With drought and disease showing the potential to devastate livestock
breeds developed for concentrated production, traditionally bred
livestock are gaining attention from conservationists and commercial
interests. In this context, the role of Indigenous peoples in breeding
these livestock across generations and in ensuring sustainable grazing
is increasingly recognised. This recognition is the foundation of the
growing movement for national and international rights for livestock
keepers. Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs), through which
communities can articulate their ways of life and practices of livestock
breeding and sustainable grazing, are an emerging vehicle for asserting
these rights.
In this context, Natural Justice
participated in “Biocultural Protocols: An emerging approach to
strengthening livestock keeping communities”, a one-day workshop hosted
by the League for Pastoral Peoples (LPP) and the LIFE Network on 29th
November in Karen, Nairobi, Kenya. Representatives from governments,
NGOs, international organisations, and livestock keepers from six
countries attended.
Jacob Wanyama (LIFE Network)
presented on the history of the movement for livestock keepers' rights
and Ilse Kohler-Rollefson (LPP) shared general comments on
pastoralists, the breeds of livestock that they have developed, and the
highly sustainable and promising ways in which they use and conserve the
areas in which they live. Mwai Okeyo (International Livestock Research Institute) presented on the incredible lack of diversity
in commercially promoted breeds of cattle around the world, the
susceptibility of these breeds to drought and disease in Kenya, the
comparative advantages of indigenous breeds through these conditions, and
the challenges in protecting indigenous breeds from replacement or
cross-breeding.
Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice)
presented on the history of BCPs, their emerging significance and
recognition in international law and policy especially in relation to
the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, and the
importance of participatory processes for developing BCPs. Two
communities who have already developed BCPs, the Raika of Rajasthan,
India, and the Samburu of Kenya, presented on their objectives, the
experience of BCP development, and some of the initial reception to
their respective BCPs.
The participants were then divided
into working groups to discuss whether BCPs were appropriate for
livestock keepers and how BCPs can become more practical. The day closed
with the working groups affirming the potential for livestock keepers
to utilise BCPs and action points including the importance of building
linkages between various communities developing BCPs and increasing the
number of BCPs developed to gradually increase the significance and
usefulness of BCPs.
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