Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
- This week in review … WIPO circulates latest version of negotiating document on genetic resources
- Meeting prep: UNU/CBD informal meeting on the Nagoya Protocol on ABS
- This week in review … IP Watch article on TK at the Africa IP Conference
- Meeting review: New Delhi workshop on custodian farmers of agricultural biodiversity
- Resource: Bioversity publication on on-farm management of agricultural biodiversity in Nepal
- This week in review … National Geographic article comments on native languages
- This week in review … Kerala University to research TK of fishermen
This week in review … WIPO circulates latest version of negotiating document on genetic resources Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:18 AM PST Consolidated document relating to intellectual property and genetic resources rev.2 The final revised version of the consolidated document relating to intellectual property and genetic resources, as noted at the close of the 23rd session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), held from 4-8 February 2013, has been made available online. The document, still with several brackets, reflects the state of negotiations for an international instrument on intellectual property and genetic resources. It includes a list of terms, including bracketed definitions of "associated traditional knowledge" and "traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources"; policy objectives addressing compliance with access and benefit-sharing (ABS) laws, and ensuring IP or patent offices have the required information; articles on subject matter, beneficiaries, scope, relationship with international agreements, international cooperation, transboundary cooperation, and technical assistance, cooperation and capacity building; and two alternative sections concerning disclosure, one addressing a disclosure requirement including its trigger, exclusions, contents, actions of the office, relationship with the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Patent Law Treaty, and sanctions and remedies, with sub-options for each elements; and another, calling for no disclosure requirement but detailing requirements for defensive protection, including establishment of databases, their content and accessibility. Major points of contention as reflected in the text include, among others: the approach towards disclosure; whether the document should focus on the patent system or the intellectual property system in general; references to derivatives of genetic resources; the relationship with other international agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing (ABS); and references to indigenous "peoples" and local communities. Download the document [pdf] … |
Meeting prep: UNU/CBD informal meeting on the Nagoya Protocol on ABS Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:16 AM PST Informal meeting for the implementation of Articles 19 and 20 of the Nagoya Protocol Organized by Japan and the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), this informal meeting will discuss model contractual clauses, voluntary codes of conduct, guidelines and best practices and/or standards, as set out in Articles 19 and 20 of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS). The meeting also aims to assist governments in their implementation of the Nagoya Protocol by increasing awareness of different approaches used by relevant sectors involved in ABS activities. Further information … |
This week in review … IP Watch article on TK at the Africa IP Conference Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:14 AM PST Speakers Outline Ideas for Africa to Find Appropriate IP Policies JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: Africa is still held captive by colonial borders and has failed to collectively leverage benefit-sharing agreements that result from multinationals'commercial pursuit of indigenous knowledge, said speakers at the Africa IP conference, held from 25-27 February 2013. The issue of applying intellectual property rights to indigenous knowledge, in order to protect holders of this knowledge from exploitation, while at the same time leveraging it for development was a vibrant thread of debate throughout the conference, which was themed "intellectual property and economic growth in Africa." Rachel Wynberg, natural scientist and environmental policy analyst at the University of Cape Town, highlighted the case of shared knowledge and resources across countries, noting that companies are targeting countries where they know they won't have biopiracy connotations. She proposed that regional benefit-sharing arrangements be explored amongst African countries, given that indigenous knowledge is often not strictly contained within country borders. Read the article … |
Meeting review: New Delhi workshop on custodian farmers of agricultural biodiversity Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:12 AM PST Custodian Farmers of Agricultural Biodiversity: Policy support for their roles in use and conservation Hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bioversity International in collaboration with Indian partners, this workshop brought together farmers and researchers, to discuss their perspectives on the use and maintenance of agricultural biodiversity. The 20 South and Southeast Asian farmers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal and India, were each considered important members of their communities for their cultivation and conservation of diverse, rare or wild species of crops and fruit trees. The workshop represented an important first step in confirming the term 'custodian farmer' and their distinct and crucial role within agriculture. Custodian farmers are an integral part of community-based diversity management and often the focal point for the informal exchange of seed and plant material among farmers. They are also holders of local knowledge, who help link the traditional and modern seed system, and contribute to the evolutionary process of crop adaptation over time. Through a series of presentations, group discussions, and role-playing exercises, the workshop participants compiled a draft list of recommendations on the roles, rights and perspectives of custodian farmers, which were presented at the Global Consultation on Use and Management of Agrobiodiversity, held the same week in India. Recommendations included establishing a network of custodian farmers to share knowledge, skills, seeds or plant materials; mobilizing financial capital to establish community biodiversity management funds; easy registration of farmers' material in the farmers' or community's name; and participation in the ITPGR and CBD processes. Read Bioversity's release on the workshop outcomes … |
Resource: Bioversity publication on on-farm management of agricultural biodiversity in Nepal Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:06 AM PST On-farm management of agricultural biodiversity in Nepal The book includes a set of community-based management practices of agricultural biodiversity, such as: analysis of the amount and distribution of local crop diversity and farmer's rationale of such distribution; documenting traditional knowledge and diversity inventory using community biodiversity registers, and community seed banks to serve as a local institution to store local germplasm and knowledge and as a platform of social learning. Such platform is used to blend traditional and scientific knowledge, in order to improve local crop diversity through participatory landrace enhancement or participatory crop improvement, and to increase demand of local crop diversity by value addition and marketing interventions. Download the book [pdf] … |
This week in review … National Geographic article comments on native languages Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:03 AM PST Silent Plains … The fading sounds of native languages LONDON, UK: In this article, Frederic Briand of The Mediterranean Science Commission comments on the loss of linguistic and biological diversity and the parallels between them. He notes that "For each time a native language dies out, it is a distinct universe of mental constructs, with unique ecological wisdom acquired through millennia of direct contact with nature, which is lost. Gone is the refined Cheyenne technique of prairie management by fire in the dry mid-summers, almost gone the mysterious understanding of Namibian savanna animals by !Kung San hunters, and highly endangered the immense knowledge of the sea and its resources inherited by traditional fishing peoples from Oceania to the Arctic." Read the article … |
This week in review … Kerala University to research TK of fishermen Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:00 AM PST Fishing for science in sea of traditional wisdom KOCHI, INDIA: The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences is planning to document the traditional knowledge of elders and decipher the science in their fishing practices. Traditional fishermen in Kerala relied on sensory factors like colour and smell for finding fish, as well as sky and star observations. They were also able to predict natural disasters by observing the behavior of marine and coastal organisms. Read the article … |
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