Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
- This week in review … FAO releases study on women's role in managing livestock diversity
- This week in review … UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food warns of the threats of 'ocean grabbing' to food security
- This week in review … WIPO circulates draft of TK Documentation Toolkit
- This week in review … EMRIP seeks input on UNDRIP, access to justice
- This week in review … Africa Land Forum focuses on securing land rights of indigenous peoples and poor rural communities
- This week in review … Indigenous fire project in Australia to earn carbon credits
This week in review … FAO releases study on women's role in managing livestock diversity Posted: 07 Nov 2012 04:01 AM PST Women are main guardians of crucial livestock diversity ROME, ITALY: Women livestock keepers worldwide must be recognized as the major actors in efforts to stop the decline of indigenous breeds, crucial for rural food security and animal genetics, a new FAO study argues. Of the 600 million poor livestock keepers in the world, around two-thirds are women, whose men often have migrated to the cities. Yet women's contribution to indigenous livestock breeding and conservation is poorly documented and undervalued, finds the study "Invisible Guardians: Women manage livestock diversity", authored by Ilse Köhler-Rollefson. Indigenous breeds may not produce a lot of meat, milk or eggs, but are adapted to often harsh local conditions, are disease-resistant, thrive on easy to obtain local fodder or forage and generally take care of themselves. Such breeds are also a repository of irreplaceable genetic material. They often have traits such as disease-resistance that can be important for breeding programmes. And in a world threatened by climate change, breeds that are resistant to drought, extreme heat or tropical diseases are of major potential importance. The advantages of indigenous breeds have been long known. Similarly, the importance of small-scale farmers and pastoralists as custodians of these resources is well recognized, but has never previously been disaggregated by gender. The differential roles of men and women have largely been neglected in studies of animal genetic resources management, but by piecing together several strands of argument and indirect evidence it can be concluded that women are the main guardians of livestock diversity. The study presents an analysis of women's role in the sustainable use, development and conservation of animal genetic resources and asserts that the role of women in safeguarding and defending indigenous breeds and improving their genetics through careful breeding has not been appreciated. Case studies from many regions of the world illustrate that while to a degree women acquire their role as guardians of diversity by default because of global trends, many also make an active and conscious contribution to the management of animal genetic resources. The report recommends that gender issues are made central to projects, programmes and policies that focus on animal genetic resource management. Read the news release … Download the study [pdf] … |
This week in review … UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food warns of the threats of 'ocean grabbing' to food security Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:59 AM PST 'Ocean-grabbing' as serious a threat as 'land-grabbing' – UN food expert NEW YORK, USA: 'Ocean-grabbing' – in the shape of shady access agreements that harm small-scale fishers, unreported catch, incursions into protected waters, and the diversion of resources away from local populations – can be as serious a threat as 'land-grabbing,' UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter said as he unveiled his new report on fisheries and the right to food. The UN expert called on governments to rethink the models of fisheries that they support, highlighting that small-scale fishers actually catch more fish per gallon of fuel than industrial fleets, and discard fewer fish. "Industrial fishing in far-flung waters may seem like the economic option, but only because fleets are able to pocket major subsidies while externalizing the costs of over-fishing and resource degradation. Future generations will pay the price when the oceans run dry," he said. The key challenge, he indicated, is to ensure coexistence between industrial fishing and the rights of small-scale fishers and coastal communities – for whom even occasional fishing can constitute an essential safety net in times of crisis. In the report, he makes a number of recommendations: create exclusive artisanal fishing zones for small-scale fishers and clamp down on incursions by industrial fleets; support small-scale fishers' cooperatives and help them rise up the value chain; put co-management schemes in place to manage fishing resources locally; refrain from undertaking large-scale development projects, e.g. sand extraction, that adversely affect the livelihoods of small-scale fishers; and make fisheries and small-scale fishers an integral part of national right to food strategies. The independent expert drew attention to positive examples, such as the decision to grant community-based user rights to small-scale fishers on the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia (Tonle Sap, Cambodia), and the decision to ban industrial tuna fishing in favor of local 'pole and line' fishers in the Maldives. Read the release … Download the report [pdf] … |
This week in review … WIPO circulates draft of TK Documentation Toolkit Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:56 AM PST WIPO Traditional Knowledge Documentation Toolkit – Consultation Draft GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published a draft traditional knowledge documentation toolkit, which is available for consultation. Comments may be sent to grtkf(at)wipo.int. The toolkit provides practical guidance on how to undertake a TK documentation exercise as a process and how to address critical intellectual property-related issues and questions. It identifies three phases of the process, before, during and after TK documentation. Steps before documentation include: planning; understanding indigenous peoples and local communities' interests and concerns; defining objectives; participation and prior informed consent; and assessing legal issues, including the public domain and other intellectual property considerations. Steps during documentation address: obtaining, organizing, maintaining and transmitting TK; and continuously informing indigenous peoples and local communities about progress. After documentation, steps include: promoting the database or register; putting in place technological measures for establishing ownership over documentation; monitoring uses and users; and verifying whether initial planning objectives and milestones have been met. It is noted that the toolkit does not promote documentation as such, neither does it provide, suggest or prefer any one approach to IP management, but offers a menu of alternatives to be taken into account by documentation projects and efforts. It is also noted that documentation cannot stand alone as an effective strategy for protecting TK, as well as concerns and questions raised regarding documentation and its potential effects on the rights, cultures and livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities, including through the placing of TK and traditional cultural expressions in the public domain, and the loss of control. Read the release … Download the draft toolkit [pdf] … |
This week in review … EMRIP seeks input on UNDRIP, access to justice Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:54 AM PST Questionnaire on the Declaration GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: In Resolution 18/8 (September 2011), the Human Rights Council requested the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to undertake, with the assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a questionnaire to seek the views of States on best practices regarding possible appropriate measures and implementation strategies in order to attain the goals of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In Resolution 21/24 (September 2012), the Human Rights Council requested the Expert Mechanism to continue its survey of states and to also survey indigenous peoples to seek their views on best practices regarding possible appropriate measures and implementation strategies to obtain the goals. Responses to the questionnaire are due 18 February 2013 by email to expertmechanism(at)ohchr.org. Further information, including links to State responses to the questionnaire … Download the questionnaire for indigenous peoples [pdf] in English … in French … in Spanish … in Russian … Further, the Expert Mechanism is seeking submissions from indigenous peoples, academia, national human rights institutions, civil society and other interested groups and persons relevant to its study on access to justice in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples (also requested by the Human Rights Council per resolution 21/24 (September 2012)). There is no prescribed form for submissions. Submissions are due 11 February 2013 by email to expertmechanism(at)ohchr.org. Further information … |
This week in review … Africa Land Forum focuses on securing land rights of indigenous peoples and poor rural communities Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:51 AM PST Securing the land rights of indigenous people and poor rural communities YAOUNDE, CAMEROON: Taking place from 7-8 November 2012, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the first Africa Land Forum focuses on the theme "Securing the land rights of indigenous people and poor rural communities." The forum will highlight key issues in relation to land policy and governance, and serve as a platform for actors to emphasize the critical need to render global, regional and national land policies more pro-poor, inclusive and responsive to the situation of marginalized communities as a path to equitable development in Africa. Although the problem of insecure and poor land access is common to all rural poor communities, indigenous communities are suffering even more. Indigenous communities are victimized by non-inclusive land policies and governance practices. Their culture, mode of life and extremely poor representation in state systems result to their political, economic and social marginalization. Furthermore, indigenous peoples of Africa are mainly pastoralists and hunter-gatherers and the land they occupy and depend on for their livelihoods (which generally relate to, and play an important part in upholding their culture) is often considered as terra nullius (land belonging to no one). This land is therefore increasingly sold or leased to new investors and expropriated for the purpose of the large-scale development initiatives. This continuous dispossession of their land further impoverishes these indigenous communities and threatens their economic, social and cultural survival thereby alienating their right to economic, social and cultural development. Read the release … Further information on the event … Follow live webcast … |
This week in review … Indigenous fire project in Australia to earn carbon credits Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:47 AM PST Indigenous fire project to earn carbon credits DARWIN, AUSTRALIA: An Indigenous-owned property in the Northern Territory will be home to the first savanna burning project approved under the Federal Government's Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) in Australia. It is estimated that Fish River Station, about 200 kilometres south of Darwin, could earn 20,000 carbon credits a year by strategically burning the rangelands in the early months of the dry season, which reduces the fuel load and the severity of late season fires (a major contributor to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions). The project aims to reduce Australia's carbon pollution, while providing employment for Indigenous people and significant environmental benefits for the landscape. The North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) has worked closely with the Indigenous Land Corporation (which owns Fish River) to develop its fire project. NAILSMA's Joe Morrison said CFI approval for the Fish River Fire Project is a win for environmental management across northern Australia, Indigenous economic development and traditional owners. "Fish River used to be hit hard by uncontrolled fires and historically 69 per cent of the property would be badly damaged each year," he said. "By using traditional knowledge supported by modern technology, in the last two years much cooler fires have resulted in less than 3 per cent of the property now being burnt by late season wild fires, which has also helped to protect adjacent pastoral properties." Read the article … |
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