What is “Biocultural Heritage” and “Biocultural Innovation”?
27 Mar 2014
Article in Langscape Magazine explores these concepts in the context of the SIFOR project.
News and blogs
Small-Scale Farmers' Innovation Overlooked In WIPO Negotiations, Panellists Say
07 Feb 2014
A side event hosted by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) this week called on negotiators at the World Intellectual Property Organization to include innovation by small-scale farmers and asked for complementarity of several international instruments dealing with this issue.
Smallholder innovations support adaptation in coastal Kenya
03 Dec 2013
Local newspaper reports on the innovations identified by SIFOR project communities in Kilifi and Kwale counties.
Biodiversity meeting affirms key role of traditional knowledge in implementing UN biodiversity convention
31 Oct 2013
The meeting of the Working Group on Article 8(j) in Montreal (7-11 October), reaffirmed the need to recognize and integrate traditional knowledge systems of indigenous and local communities into the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Patent-like claims on native potatoes spark protest by Peru's indigenous farmers
26 Sep 2013
Peruvian indigenous farmers have been angered by a government research agency that has claimed it owns intellectual property (IP) rights over more than fifty traditional varieties of potatoes bred in the Peruvian Andes.
The seed treaty must no longer allow the stealing of seeds from peasants
25 Sep 2013
This week, from 24 to 28 September, witnesses the opening in Oman of the Fifth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also known as the seed treaty.
Indian scientists recognise the need to conserve landraces and support local knowledge systems
13 Sep 2013
On 24th July 2013, the first SIFOR stakeholder workshop in the Central Himalayas brought together over 100 participants - leading scientists, local farmers, state governments and NGOs.
Policy submissions
Putting the concept into practice
This section highlights key actors and initiatives that put the concept of biocultural heritage into practice—from indigenous organisations and NGOs, to universities, UN organisations and donors.
Indigenous organisations
Asociacion ANDES (Peru)
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation for 2020
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation for 2020 was agreed at the Biodiversity Convention’s 10th Conference of Parties in Nagoya, 2010. It sets out a series of targets to be achieved by 2020. The following two targets are directly relevant for the protection of biocultural heritage:
Objective II; target 9: 70 per cent of the genetic diversity of crops including their wild relatives and other socio-economically valuable plant species conserved, while respecting, preserving and maintaining associated indigenous and local knowledge.
Biocultural Products
Why develop biocultural products?
Indigenous Biocultural Territories
‘Indigenous Biocultural Territories’ (IBCTs) aim to protect collective biocultural heritage of indigenous peoples through collective territorial rights. They support the integrity of indigenous territorialities which are under siege from a variety of forces and actors, in a rapidly changing world. These territories are essential for sustaining local subsistence economies, diverse cultures, biological resources, innovation and adaption systems, and ecosystem services.
The Nagoya Protocol and awareness raising measures
The Nagoya Protocol requires that:
Each Party shall take measures to raise awareness of the importance of genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, and related access and benefit-sharing issues” (Article 21).
Awareness raising measures may include:
organising meetings of indigenous and local communities and relevant stakeholders and involving them in implementation of the Protocol;
establishing a help desk, and a national clearing house;