African Commission Passes Resolution to Protect Sacred Natural Sites

At its 60 Ordinary Session in Niamey (Niger), the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights passed Resolution 372 on the Protection of Sacred Natural Sites and Territories.

In this resolution, the African Commission recognises that sacred natural sites are one of the oldest forms of cultural conservation, and often harbour rich biodiversity. It highlights the role that custodian communities and their customary systems play in preserving traditional values, and that they require legal recognition and support to do so. At the same time, it expresses concern about the continued rapid growth of environmentally damaging industrial activity and infrastructure development causing irreparable damage in these sacred sites.

The Resolution therefore calls on state parties to recognise sacred natural sites and territories and their customary governance systems, as well as to uphold their commitments under regional and international law and the rights of custodian communities. It urges state parties and other stakeholders, including businesses, to recognise and respect the intrinsic value of sacred natural sites and territories.

In developing this resolution, the African Commission drew on a “Call for Legal Recognition of Sacred Natural Sites and Territories, and their Customary Governance Systems”, which carried the voices of custodian communities from six African countries. Natural Justice was able to facilitate the presentation of this report by the Gaia Foundation to the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities. In a joint press release with the African Biodiversity Network, Liz Hoskins, the Director of the Gaia Foundation, states that “in this landmark resolution, the African Commission opens a space for affirming plurilegal systems, which recognise the Earth as the primary source of law. The Commission positions itself with other progressive initiatives to transform the dominant industrial jurisprudence and recognize indigenous rights and Nature’s rights.”

Picture: Benin is one of the few African countries that legally recognize Sacred Natural Sites. Natural Justice works with local partners to support the custodians of these forests, for example through the development of community protocols. 

Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association BCP Finalization Workshop, South Africa

Kukula Workshop Participants

On the 28^th and 29^th June, Natural Justice and K2C facilitated a meeting with the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association at the Timbavati Bush School, Bushbuckridge, South Africa. The overall aims of the meeting were to review the developments of the previous year, to finalize the text of the revised Bio-Cultural Protocol (BCP) and discuss strategies related to leveraging the BCP.

The Kukula traditional health practitioners established the BCP with the intention of regulating their interactions with third parties and protecting their knowledge to enable fair and equitable benefits to their members.

The first day of the meeting focused on a review of the previous year and internal community discussions with Kukula representatives. On the second day of the meeting wider stakeholders were invited to participate in the meeting. Representatives from researchers (Benelex and Dr. Britta Rutert), South African National Parks (SANParks), governmental representatives and legal experts provided an overview of issues that had been identified by the Kukula.

Dr. Louisa Parks (The Benelex Project)

Dr. Louisa Parks (The Benelex Project) shared findings from the first 3 years of the Benelex research project of particular relevance to communities, she highlighted that benefits are more than just limiting damage from a proposed project, they are not compensation, and that they should reflect what a community sees as a benefit – not what others tell them is a good thing. Dr. Britta Rutert (Free University, Berlin) shared the preliminary findings of the ‘Indigenous Entrepreneurs’  research project conducted with the Kukula, she highlighted that entrepreneurship in rural, economically deprived areas with limited infrastructure must be looked as at a “procedural enterprise rather than an economic enterprise”, and organisation, cooperation and negotiation skills were learned and utilized by organisations such as the Kukula in making use of their indigenous knowledge.

Dr. Louise Swemmer (SANParks)

The Kukula have been engaging with South African National Parks (SANParks) on issues related to sustainably harvesting medicinal plants. Discussions focused on opportunities regards integrating Kukula representatives into the roll out of distribution of the medicinal Pepper Bark tree (Warburgia salutaris), which is classified as an endangered on the IUCN Red list. SANParks has been growing hundreds of these tress from seed in their nursery, these trees are in high demand by healers, and SANPaks is spearheading planting of saplings in communal areas, and sustainable harvesting using leaves rather than the bark.

During a legal session, Johan Lorenzen (Richard Spoor Attorneys) provided an update on various laws and policies related to the Kukula, including regulations related to the Traditional Health Practitioners Act as well as the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Bill. This was followed by a presentation by Mr Wiseman Rikhotso (Director, Biodiversity Compliance, Department Environmental Affairs) related to the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations and the compliance awareness drive related to “muthi” (traditional medicine) markets.

The Kukula also discussed the finalization of the update of their bio-cultural protocol (BCP) and how to leverage it moving forwards

.Looking forward the revised BCP text will be finalized, the Kukula together with the Department of Environmental Affairs will host a workshop regards legislation around Threatened and Protected Species (TOPS), and the Kukula will engage with SANParks on supporting the Pepper Bark project in their villages.

Kukula participants

Seven communities gather to draft the Mariarano community protocol, Madagascar

Drafting group working on the Mariarano community protocol

During the first week of May, Natural Justice and GIZ facilitated a workshop with the local communities of Mariarano, in the Boeny region of Madagascar, to advance on their community protocol concerning the access and use of the Motrobe plant. Motrobe is the local name for Cinnamosma fragrans, a plant used in essential oils in Madagascar and abroad.

The community protocol brings together seven communities who harvest the plant and provide it to local and international biotrade operators. Through their protocol, the communities want to clarify their own decision-making regarding access to the plant, and to hold the operators accountable regarding permits and the fair sharing of benefits from the use of the plant. At the same time, this is the first community protocol process in Madagascar, and the lessons emerging from it are being used to inform the new national framework for Access to genetic resources and Benefit Sharing (ABS).

Role play on the process for obtaining harvesting permits,
during the legal training

The workshop was attended by the members of a local committee that the communities decided to create for the development of the community protocol. The meeting started with a legal training session about the new ABS law in Madagascar and about the general regulatory framework for the access and commercial use of plant resources. In the second half, the community representatives drafted the text of the elements of the community protocol. This draft text will now be edited by the GIZ / Natural Justice team. The result will be discussed and validated in each of the communities, before being officially presented at a stakeholder workshop with representatives of the private sector and government administration.

The Mariarano community protocol will contain the following elements:

• Local decision-making structures inside and between the seven communities
• Processes that commercial operators, researchers and others have to follow to access the community’s genetic resources and traditional knowledge
• Traditional rules and values of the communities
• Modalities for benefit sharing and conditions for the buying of plant material
• Processes for conflict resolution
• Commitments by the community to conserve their natural resources, specifically the Motrobe plant
• The rights of the local communities to their natural resources under the law

The Bailique Community Protocol in Brazil

Guest blog by Roberta Peixoto Ramos, PhD student at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)

In December 2014, the communities of the Bailique Archipelago, an area situated in the Amazonian State of Amapá in Brazil, assembled to vote for the final agreements that would compose their Community Protocol. This was the result of 14 months of workshops, meetings and informal conversations, where communities focused on different aspects of their livelihood, decision-making processes and the need to be informed and empowered to have a more equal dialogue with any external actor that might approach the communities.

The project to construct the Bailique Community Protocol was born out of a necessity to recognize the right of indigenous people and traditional communities to be involved and participate in all decisions related to their territory in a national scenario that was (and still is) characterized by a complete disrespect for this right. Furthermore, the discussion around the community protocol focused on the recognition of the vital role that these local communities have in the conservation of biodiversity.

Thus, the community protocol is composed of community local rules that reflect their traditional way of life and the manner in which the community relates to itself and to external actors. Also, the protocol is a document that defines procedures, criteria and tools for territorial management and the sustainable use of natural resources.

The Bailique communities use small boats to move
around their territory.
Credit: Paulo Santos/Acervo H

The Community Protocol project was proposed to the Bailique communities in 2013 by the Brazilian NGO ‘Grupo de Trabalho Amazônico (GTA)’^[1], which is a network of different community institutions located throughout the Brazilian Amazon. The Bailique archipelago is situated at the mouth of the Amazon river, at around 200 km from the city of Macapá in the state of Amapá, and only reachable by boat.  The population is of about eleven thousand people distributed in approximately 51 communities. Their main activities are fishing and extraction of forest products, of which acai berry extraction is the main source of income.

The foundation of the methodology developed to construct community protocols is to enable the full participation of communities in all aspects and all levels of the project. Hence, the first step was to get the community’s free, prior and informed consent with regards to having the project in their territory. It is interesting to note that the Bailique community was not facing any impending threat at the time and their decision to start a process to construct their community protocol was based on their vision that the protocol would enable the community to be better organized locally and more empowered rather than help them with a specific conflict.

The methodology developed was divided in four major workshops covering the following areas (i) a social, environmental, cultural and economic analysis of their territory and communities; (ii) relevant national legislation, international treaties and public policies; (iii) access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing and (iv) risks and opportunities of the protocol.

One of the most innovative tools proposed was the so called ‘consultation document’, which was an instrument used to ensure a more horizontal participation of the communities. During the workshops, each community would send their representative, who would discuss issues related to their community and to the Bailique territory. All these discussions were to become part of the text of their protocol. In order to avoid that the Bailique Protocol become a mere reflection of the leadership’s views (understanding that there are also power challenges at the local level), the project created a system where all the answers given by these leaders during the workshops were systematized in a ‘consultation document’, which was then circulated to every household in order to verify the answers given. In this ‘consultation document’ there were the answers given by the leaders and a space where the person consulted could agree, disagree or add to the answer given. There were two rounds of this ‘consultation document’. One took place after the first workshop and the second after the first general assembly where the leaders had the chance to see the results of the first ‘consultation document’ and react to what was changed or agreed. These household visits were done by the ‘support team’, which was formed by young people from the communities who wanted to get more involved. The result was that at the end of the process the project visited over 70% of the households taking part in the protocol and there was an increased sense of legitimacy and belonging, as young people increasingly became the voice of the project.

Community discussing the need to improve the quality
 of their products. Credit: Paulo Santos/Acervo H

The Bailique Community Protocol has achieved many important results to date and the project is now working with communities to help them put in practice the decisions of their Protocol assembly. Some of the more concrete results are:

• Creation of the Association of the Bailique Community Protocol (ACTB), which is composed of traditional leadership and young leaders that represent and act upon the decisions of the assembly.
• Identification of four main products of their sociobiodiversity that they want to explore further, improve its quality and search for new technology and new markets: fish, acai berries, essential oils and medicinal plants.
• Identification of land irregularity in the region (that was not clear before the protocol), which was causing conflicts, legal uncertainty and impeding communities from accessing certain public policies that require land ownership. The communities are now working closely with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and land agencies to resolve their land issues.
• Identification of the need to have their own ‘Family School’ in their territory, which is an education system designed to answer for the needs of forested people, allowing young people to get quality education without leaving their communities. This school is going to be partially funded by the acai berry producers who are organizing themselves to have their acai berry production certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which will eventually increase their income, allowing them to use a share of this revenue to fund the Family School.

In addition to these, there are other less visible results of the protocol which are more difficult to measure, but that are the foundation of the changes that are happening in the territory. The Bailique communities are more informed about their rights as traditional communities and their rights as Brazilian citizens, they are more informed about national and international legislation and they are challenging local power structures that historically have been associated with local political parties and therefore paternalist approaches [ for the initial results see OELA Policy Brief Issue 1].

A house surrounded by native acai trees.
Credit: Paulo Santos/Acervo H

But more importantly, the process of constructing their community protocol has allowed them to become more empowered to define, decide, and act upon the development path they choose to follow, while becoming increasingly aware of the importance of conserving their local biodiversity and preserving their traditional ways of life.

---

^[1] Since July 2016, the NGO OELA has become the main supportive institution in the process of the Bailique protocol, while GTA remains as an important partner.

You can contact Roberta on email: r.p.ramos@lse.ac.uk.

The views reflected here do not necessarily represent those of Natural Justice.

UN Climate Change COP21 Side Event: Monday 7th December 2015

 

When: Monday 7 December, 15:00 – 16:30 hrs

Where: COP21/CMP11, Parc des Expositions, Le Bourget conference site, side event room - OR 03

This event will share a variety of recent research concerning:

• Supporting the adaptation practices and traditional knowledge (TK) of Indigenous peoples and local communities, and the importance of biocultural heritage.
•  The protection of knowledge holders and the sharing of TK in adaptation initiatives.
•  The role of community protocols as a tool to reach the most vulnerable communities through participation and biodiversity legislation.
•  The quantity and quality of adaptation finance reaching those most in need.

Who: Dr. Hannah Reid, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Ms. Krystyna Swiderska, (IIED), Mr. Alejandro Argumedo (ANDES), Peru & Dr. Yiching Song (Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Science)

Dr. Cath Traynor (Natural Justice) & Mr. Reino Le Fleur (Griqua representative)

Ms. Roberta Ramos, Grupo de Trabalho Amazonico (GTA), & Munduruku representative

Dr. Carlos Potiatra Castro, University of Brasilia

Mr. Delfin Ganapin, UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme

You are invited to find out more at this side event. Light snacks will be served at 14.45 hrs.

Kukula Traditional Healers BCP Revision workshop

Natural Justice together with partners K2C and Wits Rural Facility (WRF), facilitated a BCP revision workshop for the Kukula Traditional Healers (KTH) of Bushbuckridge, South Africa, on 16 – 18th February 2015. Over twenty KTH members participated including representatives from the Executive and Management Committees. The objectives of the workshop were to revise the KTH Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) to reflect the Kukula’s priorities and to address key stakeholder needs. 

During the first day of the workshop participants listed their achievements in 2014, and discussed current challenges and priorities for 2015. Mr Johan Lorenzen, from Richard Spoor Inc. Attorney’s, presented on laws, policies and recent legal developments which support the KTH and their aims. Key outside stakeholders participated on day two of the workshop, sessions included ‘governance and leadership’ where representatives from Traditional Authorities and KTH members discussed ways to strengthen their relationship and to improve the management of medicinal plants in communal areas. This was followed by a session exploring possibilities for the sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants in protected areas. 

Two Meetings on Biocultural Community Protocols held in Mexico

From September 29 to October 3, 2014, Johanna von Braun and Barbara Lassen from Natural Justice contributed to two meetings on BCPs in Mexico. The meetings were organized by GIZ (German Development Cooperation) under the project “Governance of Biodiversity” and CONABIO , Mexico’s National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity.The first meeting brought together representatives from indigenous peoples and local communities from different parts of Mexico. The second meeting informed representatives of government agencies, research institutions and NGOs.

Natural Justice presented on lessons learned from BCP processes and on examples of protocols in Africa. Regional examples were presented from the Potato Park in Cusco, Peru; the Guna peoples in Panama; and from Alto San Juan in the Colombian Chocó (Natural Justice supported IIAP and ASOCASAN in developing this BCP in 2010). Mexican communities from all over the country presented on existing processes towards the recognition of their customary norms and rights to land and resources.  These local processes include internal regulations for ‘ejidos’ and rural communities, as well as autonomy processes of indigenous communities.

Participants exchanged on the experiences in and outside of Mexico and debated the merits of BCPs in the Mexican legal context. In some cases the existing processes already fill the function of a BCP, in others local processes could be strengthened by a stronger focus on community rights under national and international law. In a number of communities, local norms and regulations need to be made more visible and a BCP could support the dialogue of communities with government agencies and other actors.

BCP Training with County Government and Community Members of Isiolo, Kenya

Anab Kassim – Chairlady – Young Mothers Isiolo

On October 8, 2014 Natural Justice partner, Kivulini Trust, held a meeting on the application of bio-cultural community protocols (BCP). The workshop brought together representatives from County Government of Isiolo and Community members developing BCPs.

County Government representatives and community members are increasingly concerned that the Lamu Port – Southern Sudan- Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor will exacerbate the existing economic and cultural marginalization, persistent state of insecurity and lack of secure land tenure.

Legal Remedies for Resources Equity – BCPs as a community-driven and consensus building process

On 15 September Natural Justice participated in a day-long workshop on Legal Remedies for Resources Equity co-organized by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, UfU and eLaw in Berlin, Germany. The workshop brought together more than 200 lawyers from 38 countries involved in public interest litigation and support around equitable and sustainable natural resources management.

The second session of the day focused on “Public participation: Challenges and opportunities for local populations” and involved short presentations from practitioners on different national campaigns and cases on enforcing the right to information, public participation and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

New Report on Compensation for Communities in Relation to Large Investments

Natural Justice’s  Stephanie Booker has contributed a chapter entitled "Biocultural Community Protocols: A useful means of securing community interests in the context of extractive industries" to a new publication by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). 

Supported by Bread for the World and Groupe Tchad, the publication, "Compensation Matters. Securing community interests in large-scale investments", provides analyses of contentious issues in compensation matters such as power relations in negotiations, entitlements for compensation,  as well as an examination of the different types of compensation and discussion of a number of issues with respect to affected communities. 

Also included are  a number of tools and approaches that may be/ have been use to approach compensation strategically, aimed at sustainable, just and inclusive outcomes for affected communities.

Natural Justice attends Community Fracking Meeting in the Karoo

On 26 March 2014, Stephanie Booker of Natural Justice attended a meeting hosted by Southern Cape Land Committee in Jansenville, Eastern Cape. Attended by Southern Cape Land Committee, Groundwork and local community representatives from indigenous peoples and local farming communities across the Karoo, the meeting was an opportunity to discuss fracking developments nationally, the sharing of information on the ground and of various community strategies being pursued.

The meeting was a continuation of community mobilisation discussions with respect to fracking that originated in Steytlerville in May 2013, and continued in October with the launching of a declaration at the fracking dialogue in October 2013.

This Declaration can be found here.

Natural Justice thanks Southern Cape Land Committee for an engaging meeting.

BCPs and Fracking: Stakeholder consultations in the Karoo

On March 13, 2014, Stephanie Booker, Marie Wilke and Aino Cantell of Natural Justice participated in a meeting with Board members of Vuyani Development Trust, in the community of Nelspoort. The meeting was hosted by Southern Cape Land Committee and Vuyani Development Trust with the view to discussing Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) and shale gas exploration within the community. The town of Nelspoort lies within the local municipality of Beaufort West, from which the community leases their farmland.

The meeting began with a presentation by Stephanie Booker on the role of Natural Justice and BCPs in the context of extractive industries. This was followed by a presentation on the advantages and disadvantages of fracking activities taking place within the community. Community members shared their own experiences on the issues, and articulated some of the community’s needs in light of the proposed activities, such as better information, and education on their rights. With a high unemployment rate, fracking is seen by some in the community as an opportunity to end current levels of poverty. Local organizations such as Southern Cape Land Committee are currently developing their work to provide balanced information to communities across the Karoo.

Roundtable Meeting on the Effect of Oil and Mining Activities on Communities in Kenya

On November 19th Maya Sikand from Natural Justice attended a roundtable meeting on the effect of oil and mining activities on communities in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting opened with a presentation by Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) researcher Joshua Laichena on an upcoming research project KIPPRA is undertaking with the Brookings Institute on the effects of oil and mining activities on communities in Turkana, Kwale and Kitui Counties. Currently, the research is in the planning phases, but it will hopefully be complete by March 2014. The research will consist of multi-stakeholder forums, community interviews and GIS mapping. 

Most attendees articulated that Kenya needs further laws to regulate this sector, especially as the legal landscape is changing very quickly. A need was expressed for a community engagement mechanism that will work for Kenya as a country. This should include good communication mechanisms to help the community to understand and participate in decision-making processes. Capacity-building is also necessary are communities are currently unable to negotiate for themselves (especially when up against well-paid international lawyers for investing companies). Natural Justice’s work with BCPs seems particularly relevant to these needs. 

Workshop on Biocultural Community Protocols Held in Guatemala

Between March 18 and March 20, 2013, Eli Makagon attended a workshop on biocultural community protocols (BCPs) in Totonicapán, Guatemala. The workshop, coordinated by Guatemalan NGO Oxlajuj Ajpop and the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative, brought together representatives from communities in the region interested in learning more about BCPs, including their development and implementation. Over the course of the workshop, members from the communities of San Andres Sajcabaja, Chichicastenango, and Totonicapán shared information, provided background on the challenges their communities face, and discussed ways forward in the struggle for recognition of their customary rights. Challenges include loss of traditionally occupied land to government and external parties, deforestation, and internal conflict between those who ascribe to traditional Mayan beliefs and those who have converted to Christianity, Catholicism or Evangelicalism. The workshop was particularly timely in light of a recent decision by Guatemala’s highest court to uphold a mining law against a constitutional challenge brought by the Western Peoples’ Council (CPO) for lack of prior consultation with indigenous peoples.

Assisted by translator and facilitator Joseph Kuper, Eli presented on BCPs, explaining their purpose and providing examples of where they have been used. Community members met in groups to identify challenges, map stakeholders and allies, and discuss next steps in the BCP process. For the participants, the workshop offered an opportunity to learn more about BCPs as well as to exchange experiences regarding community organization and explore potential partnerships in the future.

Katiba Institute's Strategic Litigation Conference in Nairobi

On 1 March 2013, Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) attended a regional forum on Litigating Minority/Vulnerable Groups’ Rights in Nairobi, Kenya. The forum was organized by the Katiba Institute which works to promote the understanding and implementation of the Kenyan Constitution. The workshop provided an opportunity for lawyers involved in public interest law from a number of east African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, to share lessons on strategies and on litigating on behalf of minority or vulnerable groups. Natural Justice was invited to present on the use of biocultural rights as a strategy for securing minority rights and community protocols as a tool to strengthen minority communities' capacity to advocate for themselves.

Thematic Session on BCPs

During the 7th Pan-African Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) workshop in Phalaborwa, South Africa, six thematic sessions were offered in French and English on 28 February 2013. Participants had the choice to participate in four sessions: interface protected areas and ABS; business models, benefit sharing, and the interface between biotrade and ABS; simplified access for basic research; compliance in Africa; biocultural community protocols (BCPs); and Interface ITPGRFA and the Nagoya Protocol. 

Gino Cocchiaro and Lassana Koné of Natural Justice and Barbara Lassen of the ABS Initiative facilitated the session on BCPs. A presentation was made on BCPs highlighting some practical examples followed by a showing of the BCP film and an engaging discussion. 

Participants attending the BCP sessions agreed that the process of developing a BCP is critical for the self determination of Indigenous and Local Communities (ILCs) and also for the self-management of their genetic resources. Participants also mentioned that similar experiences of instruments have been developed by local communities for many years with different terminology. 

Presentation at National University of Juridical Sciences

On 24 February, 2013, Kabir Bavikatte (Natural Justice) was invited by the Nature Committee of the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata to speak to students on Biocultural Rights and Access and Benefit Sharing. Thereafter Kabir co-chaired a mock session on negotiating the Nagoya Protocol with law students from law schools across India.

Meeting on the Scope of BCPs in Bhubaneswar

Natural Justice and Vasundhara jointly organised a meeting on 22 February 2013 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha District, to discuss the scope of Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) in asserting community rights. The meeting was facilitated by Sankar Pani (Natural Justice) and was attended by representatives from various civil society organisations working in Odisha. 

Mr Y Giri Rao (Vasundhara) welcomed participants and presented the keynote address. Kabir Bavikatte (Natural Justice) detailed the jurisprudence of BCPs and how they have been used by various communities across the globe in articulating and asserting their stewardship rights. Pratap Mohanty (Vasundhara) spoke on how BCPs can be used as tools in claiming habitat rights for particularly vulnerable tribal communities such as the Juang, Paudibhuyan and Chuktia Bhunjia. 

Bhajaman Mahant (Jivan Vikas) presented on the impact of extractive industries on Paudibhuyan Communities and how the community is further alienated by the compensatory afforestation programmes on community land. Sricharan Behera emphasised how BCPs can be used to preserve community knowledge. He also asked how the traditional knowledge related to the production of organic turmeric in Kondhamal can be protected and patented. 

Sambandh, a local organization working with traditional healers, presented on the biocultural practices of traditional healers around the sustainable use and conservation of medicinal plants. Priyabrat Satpathy (Action Aid), lawyer and activist Chandranath Dani, Dillip Das (Antoday), Pravat Mishra (RCDC) also participated in the discussions.

Pastoralist BCP Programme Planning - Nairobi

Natural Justice's Gino Cocchiaro met with Life Africa Trust, Kivulini Trust and the Marsabit Accountability Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on 14 February. The meeting was to plan the two-year programme, supported by the GEF Small Grants Programme, that is being coordinated by the organisations to support the Borana and Samburu pastoralist communities to strengthen community governance systems through the development of community protocols with the aim of enhancing resource management and securing community land. Throughout the project Natural Justice will partner with Kenyan lawyers to build the capacity of the Borana and Samburu to proactively claim their resource and land rights.

Kukula Healers Review 2012 & Plan for 2013

On 6-7 December 2012, Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) attended a meeting of the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association in Thulamahashe, South Africa. The Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners, a group of over 300 traditional health practitioners who developed a biocultural community protocol (BCP) in 2009, were meeting to discuss and evaluate their activities completed in 2012 as well as highlighting their aims for 2013. 

Accomplishments from 2012 included: registering as a NPO in South Africa; drafting a code of ethics for all members of the Kukula Association; creating a traditional knowledge common pool where individual knowledge is shared amongst members and with a local cosmetics company interested in the research and development of the knowledge; and collaborating with  Kruger National Park in its anti-rhino poaching efforts. In 2013, Kukula members plan to update their BCP to reflect legal developments and new priorities, to continue to develop their relationship with the cosmetics company towards and access and benefit sharing agreement, to continue to work for formal recognition as traditional health practitioners, to distribute copies of the code of ethics to all members, and to continue to support anti-poaching efforts.  The Kukula Association are also members of the African BCP Initiative and will continue to to seek the protection and growth of their knowledge, culture and the conservation of biodiversity in their area. 

Download the Kukula BCP here.