Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association Bio-Cultural Community Protocols Revision Workshop & Peer-to-Peer Learning Exchange

Community mapping

Natural Justice’s Cath Traynor together with Mina Buthelezi (SANParks BSP/K2C Data Collector & Field Assistant), and Prof. Wayne Twine (Wits University) facilitated a 3-day workshop with the Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association to revise their bio-cultural community protocol (BCP). The Kukula’s original BCP was finalized in 2010, and the past 6 years have seen a growth in Kukula membership, a change in their priorities plus the introduction by the South African Government of several new laws and policies which will impact the Kukula. The objectives of the workshop were to (i) finalize the BCP revision process, (ii) focused discussions concerning leveraging the revised BCP, (iii) furthering engagement around medicinal plant issues with protected areas managers, and (iv) peer-to-peer learning exchange with Ndindani Community Nursery in Phalaborwa.

During the first session of the workshop the Kukula agreed on a BCP revision process, this was then followed by a discussion of new laws and policies of relevance to the Kukula, which had been analysed by Johan Lorenzen. These included a reminder of the ‘Indigenous Knowledge Research Ethics Policy’, and an introduction of the possible implications of the ‘Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing Amendment Regulations, 2015, made in terms of the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004, and the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act, 2013.

Further sessions on the first day related to engaging with protected areas managers. Prof. Twine (Wits University) facilitated the session which included a mapping exercise to demonstrate the geographic coverage of Kukula members, and Louise Swemmer (Social & Economic Scientist, Savanna & Arid Research, Kruger National Park, SANParks) discussed SANParks Pepper Bark Project and engaging traditional healers [the pepper-bark (Warburgia Salutaris ) is an endangered species, once widespread in South Africa but now limited to monitored populations inside protected areas, it is threatened by harvesters who strip it’s bark in an unsustainable way – the bark is used in traditional medicines]. Tshifhiwa Ramatshimbi from Mariepskop Forest Reserve then provided an update on the application procedures to harvest plants or seeds from the reserve and actions required to ensure adherence to regulations.

Louise Swemmer, SANParks

Tshifhiwa Ramatshimbi,
Mariepskop Forest Reserve

The second day of the workshop focused on procedural issues relating to healing and traditional practitioners and included a practical session exploring medical certificates for sick leave. New developments were then discussed and these included a data monitoring framework introduced by Mina Buthelezi, fundraising initiatives, and Dr. Britta Rutert introduced (via teleconference) a new potential research project with a focus on indigenous entrepreneurs, within which the Kukula will consider participation.

On the final day of the workshop the Kukula traveled up to Ndindani Community Nursery in Phalaborwa, Limpopo Province. There they met key nursery members and also Michele Hofmeyer (Skukuza Indigenous Plant Nursery, SANParks), and Thembi Marshal (K2C) who have been assisting the members to establish the nursery and develop a business plan. Challenges were shared which included developing business plans with short-medium- and long-term strategies, moving from funding to income generation phases, accessing land and markets, and utilizing the land available fully by planting a variety of seasonal produce. The Ndindani Nursery members then escorted the Kukula on a nursery tour highlighting their vegetable produce and also their recently established medicinal plant nursery, which includes pepper-bark saplings. During the tour the Kukula identified some additional indigenous medicinal plant species growing within the nursery grounds.

Medicinal plant identified by the Kukula

Ndindani Community Nursery - vegetable production

During the workshop the Kukula had highlighted the importance of certificates, and thus at the end of the workshop ‘certificates of attendance’ were provided for all participants. Over the next few months the Kukula hope to finalize the text of their revised BCP, and deepen their relationships with SANParks and Mariepskop Forest Reserve.

The Kukula with their 'certificates of attendance'

Beyond Protected Areas

A side event was held at the twentieth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice on 'other effective area-based conservation measures. On Monday 25 April, the WCPA Task Force on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) and the Secretariat of the CBD (SCBD) hosted a side event on OECMs. The event was chaired by Kathy MacKinnon (Chair, WCPA/Co-Chair, Task Force on OECMs) and was opened by Braulio Dias (Executive Secretary, SCBD) who underscored the importance of developing guidance on OECMs as a means of contributing to the security of biologically diverse areas that lie beyond the current protected area estate. Trevor Sandwith (Director, Global Protected Areas Programme, IUCN) suggested that the development of guidance on OECMs provides an important opportunity to consider the factors that lead certain areas that are currently not considered to be protected areas to support the conservation of biodiversity and to explore means of enhancing those qualities. Harry Jonas (Natural Justice/Co-Chair, Task Force on OECMs) presented an overview of the Task Force, the roadmap developed in Cambridge (January 2016) and the Task Force’s progress to date. David MacKinnon (Canadian Council on Ecological Areas - CCEA) presented on the CCEA’s work on OECMs, including a screening tool. Questions were raised by, among others, Puri Canals (Mediterranean Protected Areas Network), Simone Lovera (Global Forest Coalition) and Sarah Pearson Perret (Switzerland). Further information about SBSTTA-20 is available here.  

New Steps Of Change: Looking Beyond Protected Areas To Consider Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures

In 2010, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Aichi Biodiversity Targets as part of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Target 11 calls for ‘at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas’ to be conserved by way of ‘well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures’. Yet four years after their adoption, parties to the CBD and other rights- and stakeholders have not received guidance about either what kinds of arrangements do and do not constitute ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’, or how best to appropriately recognise and support them.

This paper by Harry Jonas, Valentina Barbuto, Holly Jonas, Ashish Kothari, and Fred Nelson argues that without clear guidance on the issue, conservation law and policy will continue to inappropriately and/or inadequately recognise the great diversity of forms of conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their constituent elements across landscapes and seascapes, including by Indigenous peoples and local communities.

In this context, and in line with calls from the Convention on Biological Diversity and the IUCN, it proposes the establishment of an IUCN Task Force to further explore the issues with a view to developing clear guidance on ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ as a means to effectively and equitably achieve Aichi Biodiversity Target 11. The full paper is available for download here.

Upcoming Book: Indigenous Peoples, National Parks, and Protected Areas

The University of Arizona Press, is set to release a new book, “Indigenous Peoples, National Parks, and Protected Areas”. This passionate, well-researched book makes a compelling case for a paradigm shift in conservation practice. It explores new policies and practices, which offer alternatives to exclusionary, uninhabited national parks and wilderness areas and make possible new kinds of protected areas that recognize Indigenous peoples’ rights and benefit from their knowledge and conservation contributions. The author, Stan Stevens, has spent more than 30 years working with the Sharwa (Sherpa) people of Nepal, whose homeland is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

A vast number of national parks and protected areas throughout the world have been established in the customary territories of Indigenous peoples. In many cases these conservation areas have displaced . This book breaks new ground with its in-depth exploration of changes in conservation policies and practices—and their profound ramifications for Indigenous peoples, protected areas, and social reconciliation.

Convening Stakeholders: An Inspiring Solution for Protected Areas Governance in Southern Africa

Protected areas can and do contribute to both improved livelihoods and improved conservation, but biodiversity continues to decline across most the Southern African region. A new strategy for protected areas for this region is therefore urgently needed. 

This is one of the most important messages highlighted by the participants at the High Level Dialogue on Improving Protected Area Governance for Livelihood Security and Biodiversity in Southern Africa (21-22 May 2014, Windhoek, Namibia). A report of the dialogue is available here. More on the Dialogue.

Natural Justice visit Kutch, Gujarat

Revati Pandya and Arpitha Kodiveri of Natural Justice in India recently visited Kutch, Gujarat from November 19th-25th,
2013 to work with Sahjeevan in identifying legal issues that effect the camel maldharis that migrate through this vast landscape. Field visits with communities in Chhari Dhand, Lakhpat and the Banni area led to interesting insights into the nature of threats that the community faces from fast paced industrialization through the establishment of cement and chemical plants to restriction of grazing rights in mangrove and other protected areas. 

Field Visit to Sariska Tiger Reserve - Alwar, Rajasthan, India

Three team members from the NJ India office (Arpitha Kodiveri, Revati Pandya and Vaneesha Jain) visited the offices of the NGO Krapavis, Rajasthan, and also several villages inside Sariska Tiger Reserve. 

On 13th November, 2013, Arpitha, Revati and Vaneesha discussed the following issues with Aman Singh, who is running the NGO Krapavis based out of Alwar, Rajasthan:

• The status of relocation in 5 villages in Sariska Tiger Reserve as per the Relocation plan prepared by the Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Jaipur, in November 2009. It appears that relocated communities are not given adequate ownership rights over the new land, which needs further looking into. Further, it has come to light that in the relocation process of the village Kiraska, residents were forced to surrender any land they owned outside Kiraska to the Government as well, which is in complete violation of both enacted law and basic principles of fairness. 

National Consultation on Forest Rights Act and Protected Areas, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi

Source: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/rights-without-benefits 

From 11th to 12th November, 2013, Apritha Kodiveri, Vaneesha Jain and Revati Pandya (of the NJ India office) attended a two day consultation aimed at discussing Community Forest Rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act (Forest Rights Act), 2006 (FRA). Members from various groups working on FRA issues in Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat and Karnataka attended, and updates and status of its implementation from respective states were shared and discussed. One of the overarching issues was the lack of implementation of processing claims largely based on administrative setbacks. Different state’s Forest Department officials’ individual desires for implementation of the FRA or processing of claims appear to be a major hurdle. 

Deulahudi Villagers Map Their Claim Under Forest Rights Act

Deulahudi, a small tribal village in Hrichandanpur Block of Keounjhar District n Odisha, India assembled for a participatory mapping exercise of their Community Forest Resources on 28th April 2013. The gathering was a field exercise carried out in their traditionally protected forest. The village is inhabited by the Kolha (also known as Munda or Ho) Tribe, recognized as one of the 62 Schedule Tribes in Odisha. According to village elders, the village consists of 40 households which are the descendants from 12 original families that settled in the village four generation back. The livelihood of the community is mostly based on gathering forest products.

Damburu Munda, Secretary of Forest Rights Committee of the Village, shared that while 59 individual forest rights claims were filed, only 44 titles were issued to the claimants for cultivation on forest land by district administration. They do not know the reason why the rest of the claims were not recognized.The villagers identified their Traditional Boundary with the prominent land marks and put it in the Sketch Map. They are collecting around 32 different minor forest products such as the mahua flower, mushrooms, char seed, siali and sal leaf (used as leaf plate), bamboo, tendu (fruit and leaf) within their customary boundary. The Forest Protection Committee is named after the village deity, Maa Disauli.

Major CBD Publication on ICCAs

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)  has released a major new publication entitled “Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Global Overview and National Case Studies.” The publication was coordinated and edited by Ashish Kothari of Kalpavriksh with Colleen Corrigan, Aurélie Neumann, and Natural Justice’s Harry Jonas and Holly Shrumm. Harry Jonas, Holly Shrumm and Natural Justice Fellow Eli Makaegon were lead authors for Chapters 3, 4 and 6 of the report on international recognition and support of ICCAs, national level legal recognition and support, and recommendations for recognizing and supporting ICCAs. 

From the Executive Summary, “there is increasing recognition that the territories and areas governed or managed by indigenous peoples and local communities contain significant levels of biodiversity (and related cultural diversity), and that the knowledge and practices of these people have contributed to conservation of ecosystem, species, and genetic diversity. This publication responds to the need for greater understanding on how to recognize and support the phenomenon of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs). Such a need has been voiced by those who work on conservation, indigenous and human rights, local communities, natural resource-based livelihoods and cultural issues. It also arises from the commitment of countries to recognize and support ICCAs, and the peoples and communities that govern them, as part of international conservation and human rights agreements.” 

The publication incorporates past studies on ICCAs and 19 national case studies commissioned as part of a project on ICCA Recognition and Support, undertaken by the ICCA Consortium, coordinated by Kalpavriksh. It also includes key findings from reviews of international and national ICCA legislation coordinated by Natural Justice. 

Download the full publication here. Reviews of national and international ICCA legislation can be found here. 

LED Lab Mapping in Sariska Tiger Reserve

The team from the Law, Environment and Design (LED) Lab, a new partnership between Natural Justice and the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, visited three villages in the core area of the Sariska Tiger Reserve to begin a resource mapping process with the Gujjar community. The team was accompanied by KRAPAVIS, a local NGO. The team worked with the community on a cognitive mapping exercise where different groups gathered to fill the chart paper with their understanding of the space they lived in. These cognitive maps became an effective tool to document the injustices caused by the denial of their rights to access the forest after its declaration as a tiger reserve. The LED Lab team conducted meetings with the Gram Sabha in each village to understand the status of implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and through this determined that knowledge of the Act was limited. The design students accordingly decided to develop a graphic novel that chronicles the different provisions of the Act and describes its interaction with potentially conflicting laws like the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The team also visited relocated villages where communities are still struggling with the dramatic transition and heard of the lack of community consultation through the relocation process. The LED team will now work towards creating a simple relocation chart that will detail options available along with experiences and challenges faced by other villages. 

Read more about the visit to Sariska Tiger Reserve here. Learn more about the LED Lab here.

BIOPAMA Regional Workshop - Eastern & Southern Africa

Via www.iucn.org

From 4-6 December, 2012, Gino Cocchiaro of Natural Justice attended the regional workshop for southern and eastern Africa on the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme in Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop provided a forum for participants and stakeholders from protected areas, governments and civil society to support the planning of BIOPAMA, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and the Access and Benefit Sharing Capacity Development Initiative (ABS Initiative). 

Gino and Suhel al-Janabi (ABS Initiative) presented on ABS case studies, including a discussion on how the Traditional Health Practitioners of Bushbuckridge are using their biocultural community protocol to work towards a potential ABS agreement with a cosmetics company. Other sessions included presentations and discussion on regional reference information systems, refining and addressing capacity development needs, and the drafting of an action plan for the regional implementation of BIOPAMA including the identification of priority activities, identification of key national and regional stakeholders, and agreed processes for collecting data and information. 

Learn more about BIOPAMA at its website here and through its introductory brochure in English, Spanish and French.

Recognising Sacred Sites Could Double Conserved Area

Via www.cifor.org

As attendees of the 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) discussed how conserved areas can be increased from 12 to 17 percent of the earth's land to meet target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by the 2020 deadline, some representatives argued that recognising lands sacred to indigenous communities could double the amount of protected land worldwide. Granting this status to areas conserved by indigenous communities would not only improve the conservation of land with immense biodiversity, it will also strengthen communities and help to keep them intact according to a recent blog post by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). 

The blog post cites the director of Natural Justice partner MELCA, Million Belay, who also feels that this recognition will strengthen and legitimise traditional knowledge. Bas Vershuuren, co-chair of the IUCN specialist group on cultural and spiritual values of protected areas and also a Natural Justice partner, said that through the recognition of sacred sites, conservation can be decentralised as opposed to the way it is currently practiced. 

Read the full blog post here. 

Overview of Key CBD COP11 Outcomes

Kabir Bavikatte (left) and Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice)

discussing key issues in the negotiations towards a plan

of action on customary sustainable use. Photo via IISD-RS.

Natural Justice was recently in India for the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which took place from 8-19 October in Hyderabad. In addition to a range of events and meetings, we actively participated in the negotiations, with particular emphasis on the draft decisions on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions, Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Protected Areas. Other key agenda items for which we provided technical guidance and coordination assistance through the CBD Alliance and ICCA Consortium included: Monitoring Progress on the Implementation of the Strategic Plan and Aichi Biodiversity Targets; Review of the Programme of Work on Island Biodiversity; Ecosystem Restoration; Marine and Coastal Biodiversity; Biodiversity and Climate Change; Biodiversity for Poverty Eradication and Development; Biological Diversity of Inland Water Ecosystems; Forest Biodiversity; and Agricultural Biodiversity.

The overriding emphasis of the negotiations was on setting the foundations for resource mobilisation and policy alignment for implementation of the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan and Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Amongst the 33 decisions adopted, there were many provisions of direct relevance to the work of Natural Justice and our partners.

UNEP Protected Planet Report

The United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC) has released its first ever "Protected Planet Report." The report seeks to track global progress towards achieving Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The report was compiled by UNEP-WCMC, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Commission on Protected Areas and a wide range of organisations that build on the work of the CBD-mandated Biodiversity Indicators Partnership.

The report, which will now be released semi-annually, notes that while the protected area network is growing towards achieving targets in terms of area covered, many protected areas do not offer adequate protection for endangered species. The report also reveals that protected area management is changing dramatically around the world. According to Nature's write up of the report, "in 1990, just 14% of protected areas allowed hunting and other sustainable uses of natural resources, but today that number has risen to 32%. At the same time, the amount of area managed exclusively by governments has declined from 96% to 77%, a trend reflecting the rise of community-based conservation and co-management schemes with indigenous peoples."

Nature's story on the report can be accessed here. IUCN's description of the report can be found here. The report can be downloaded here. 

IUCN Journal on PAs and Conservation Re-Launched

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released the first edition of its re-launched PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation. The journal includes contributions on a wide range of subjects important to protected areas and conservation including ocean protection, protecting indigenous grasslands in New Zealand, the impact of veterinary fencing in southern Africa, the linkages between human health and well-being and protected areas in Canada, and a discussion of motivations for hunting in Iran. The journal was co-edited by Sue Stolton and Nigel Dudley of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and Equilibrium Research. 

Two articles consider Target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which references "other effective area-based conservation measures", which can include Indigenous peoples' and local community conserved territories and areas (ICCAs). An editorial by Nik Lopoukhine, Chair of the IUCN WCPA, and Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, seeks clarity on which “management approaches are, and are not, to be included within the land and water areas established under the auspices of the target.” “Meeting Aichi Target 11: What Does Success Look Like for Protected Area Systems?” is authored by several  IUCN and United Nations Environment Programme staff and argues for “a holistic interpretation of Target 11 as a way for the global community to use protected areas to change the current unacceptable trends in global biodiversity loss.” 

The full journal can be downloaded here. Information on the journal and links to individual articles can be found here. Find IUCN on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IUCN. 

Gujjar Community Consultation in Sariska Tiger Reserve

Natural Justice’s Arpitha Kodiveri and Sankar Pani attended a two-day workshop organised by Krishi Avam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan (KRAPAVIS) in Alwar, Rajasthan from 9-10 September, 2012. The workshop sought to understand the challenges faced by the Gujjar community after the declaration of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. Arpitha and Sankar presented on the concept of Biocultural Community Protocols and how a protocol might be relevant in the Sariska context. They were also involved in the consultation of community leaders from the 11 effected villages located in the core area, seeking to understand the grounds and process for the proposed relocation to surrounding areas and developing strategies for securing rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

National Consultation on Protected Areas & Forest Rights

Sankar Pani of Natural Justice participated in a National Consultation on the Protected Areas and Forest Rights Act (FRA) on 12-13 August, 2012, in New Delhi. The consultation was organised by the Future of Conservation Network (FoC), a network of ecological and social organizations and individuals committed to the effective and equitable conservation of biodiversity. FoC's objective is to foster dialogue and engagement in complex conservation issues, and to help tackle increasing threats to both biodiversity and livelihoods. 

The basic objective of the consultation was to discuss the issues relating to poor, improper, and/or non-implementation of the FRA in protected areas such as Sanctuaries, National Parks and Tiger Reserves. Many participants suggested that the Nodal Ministry should appoint an independent committee to review the implementation of the FRA in protected areas. They also emphasised that until the recognition process is completed no person should be evicted or relocated from their existing occupation and residence. 

Oaxaca, Mexico

In the context of ongoing discussions about coordinating the international development of bio-cultural community protocols between Natural Justice, UNEP, UNU, UNESCO, the Foundation for the Revitalization of Local Health Traditions, the COMPAS Network and the Global Diversity Foundation (GDF), Natural Justice is meeting with the coordinators of the GDF Mesoamerican Programme to explore synergies for future work. Carlos del Campo and Claudia Isabel Camacho are hosting Harry Jonas in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, to discuss rights-based approaches to assist communities living in the Chinantla area of Oaxaca with recent concerns they have about a planned decree to set aside their land as a protected area. For more information on GDF and the Mesoamerican Programme, see: www.globaldiversity.org.uk