May K2C visit

On 29-30 May, Kabir Bavikatte and Harry Jonas met the K2C Biosphere (Kruger 2 Canyons)Committee and Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency to jointly review a survey on a number of resources, including Marula and medicinal plants. As part of the visit, they visited the Vukuzenzele community medicinal plants centre (to follow) to discuss the challenges the traditional healers face and to look at how the (South African) Bioprospecting and Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations can assist them to protect their traditional knowledge and generate livelihoods. This visit was part of an ongoing effort to establish a legal protocol designed to both empower and protect communities within the K2C Biosphere Reserve, based on the expressed interests and established cultural framework of those living within the reserve.

Tribal Links Meeting, New York

Kabir Bavikatte attended a meeting at UN headquarters, NY on the 12-13 of May to provide legal expertise to communities attending a meeting focusing on their practical engagement with the cosmetics and fragrance industry. The meeting was co-organized by Tribal Links and the Secretariat of the CBD and co-sponsored by the Natural Resources Stewardship Circle. Over the meeting, the group comprised of indigenous peoples, local communities and industry representatives worked on a set of draft guidelines, intended to operationalize a declaration made by the industry in October.