Traditional Knowledge Bulletin

Latin American Congress calls for protection of parks
Latin America Press – 22 October 2007

SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE, ARGENTINA: The second Congress of Latin American National Parks and Protected Areas ended Oct. 6, calling for the recognition of these areas “as a part of our natural and cultural heritage” that “are indispensable tools to achieve sustainable development objectives and to elevate the well-being of our people while supporting solutions to the principal global environmental problems.” More than 2,000 participants attended the meeting, which was held from 30 Sept to 6 Oct in Argentina, where they signed the Bariloche Declaration. The document states that developed countries have a environmental debt to Latin America and notes that traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples on their lands “contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, as well as environmental quality and sustainable development in Latin America”. Read the article…

Addressing climate change in Pacific Islands
Tonga-Now – 19 October 2007

NUKU’ALOFA, TONGA: In the 38th Pacific Island Leaders’ Forum, Leaders decided that in order to move the Pacific Plan forward over the next year, various areas were identified as priority areas and Climate Change was amongst these. At the Forum, Leaders had reiterated their deep concern over the serious and growing threat posed by climate change to the economic, social and environmental well being of Pacific Island Countries, their communities, peoples and cultures. Forum Leaders have highlighted several priorities, including the need to improve means of assessing local and national vulnerability to climate change including social-economic vulnerability and traditional knowledge. Read the article… | Visit the Pacific Islands Forum website…

Kenya Works To Identify IP Rights In Its Medical Research
Intellectual Property Watch – 19 October 2007

NAIROBI, KENYA: One of Kenya’s most prestigious research institutions, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), has begun an extensive intellectual property audit to try and identify any discoveries that should be protected. The audit comes as the government is finishing work on a new framework on traditional knowledge and IP. KEMRI’s audit is an attempt to ensure that the commercial benefits of any drugs or active ingredients that are eventually developed from research at the institute are shared appropriately amongst all who were involved. A key element of the institute-wide audit will be drawing up agreements with traditional healers. They are crucial to the institute because they provide the raw materials and knowledge on traditional plants that are being researched within its labs. Read the article…

Indigenous People Make Best Forest Custodians
IPS News – 18 October 2007

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND: The millions of indigenous people living across Asia and the Pacific are finally gaining recognition for the key role the play in forest conservation. This shift has been a feature of a major conference being held here this week to shape forest management policies in this region for the next 20 years. The conference is being held under the theme, The Future of Forests in Asia and the Pacific Outlook for 2020. Activists championing the cause of local communities welcome this sea change, given that forests have been sacred to these people and central to their identity. Read the article…

Patents: Taken for Granted in Plans for a Global Biofuels Market
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

As the fast-growing biofuel market goes global, national and international rules governing patents will play an increasingly important role in how the industry develops and who benefits, finds a new paper by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

The paper, “Patents: Taken for Granted in Plans for Global Biofuels Markets” by IATP Senior Policy Analyst Steve Suppan, examines how patents covering biofuel feedstocks and processing are being used by large agribusiness, biotech, financial and energy companies. The paper calls for patent reform that asserts the primacy of public domain, protects traditional knowledge (for example, in plants used in biofuels) and fits within a human rights framework.

Download the pdf report…

Watershed and Coral Reefs: Conservation Science, Policy, and Implementation
BioScience Volume 57, Number 7, July 2007 , pp. 598-607(10) [subscription]

Coral reefs worldwide are being degraded by human-induced disturbances, resulting in ecological, economic, and cultural losses. Clearcut logging, farming and development lead to erosion and runoff that kills corals, making it just as important to manage the land above reefs as it is to protect them from overfishing.

Traditional ways of managing human interactions with the reef are still effective in modern times, says the study, citing Palau’s Marine Protection Act of 1994 as an example of new legislation for no-take areas based on traditional knowledge of spawning sites.

Several Pacific islands, with intact resource stewardship and traditional leadership systems, have been able to apply research findings to coral reef management policies relatively quickly. Three case histories in Micronesia provide insight into how social sciences and biophysical data can be combined to manage human behaviors responsible for coral reef destruction.

Read the article [subscription]…

Eye on the future
The Star [Malaysia] – 16 October 2007

SARAWAK, MALAYSIA: For many indigenous communities in Sarawak, years of commercial logging have depleted natural resources that are available for their basic needs. Timber for building traditional longhouses is scarce, medicinal plants have been destroyed, rattan for weaving has been depleted and the rivers are polluted. Some of these remote villages are now rehabilitating degraded forests, under a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative with financial assistance from the European Commission (EC). The project, which began in January last year, was preceded by consultation with villagers to ensure their acceptance and to incorporate their traditional knowledge in forest management. Read the article…

Amazon tribe hits back at green ‘colonialism’
The Guardian [UK] – 14 October 2007

LONDON, ENGLAND: It’s one of the most fashionable ideas to save the planet from global warming: buying up tropical rainforest to save it from destruction. But like all big ideas it is controversial, and this week a leading Amazonian campaigner will visit Britain to protest that this latest trend is linked to a health and social crisis among indigenous people. Davi Kopenawa, a shaman of the Yanomami tribe, will help launch a report that, says Survival International, the charity behind it, claims separation from the land is directly linked to the ‘physical and mental breakdown’ of indigenous communities, whose lifestyle and culture is already under threat from mining, logging and resettlement away from traditional lands. Read the article…