Meeting prep: UNU-IAS events on the Nagoya Protocol, GIAHS

The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol: Why Intellectual Property Still Matters
17 May 2013 (UNU-IAS, Yokohama, Japan)

This seminar by Kiyoshi Adachi from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will highlight recent work by UNCTAD on the policy space available for countries to use selected intellectual property tools in support of the international access and benefit-sharing system. Further information …

Experiences and Lessons of Dynamic Conservation and Sustainable Development  from Asian GIAHS Pilot Sites
28 May 2013 (UNU-IAS, Kanazawa, Japan)

Six pilot sites in China and two in Japan have been designated by FAO as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites for dynamic conservation and adaptive management. In addition, more sites in China and Japan are under consideration for GIAHS designation, and an application is also planned for a Korean site. This workshop will bring together experts from China, Korea and Japan, as well as local residents, to share experiences and lessons learned regarding biodiversity conservation and rural development. Further information …

 

Meeting review: UNU-IAS public symposium on indicators of resilience in SEPLS

Public Symposium held on Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS
Satoyama Initiative release, 1 May 2013

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: Held on 22 April 2013 at the UNU-IAS, and focusing on the resilience of the world’s socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS), this symposium featured speakers from Bioversity International and the UN Development Programme, two member organizations of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative. In his opening remarks, Wataru Suzuki, Coordinator of the International Satoyama Initiative at UNU-IAS, provided some background on the long collaborative process that has led to the development and testing of a set of twenty indicators for resilience in SEPLS. Nadia Bergamini, Bioversity International, shared some of the results of the initial testing of the indicators and lessons learned; and emphasized their usefulness for establishing a common understanding at community-level of threats and solutions and for determining which strategies can be undertaken to strengthen resilience. Diana Salvemini, UNDP, presented the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Project, a collaborative effort under IPSI, which supported local community activities in ten countries to promote sustainable landscape-level management approaches, and is projected to support activities in ten additional countries. Read the release, including links to presentations … Download the UNU-IAS policy report Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes (SEPLS) [pdf] …

 

This week in review … Indigenous groups in the Amazon report climate change impacts

Indigenous tribes say effects of climate change already felt in Amazon rainforest
Mongabay.com, 30 April 2013

CALIFORNIA, USA: Tribal groups in the Amazon rainforest are already being affected by shifts wrought by climate change, reports a paper published last week in the British journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. The paper, which is based on a collection of interviews conducted with indigenous leaders in the Brazilian Amazon, says that native populations are reporting shifts in precipitation patterns, humidity, river levels, temperature, and fire and agricultural cycles. These shifts, measured against celestial timing used by indigenous groups, are affecting traditional ways of life that date back thousands of years. “Indigenous groups who have lived in the Amazon for centuries, even millennia, are seeing signs that the climate is changing there,” said Steve Schwartzman, lead author of the study and director of tropical forest policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “Indigenous people are telling us rainfall and river levels have changed; the fires they’re dealing with are different now; and the climate systems they used to depend on for growing crops have become unpredictable.” In particular, indigenous interviewees mention concerns about drier conditions making it more difficult to control fires traditionally used for small-scale rotational agriculture. For generations, indigenous farmers set fires based on the position of stars in the sky – reflecting the time of year – with the expectation that the fires wouldn’t spread into humid forest areas. But drier conditions today mean that savanna fires can easily move into rainforests, damaging them and reducing their capacity to withstand drought and future burning. Read the article … Read the abstract of The natural and social history of the indigenous lands and protected areas corridor of the Xingu River basin, by Stephan Schwartzman et al …

 

This week in review … Consultation opens on WIN scoping paper

Help build an enduring World Indigenous Network (WIN): Community consultation is now open!
WIN Conference release, 5 May 2013

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA: The WIN International Reference Group and the WIN Secretariat have drafted a scoping paper which suggests a structure for the future of the WIN and asks a series of discussion questions. The scoping paper is open to community consultation for seven weeks – from 6 May to 21 June 2013. Participants can either share ideas through three themed discussion boards or make a more formal online submission. At the same time, the WIN website has a dedicated section for indigenous and local community land and sea managers to share their stories and projects. Further information, including link to the scoping paper … View the stories and projects webpage …

 

Resource: UNU-IAS policy report on indicators of resilience in socio-ecological production landscapes

Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes (SEPLs)
Nadia Bergamini, Robert Blasiak, Pablo Eyzaguirre, Kaoru Ichikawa, Dunja Mijatovic, Fumiko Nakao and Suneetha M. Subramanian
UNU-IAS Policy Report 2013 no. 10 | ISBN: 978-92-808-4547-1 (pb)

This policy report provides an in-depth look at the importance of developing a holistic set of indicators for policy-makers and communities to better understand the resilience of socio-ecological production landscapes, which have been created over time through close interactions between humans and their surroundings. When wisely managed, SEPLs have the potential to sustain rich levels of biodiversity while enhancing human well-being. The report also shares first experiences and lessons learned from application of the indicators in Cuba’s Cuchillas del Toa Biosphere Reserve. Download the report [pdf] …

 

Resource: IIED report on collective trademarks and biocultural heritage in the Potato Park, Peru

Collective trademarks and biocultural heritage: towards new indications of distinction for indigenous peoples in the Potato Park, Peru
Alejandro Argumedo
IIED, March 2013 | ISBN 978-1-84369-907-1

This paper presents the experience of the Potato Park communities in Cusco, Peru, in applying for formal protection through a collective trademark, and also in adopting an informal trademark for their products and services. The process of registering the collective trademark brought to light the incompatibility of the registration requirements with Peruvian law on indigenous governance, and the application was unsuccessful. The Potato Park communities have instead opted to use their trademark informally, and it is now widely recognised as a distinctive symbol of the Park. A survey found that as well as raising prices and increasing sales, the mark has helped to ensure social cohesion. However, while the trademark is informal, it lacks protection. Furthermore, experience shows that existing intellectual property tools tend to be unsuitable for protecting communities’ collective intellectual property, and even “soft” intellectual property tools such as collective trademarks and geographical indications can be beyond the legal and financial capacity of remote rural communities. The report concludes with a proposal for an alternative indigenous “biocultural heritage indication” which could draw on geographical indications, design rights and unfair competition law. Such a tool could open up the current IPR system to rural communities, alleviating poverty while protecting traditional knowledge, and strengthening biological and cultural diversity. Download the report [pdf] …

 

This week in review … Article on rural heritage in Europe

Rural Heritage as a Driving Force for Sustainable Development and Terirtorial Cohesion
Maguelonne Dejeant-Pons, MEPIELAN Centre e-bulletin, April 2013

STRASBOURG, FRANCE : In this article, Maguelonne Dejeant-Pons, Head of Division on Policy Development in the Council of Europe, provides an overview of the Pan-European Charter for the rural heritage: promoting sustainable spatial development: ‘Rural heritage as a factor of territorial cohesion’, adopted by the ministers responsible for spatial/regional planning of the member states of the Council of Europe. The Charter seeks to make rural heritage a real asset to its territory, a factor and a driving force for sustainable spatial development, and to play a decisive part in making rural areas more attractive and in the town-country balance. She notes that “Planners now assign a wider definition to heritage, which is considered to include all the tangible or intangible elements that demonstrate the particular relationship that a human community has established with a territory over time.” Read the article …

 

This week in review … IP Watch article focuses on Greek genebank, emergence of seed exchange networks

Greek Gene Bank’s Struggle Indicative of Changing Times
IP Watch, 17 April 2013

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: In this article, Paraskevi Kollia draws attention to the situation of the Greek Gene Bank, established with assistance from FAO and holding a significant amount of plant genetic resources, including traditional plant varieties developed by farmers. She highlights current financial and administrative challenges due to budget cuts, while noting that, on the other hand, informal seed exchange networks organized by smallholder farmers and citizens have sprung up all over the country, assuming an active role in the preservation and enjoyment of traditional seeds. Such networks meet regularly and exchange seeds, information and cultivation practices, while raising awareness on the impacts of IPRs on the conservation of plant genetic resources. Read the article …