Communities for participation at IGC-23 must also be submitted to the WIPO Secretariat by 9 May 2012. Download the draft articles [pdf] … Further information on the accreditation process … Further information on the WIPO Voluntary Fund, including application forms …
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This week in review … ICTSD article comments on WIPO IGC negotiations Posted: 02 May 2012 03:33 AM PDT Differences Plague WIPO Negotiations on Traditional Knowledge GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: Negotiations last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over a legal instrument intended to protect traditional knowledge (TK) saw mixed progress. Though a draft text will be forwarded to WIPO's General Assembly that includes some areas of convergence, various disagreements on the definition of TK, its beneficiaries, and the scope of a potential instrument marred the week-long discussions. Read the article …
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This week in review … Tribal farming beats climate change Posted: 02 May 2012 03:31 AM PDT Tribal Farming Beats Climate Change RAYAGADA, INDIA: For Harish Saraka and other subsistence farmers in 70 Niyamgiri villages in Rayagada, adapting to changing conditions meant reverting to traditional farming methods such as mixed cropping, the use of organic fertilisers and trusted seed varieties. Saraka recalls that his forebears sowed three different seeds in the same field: millet, legume, oilseed and maybe a creeper bean. Debjeet Sarangi who heads 'Living Farms', an NGO that works with marginal farmers, says the movement in India to return to traditional seeds is growing stronger. In 2008, Living Farms began a programme of giving poor families seeds on condition that after harvest the same quantity would be returned plus 10 percent 'interest' to be put into grain banks. Simple woven bamboo baskets sealed with thick clay-and cow dung daub, the grain banks are managed by Kondh women and opened only in times of need. Read the article …
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Job vacancy: Ford Foundation program officer on climate change Posted: 02 May 2012 03:29 AM PDT Program Officer, Climate Change Responses that Strengthen Rural Communities NEW YORK, USA: The Program Officer will be responsible for implementing, monitoring, and coordinating grant making activities in the Climate Change Responses that Strengthen Rural Communities portfolio, which seeks to promote international and national climate change policies related to forests and rural land use that benefit low-income rural communities, particularly indigenous communities, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program strategy within this portfolio is designed to influence the climate change policies of major international agencies and organizations, national governments, and large private companies in ways that favor disadvantaged rural communities. This includes policies that help such communities to gain secure access to land and forests, earn income from climate change funds, and improve their local institutions while providing safeguards that ensure climate change policies don't affect them adversely. Particular attention will be given to policies related to Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and to biofuels. The Program Officer will develop grant making and other program activities to implement three strategies to achieve program goals: 1) supporting research and development efforts to build the case for appropriate policies; 2) promoting communications campaigns and other activities that directly advocate a pro-poor approach to rural climate change policies; and 3) strengthening networks of groups and individuals that support pro-poor climate change approaches. This position includes a high-level of participation, on behalf of the Ford Foundation, in the Climate and Land Use Alliance. Ideal candidates will have significant experience in the fields of environmental policy, community-based natural resource management, rural development, and/or global commodity markets, with a combination of policy analysis, advocacy, communications, and implementation experience. The deadline for applications is 21 May 2012. Further information …
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This week in review … EU-funded project looks into TK for adaptation in the Pacific Posted: 02 May 2012 03:26 AM PDT Let's not neglect traditional knowledge: Lecturer SUVA, FIJI: An EU-funded project is looking, among other issues, at ways that Pacific cultures and traditional knowledge can assist with climate change adaptation for Pacific countries. The project, titled "Global Climate Change Alliance" aims to foster cooperation and dialogue between the EU and developing countries vulnerable to climate change. Participants in a recent workshop organized in the framework of the project addressed traditional knowledge for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Read the article …
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Resource: Case study on customary law in forest resources use and management Posted: 02 May 2012 03:23 AM PDT Customary Law in Forest Resources Use and Management – A Case Study among the Dzao and Thai People in North-West Vietnam Since the early 1990s, Vietnam has attempted to address deforestation by decentralizing forest management. Under the forest land allocation programme, long-term use rights over forest land are provided to individual households and communities. One of the key challenges is how customary land rights and institutions can be formally recognized under statutory law. Vietnam's forest law recognizes local forest users as rights holders and customary practices and culture as the basis for assigning forests to these people. However, while the programme has been successful in improving forest conservation, its benefits have been unevenly distributed. Especially in mountainous areas, where the majority of ethnic minorities live, implementation has been slow and many communities remain without secure tenure rights. This study documents customary law applied in forest resource use and management among Thai and Dzao communities and concludes with a set of recommendations which can contribute to an improvement of forest related laws and policies. The findings and recommendations are particularly relevant in light of the fact that Vietnam is currently preparing for REDD, including related safeguards such as the respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, and their full and effective participation. Read the report …
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Resource: Law of self-determination and UNDRIP Posted: 02 May 2012 03:21 AM PDT The Law of Self-Determination and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples This article summarizes the international law concerning the right of self-determination at the time the Declaration was adopted and discusses the development and content of that right in the Declaration. The article is based on the author's personal observations and notes of the debates over the course of thirty years as well as the written records of the drafting and debate of the Declaration. Download the article [pdf] …
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