Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
- Meeting review: CBD Working Group on Article 8(j)
- This week in review … Community seed banks empower farmers in South Africa
- This week in review … TK meets R&D in French Polynesia
- This week in review … Climate change affects insects in Kenya, along with traditional forecasts
- This week in review … Science and tradition are combined for fisheries management in Fiji
- This week in review … Indigenous communities in Guatemala manage rare forests
Meeting review: CBD Working Group on Article 8(j) Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:50 AM PDT Eighth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity The Working Group on Article 8(j) (traditional knowledge) and related provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) forwarded a number of recommendations to the Conference of the Parties (COP), including: a draft plan of action on customary sustainable use; a process for developing voluntary guidelines for the repatriation of traditional knowledge; and a process for advancing work on several tasks that will contribute to work under the Convention and the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing (ABS), including guidelines on prior informed approval for use of traditional knowledge, fair and equitable benefit-sharing, and reporting and prevention of unlawful appropriation of traditional knowledge. The Working Group also addressed a progress report on the implementation of the work programme on Article 8(j) and related provisions, and mechanisms to promote the effective participation of indigenous and local communities in CBD work; sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge; and recommendations from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). An in-depth dialogue focused on connecting traditional knowledge systems and science, such as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), including gender dimensions. Delegates also discussed whether to change the terminology "indigenous and local communities" used under the Convention to "indigenous peoples and local communities" used in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Rio+20 Outcome Document, and requested the Secretariat to prepare an independent analysis, including by seeking advice from the UN Office of Legal Affairs, to facilitate further consideration of the matter at COP 12. Visit the meeting website, including links to documents … Read the CBD press release … Read the IISD Reporting Services daily reports … |
This week in review … Community seed banks empower farmers in South Africa Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:49 AM PDT Powerful crops – empowering farmers through community seed banks in South Africa EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA: Empowering farmers through strengthening informal seed supply systems, supporting the conservation of traditional farmer varieties, and maintaining seed security at district and community levels is no easy task. But thanks to the efforts of South Africa's Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries (DAFF), change may be soon in the farmers' hands. A revised strategy for conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture in South Africa has extended its focus from just ex situ national collections to also include in situ conservation – where biodiversity is conserved through use in the farmers' fields. This will be supported by community seedbanks — collective initiatives that empower farmers to use, exchange and conserve local and improved plant varieties for food security and improved livelihoods. Read the release … |
This week in review … TK meets R&D in French Polynesia Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:47 AM PDT Traditional knowledge meets R&D in French Polynesia PARIS, FRANCE: A "unique living laboratory" that combines conventional science and traditional knowledge in the Pacific has delivered valuable development leads, but may now be under threat, a meeting held by France's Institute of Research for Development (IRD) has heard. The benefits of such research informed by local knowledge in French Polynesia include the development of drugs for a foodborne illness that climate change may soon allow to spread to other parts of the world and working to save a local medicinal plant from the brink of extinction. Indigenous knowledge and practices have benefited from research the IRD has run in the country and have also helped to inform the institute's research and development (R&D) programmes, according to a book released at the Paris meeting last week (3 October). Fifty Years of Research for Development in French Polynesia (50 ans de recherche pour le développement en Polynésie française) gives an overview of the research the IRD has carried out since its establishment in the archipelago, highlighting the symbiotic relationship between R&D and indigenous knowledge there. Read the article … Further information on the book [in French] … |
This week in review … Climate change affects insects in Kenya, along with traditional forecasts Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:45 AM PDT As insects disappear, so do Kenya's traditional forecasts UASIN GISHU, KENYA: For decades, indigenous farmers living in Kenya's Rift Valley have predicted the weather by observing the behaviour of insects. Such traditional knowledge guided their decisions about when to prepare land for planting, as well as what kinds of crops to sow. But climate change and the increasingly variable weather patterns in the Rift Valley region have led to a decline in the ants, along with other insects, making it difficult for farmers to predict the weather for the coming season. The effect is not only seen in weather forecasting. Some insects play an important role in pollinating crops, and farmers' yields have dropped along with insect numbers. Farmers also observe formations of Hadeda ibis birds in the evening sky to predict rain, while some noises made by frogs and toads are taken to indicate fair weather the next day. When the medicinal baobab tree sheds its leaves, the farmers say, dry spells are around the corner. Read the article … |
This week in review … Science and tradition are combined for fisheries management in Fiji Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:44 AM PDT Science and tradition secure a fishier future for Fiji KUBULAU DISTRICT, FIJI: In a world where fish catches are collapsing around the globe, Fijian fish are on the comeback trail thanks to a remarkable blend of centuries-old tradition and the latest science. In Kubulau District, local fishers, marine biologists and staff of the Wildlife Conservation Society are combining ancient tabu (taboo) customs and modern science to manage fish stocks. The communities of Kubulau have extended their network of marine protected areas (MPAs) to cover almost half their traditional fisheries area using a mix of traditional and "western" management styles. "The practice of establishing a tabu – which places temporary bans on fishing in certain areas – goes back hundreds of years in Fijian history," says Dr Rebecca Weeks from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Australia. "By working together to create a network of tabu areas, and adding some large, permanently closed MPAs, the communities in Kubulau are making sure that their management efforts are better able to address the problem of sustainable fishing in the 21st century. Read the article … |
This week in review … Indigenous communities in Guatemala manage rare forests Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:42 AM PDT Locals help protect Guatemala's rare forests PETEN, GUATEMALA: Indigenous communities of northern Guatemala have been given the right to make a living off their tropical forests, preventing illegal logging and destruction. The project helps save the forest as well as combat poverty. The indigenous groups of the Maya Biosphere Reserve have organized themselves in the ACOFOP (Asociación de Comunidades Forestales de Petén), an association of forest communities in the Peten. They have received a forestry concession to sustainably log and use the forest. Read the article … |
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