Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:24 PM PDT Second meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing The second meeting of the Open-ended Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol (ICNP) on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held from 2-6 July 2012, in New Delhi, India. It was preceded by a capacity-building workshop on ABS, co-organized by the Secretariats of the CBD and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR), held from 30 June – 1 July 2012. The meeting adopted eight recommendations on issues including modalities of operation of the ABS clearing-house; capacity building; measures to raise awareness of the importance of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge; and cooperative procedures and institutional mechanisms to promote compliance with the Protocol and address cases of non-compliance. The meeting served its objective to prepare for implementation and entry into force by identifying questions that demand clarification at the international level. Although entry into force is expected to take at least another two years, many countries showcased impressive legislative and policy developments, highlighting that the Protocol is already making a difference at the domestic level. A hot agenda item at ICNP 2 was the compliance procedures, and in particular its relevance vis-à-vis another complex aspect of the Protocol—its provisions on indigenous and local communities (ILCs) and their traditional knowledge. Participation of ILCs appear "indispensible" to some in light of the inseparable nature of genetic resources and traditional knowledge and due to the rights of ILCs recognized in several Protocol provisions. While there was understanding, at least among observers, that the credibility and legitimacy of the Protocol would also be reflected in the "opening" of compliance procedures to the participation of ILCs, CBD parties were divided on this issue, with some fearing that ILCs would utilize a compliance committee to "bypass" national institutions, and others expressing concern that community submissions will "flood" the system. Although ILCs themselves were not vocal at this meeting due to the small number of representatives present, possibly resulting from a combination of visa issues and funding shortages, certain countries put forward a variety of possible avenues to ensure a community "voice" in the compliance mechanism. Options ranged from a community trigger of the procedure, to enabling community representatives to participate in the compliance committee as members or as observers, to the possibility for communities to submit information directly to the compliance committee, or the possibility for the committee to directly consult with relevant communities. The African Group also "resurrected" their proposal to create an ombudsman (which had been included in certain drafts of the Protocol but disappeared from the compromise text adopted in Nagoya). As revamped, the ombudsman could create an intermediate layer in the compliance procedure where the party concerned and its relevant communities could initially address implementation challenges with some international facilitation, but without too much interference in domestic affairs. In light of the recent proposal to allow for ILCs' submissions to the compliance committee only if they meet certain screening criteria, the ombudsman could be an alternative way to select well-founded community submissions for transmission to the compliance committee. Read the IISD RS daily and summary reports on the meeting … Visit the meeting's webpage … |
This week in review … IP Watch reports on ongoing WIPO IGC meeting Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:21 PM PDT WIPO Folklore Committee Stuck in Starting Blocks; Indigenous Peoples Wave UN Declaration Traditional Cultural Expressions Talks Back on Track at WIPO GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: The opening day of the 22nd session of the WIPO Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) was mostly spent on informal consultations, as delegates could not reach consensus on the agenda, particularly the item on the future work of the IGC. Developing countries said that the discussion on future work of the IGC was not in the mandate of the IGC and remained the prerogative of the WIPO General Assembly. Developing countries said the item would divert attention from the meeting's focus on the protection of traditional cultural expressions. An agreement was found the following day, to refer to the agenda item as "Expression of use on future matters concerning the IGC." At the outset, the indigenous panel reminded delegates of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and called for considerations of the Declaration during the week's negotiations. The working methodology will combine plenary and informal sessions. A group of experts will meet in informal sessions, composed of a maximum of five experts from regional groups. Other member states will be permitted to sit in but will have no direct speaking right. Indigenous people are invited to provide one expert to participate in the expert group as an observer. Read the article of 9 July 2012 … Read the article of 10 July 2012 … |
Resource: UNDRIP e-module for communities Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:18 PM PDT United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The module on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) seeks to provide insight into UNDRIP's provisions and how they can be applied by communities worldwide. It provides background to UNDRIP, a detailed examination of its provisions and guidance for communities to recognize relevant provisions for application in their own contexts. It is one of the draft e-learning modules supplementing the toolkit for community facilitators on biocultural community protocols. The document is not final and any comments can be directed to: holly (at) naturaljustice.org and harry (at) naturaljustice.org. Download the e-module [pdf] … |
Resource: Conservation and Society special issue on forest tenure reforms Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:15 PM PDT Conservation & Society Special Issue: Forest Tenure Reforms The articles of this special issue examine changes in community rights to forests: In Asia, Africa and Latin America, an important shift in forest tenure has occurred since 1985, with at least 200 million ha of forest recognised or legally transferred to local communities and indigenous people. Though the portion of the global forest estate either owned or administered by communities is still small at only 11.4 per cent as of 2008, the changes are significant, and recent data suggests that the community share is still growing. In addition, the percentage of forests in the hands of communities in the developing world alone is much higher, at 22 per cent in 2002 and increasing to 27 per cent in 2008. Research on devolution, community forestry, common property resources, conservation and development initiatives and, more recently, forestry decentralisation in the context of climate change, has explored different aspects of these reforms. What is new here is the recognition that a variety of policy shifts and changing conceptions have come together to constitute what we now understand as forest tenure reform, comparable to the widespread agrarian reforms of the mid-twentieth century and with equally important implications. Forest tenure reform differs from agrarian reform. Rather than redistributing land, it primarily involves the formal recognition of forest rights and benefits for people already living in and around forests; it is often driven by demands for ancestral or customary land rights. In addition to responding to livelihood interests, it also explicitly aims to conserve forests, in contrast to agrarian policies that often promoted forest clearing in the past. Reforms may originate as much 'from above' as 'from below', with forces driving and shaping reforms emerging from communities, indigenous people and social movements, international donors or the state. Forest tenure reforms have implications for both communities and forests. They are in part based, at least in theory, on the belief that communities can be good forest stewards; in practice, however, this position does not always appear to guide the decisions of those responsible for implementation. Articles in the issue include, among others: Forest tenure reform: new resource rights for forest-based communities?, by Anne M Larson and Ganga Ram Dahal; Co-management in community forestry: how the partial devolution of management rights creates challenges for forest communities, by Peter Cronkleton, Juan M Pulhin, Sushil Saigal; Enhancing forest tenure reforms through more responsive regulations, by Anne M Larson, Juan M Pulhin; Secondary level organisations and the democratisation of forest governance: Case studies from Nepal and Guatemala, by Naya Sharma Paudel, Iliana Monterroso, Peter Cronkleton; Legitimacy of forest rights: The underpinnings of the forest tenure reform in the protected areas of petén, Guatemala, by Iliana Monterroso, Deborah Barry; From communal forests to protected areas: The implications of tenure changes in natural resource management in Guatemala, by Silvel Elías; Communities, property rights and forest decentralisation in Kenya: Early lessons from participatory forestry management, by Jephine Mogoi, Emily Obonyo, Paul Ongugo, Vincent Oeba, Esther Mwa; and Public policy reforms and indigenous forest governance: The case of the Yuracaré people in Bolivia, by Rosario León, Patricia Uberhuaga, Jean Paul Benavides, Krister Andersson. Access the table of contents, including links to open access full text … |
This week in review … Guyana project combines science and TK for climate adaptation Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:11 PM PDT Merging science, traditional knowledge could benefit climate adaptation GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: A conservation and research organisation in Guyana is teaming up with indigenous people to benefit the country's forest communities and provide insights into weather and climate change. A team of water experts this year has begun research to determine the effects of climate change on two ecosystems – tropical forests and savannah wetlands – straddled by the Iwokrama reserve, an area of 371,000 hectares (917,000 acres) in the centre of Guyana. People living on reserve are using their traditional knowledge of the land to help the researchers, and at the same time learning new ways to strengthen their food and economic security. Read the article … |
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