Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
- This week in review … UNESCO Committee to consider new inscriptions at Intangible Heritage lists
- Funding opportunity: Call for proposals for the UN Democracy Fund
- Meeting review: UNESCO Conference on biosphere reserves and climate change
- This week in review … New IPCCA journal on biocultural systems and livelihoods calls for papers
- This week in review … Research highlights value of traditional rice-fish co-culture
- Resource: Book on ABS and the custodians of biodiversity
- This week in review … Biocultural efforts to conserve Caura rainforest
- This week in review … National body should preserve Australia's indigenous languages
This week in review … UNESCO Committee to consider new inscriptions at Intangible Heritage lists Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:26 PM PST Intangible Heritage Committee to consider new inscriptions at Bali meeting BALI, INDONESIA: More than 80 nominations, including Saman Dance from Indonesia, Fado from Portugal or Mariachi music from Mexico, will be considered for inclusion in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage lists at the 6th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Bali, from 22-29 November 2011. Mali, Burkina Fasoand Cote d'Ivoire will present a multinational nomination, with the Cultural Practices and Expressions related to the Balafon of the Senufo Communities. It is among 17 nominations that have been recommended for the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Committee will also consider 23 nominations proposed for inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of Urgent Safeguarding, and 12 proposals of programs for the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices. Read the press release … Visit the meeting website … Follow webcast … |
Funding opportunity: Call for proposals for the UN Democracy Fund Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:24 PM PST Window for new grant proposals open 15 November – 31 December The United Nations Democracy Fund invites civil society organizations to submit proposals for funding for projects to advance and support democracy. Project proposals may be submitted online between 15 November and 31 December 2011. The following activities are appropriate for funding: democratic dialogue and support for constitutional processes; civil society empowerment, including empowerment of women; civic education and voter registration; citizen's access to information; participation rights and the rule of law in support of civil society; and transparency and integrity. Only online applications in either English or French will be accepted. Further information, including background material and online submission of project proposals … |
Meeting review: UNESCO Conference on biosphere reserves and climate change Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:21 PM PST For life, for the future: biosphere reserves and climate change – Conference on the 40th anniversary of UNESCO MAB programme UNESCO has released the proceedings of this high-level international conference, which discussed the role of UNESCO biosphere reserves in implementing and advancing climate change policies. In the outcome document, the Dresden Declaration, participants call for closer links among climate change mitigation and adaptation, poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation. Among the measures required, the Declaration calls for supporting problem-oriented, interdisciplinary and applied research, monitoring and evaluation, including traditional knowledge, in relation to climate change and its impacts on biosphere reserves; and integrating traditional, indigenous and local knowledge and modern scientific findings to strengthen climate change research at practical level in the biosphere reserves. The Dresden Declaration was endorsed by the UNESCO General Conference in November 2011. Download the proceedings, including Dresden Declaration [pdf] … Visit the meeting website … |
This week in review … New IPCCA journal on biocultural systems and livelihoods calls for papers Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:19 PM PST Culture, Climate and Change: Biocultural Systems and Livelihoods CUSCO, PERU: Nurtured through the Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment, the new journal Culture, Climate and Change: Biocultural Systems and Livelihoods is dedicated to critically engaging with and disseminating biocultural approaches to understanding and responding to climate change and global change processes. Its objective is to facilitate epistemological bridging between different ways of knowing and being in the world through an open peer review process which aims to promote an environment of cooperation, knowledge exchange and networking between authors and reviewers. This journal is now accepting manuscripts for its first issue. Contributions should emphasize the interconnected reality of indigenous biocultural systems and how they enable adaptive capacity, resilience and mitigation. Submissions that provide local perspectives and knowledge as well as academic and professional inquiry into the discourses and practices of socio-ecological and biocultural complex systems, climate change, conservation, endogenous development and indigenous rights are welcome. A feature of this first issue will be a section on REDD and REDD+, particularly regarding the relationship between the rights of forest dwelling indigenous peoples and REDD. Visit the journal website … Read the call for papers … |
This week in review … Research highlights value of traditional rice-fish co-culture Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:16 PM PST Fish and rice flourish together in paddies LONDON, UK: A traditional farming technique that cultivates rich and fish side-by-side could help small farmers earn more money from their crops and reduce the impact on the environment, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on 14 November. Researchers examined how rice-fish co-culture (RF), which has been designated a "globally important agricultural heritage system," has been maintained for over 1,200 years in south China. A field survey demonstrated that although rice yield and rice-yield stability are similar in RF and rice monoculture (RM), RF requires 68% less pesticide and 24% less chemical fertilizer than RM. A field experiment confirmed this result. It was documented that a mutually beneficial relationship between rice and fish develops in RF: Fish reduce rice pests and rice favors fish by moderating the water environment. This positive relationship between rice and fish reduces the need for pesticides in RF. Results also indicate a complementary use of nitrogen (N) between rice and fish in RF, resulting in low N fertilizer application and low N release into the environment. These findings provide unique insights into how positive interactions and complementary use of resource between species generate emergent ecosystem properties, and how modern agricultural systems might be improved by exploiting synergies between species. For centuries, traditional agricultural systems have contributed to food and livelihood security throughout the world. Recognizing the ecological legacy in the traditional agricultural systems may help develop novel sustainable agriculture. Read the article … Download Ecological mechanisms underlying the sustainability of the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system, by Jian Xie et al, PNAS 14 November 2011, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1111043108 [pdf] … |
Resource: Book on ABS and the custodians of biodiversity Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:14 PM PST The Custodians of Biodiversity: Sharing Access to and Benefits of Genetic Resources This book addresses issues related to current threats to local and indigenous approaches to biodiversity conservation, crop improvement and natural resource management, and challenges related to the unsuitability of existing laws to protect indigenous and traditional knowledge and recognize collective rights. It outlines the national and international policy processes that are currently underway to protect local genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and the challenges these initiatives have faced. In particular, these themes are addressed within the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR). The authors broaden the policy and legal debates beyond the sphere of policy experts to include the knowledge-holders themselves, the custodians of biodiversity, including farmers, herders and fishers in local communities. The book presents this experience, including case studies from China, Cuba, Honduras, Jordan, Nepal, Peru and Syria. Download the book [pdf] … |
This week in review … Biocultural efforts to conserve Caura rainforest Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:13 PM PST Cultural erosion among indigenous groups in Venezuela brings new risks for Caura rainforest CALIFORNIA, USA: The Caura river, which drains the Guiana Shield highlands that separate the Orinoco and Amazon River basins, is renowned for its biological and cultural richness. Until recently, modern impacts to the ecosystem and native cultures have been slight. But change is now coming fast to the Caura and it's not necessarily for the better, says Tarek Milleron, an ecologist who runs Caura Futures, a group that aims to support local efforts to conserve the Caura River Basin ecosystem. Caura Futures is taking a non-conventional approach to conservation. Instead of working to set up national parks, lobbying governments, or forming alliances with the forces that are destroying forests, Caura Futures partners with local indigenous communities and provides training and tools to safeguard traditional knowledge, improve human health, and promote good ecosystem stewardship. Working with Ye'kwana and Sanema has given Caura Futures and local organization Caura Weichojo a good understanding of the day-to-day needs of native communities. Caura Futures is also working to boost retention of traditional knowledge of indigenous communities by supporting local efforts to systematically record oral histories, rituals and wisdom of Ye'kwana and Sanema elders. These efforts to form a cultural library are entirely locally contained. Read the article … |
This week in review … National body should preserve Australia's indigenous languages Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:09 PM PST Indigenous languages "must be preserved" SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Australian Human Rights Commission spokeswoman Fabienne Balsamo said research shows the number of Aboriginal languages spoken across Australia has dropped from an original 250 to 150. Indigenous languages could disappear within 30 years without action to preserve them, she said, noting that a single national body should replace the current web of state programs as a means of preserving indigenous languages. Read the article … |
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