Natural Justice and Indigenous Information Network send letter to ENVI Regarding Concerns over Nagoya Protocol Implementation

Photo Credit: World Intellectual Property Review

On 2 July 2013, Natural Justice, jointly with the Indigenous Information Network, sent a letter to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Commission expressing their concern about the way the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Nagoya Protocol) might be implemented in the European Union through the current draft Access and Benefit Sharing Regulation of the European Commission (Draft ABS Regulation). 

In the letter, which has been signed by over 50 individuals or organisations representing or supporting indigenous people and local communities, Natural Justice and the Indigenous Information Network highlight in particular that the Draft ABS Regulation: potentially excludes traditional knowledge (TK) covered by the Nagoya Protocol; only covers genetic resources (GRs) and associated TK that are physically accessed rather than utilized after the Protocol comes into force for the EU and provider country, thereby excluding millions of compounds and associated TK that are available as they have already been accessed from provider countries and communities; and essentially fails to fight biopiracy effectively. 

On 4 July 2013, the ENVI convened to agree on compromises on the current version of the draft European Commission ABS Regulation regarding access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization in the EU. The vote was of key importance as the Committee debated and decided on the amendments to the Draft ABS Regulation tabled by a number of European Parliamentarians, including those suggested by the ENVI Rapporteur Sandrine Bélier. The Draft ABS Regulation is scheduled to be debated in plenary at the European Parliament later this year.

For More information:

Letter to EU 

Draft ABS Regulation

ENVI Website

Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration, ‘Access or Utilisation – What Triggers User Obligations? A Comment on the Draft Proposal of the European Commission on the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing’ 

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Workshop on Spatial Planning for Conservation and Sustainable Development in Sabah

Hand-held GPS units have been used by communities

around the world to map their territories and important

resources and cultural sites.

On 8 July, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) attended a day-long meeting on spatial planning for conservation and sustainable development in Sabah, Malaysia (the third in a series organised by Hutan and the Malaysian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature). Building on the discussions undertaken in the previous meeting in late May, this meeting included the following:

• An update from the consultants compiling the draft 2013-2033 Sabah Structure Plan;
• An update from the NGO team compiling biodiversity data, including the latest spatial assessment of forest cover in Sabah;
• Discussion about several planning scenarios produced by the initial spatial analyses; and
• Suggestions about possible policy amendments or new policies that may be needed to address current and future challenges such as climate change and voluntary conservation by communities and companies alike.

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Community forest rights in villages of Maharastra paved the way for economic empowerment

The Vidarva region of Maharastra is infamous for the highest number of farmers’ suicide cases in India. Few people know the brighter side of the region and more particularly the stewardship rights of natural resources asserted and exercised by the community that have led to gross economic empowerment. There are villages that earn revenues in crores of rupees per annum and able to meet the all of their developmental needs without depending on any government grants. 

The villages of the region have set a trend for the rest of the country in exercising the ownership rights over minor forest produces like bamboo, kendu leaf (used for Bidi), and Mahua. The kendu leaf is a nationalized forest produce, so the state has monopoly over it in the market and it is not a freely traded forest produce. The only option for the villagers is to pluck the kendu leaf for the state forest corporation, which has the authority of storage and marketing the forest produces. The forest dwellers or kendu leaf pickers used to get some wage for plucking and drying the leaves. Similarly, mahua (mostly used in preparing liquor) is an excisable product and there has been a cap on hoarding the mahua and it is allowed only for domestic consumption. In the case of bamboo, the Forest Corporation has the authority to trade it and the villagers were mostly engaged in cutting the bamboo for which they were paid some nominal wage. The villagers never enjoyed ownership rights or were able to trade as they wished.

 After the enactment of the Forest Rights Act in 2006, the villagers started exercising their ownership rights. Initially, the Forest Department was reluctant to allow the community to harvest bamboo, but after sincere efforts from the community and pressure mounted on government from various stakeholders, bamboo was later freed from the Forest Department’s control in reality in some of the villages. Villagers harvested the bamboo and kendu leaf and sold it in the open market through bidding. They proved their worth as green gold; that bamboo and kendu leaf can lead to economic freedom of the community is well-established in these cases. However, it is not just limited to forest produces: the villagers have also harnessed potency in inland fisheries, biogas using cow dung, and land development works. After these sustainable livelihood interventions over forest land, the out-migration from villages has significantly decreased.

In Maharashtra, around 1176-1200 villages got recognition to their Community Forests Rights (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act over an extent of 6.5lakh acres forest land and more than 1000 water bodies. The Vidarbh Livelihood Forum(VLF) is working in 525 villages in 21 blocks of 7 districts in Maharastra. Kolam and Madia are the two particularly vulnerable tribal groups with whom the Forum is engaged in some villages. They have facilitated the larger landscape and habitat rights claims of the Madia community in their field interventions. 

The Vidarbha Livelihood Forum, in collaboration with the State Department of Tribal Development & Forests, organised a state-level consultation on “CFR Management, Technical Intervention and Livelihoods, Roles & Responsibilities of CSOs/Panchatiraj institution members & Government Institutions” on 28th June 2013 at Van Bhawan, Nagpur. Sankar Pani (Natural Justice) participated in the consultation. The following subjects were discussed for implementation through appropriate actions: 

1. Management of CFR areas with technical expertise and back up.

2. Livelihoods based on minor forest produces and/or fisheries and agricultural intensification,

3. Working plan/capacity building of Gram Sabhas and their executive committees under section 4(1)(e) of the Forest Rights Act,

4. Support and convergence with line department e.g. Forest, Tribal Development, Revenue, Fisheries, & Agriculture.

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ABS and BCP Workshop in East London, South Africa

On 3 and 4 July 2013, the Department of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) unit of the Medical Research Council of South Africa held the third and final pilot workshop on the international legislative framework and the South African domestic laws relating to Access and Benefit-Sharing.  The workshop was held in East London with twenty-eight participants and six resource persons.  Laureen Manuel and Gino Cocchiaro of Natural Justice conducted the workshop, which included presentations, group discussions and role plays on biocultural community protocols (BCPs).  

Members of seven different communities from villages in Uitenhage, Grahamstown and Willowbridge, as well as two representatives from the Mokgola community in Zeerust, participated in the workshop. Some of the participants are traditional healers and others are engaged in the farming of various types of tea leaves.  

International and domestic law on Access and Benefit Sharing, specifically the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, and the Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations of South Africa were among the topics covered under the session on laws. 

The workshop concluded with participants readily taking part in the group discussions and role plays on BCPs, where they were required to engage with challenging questions about their own communities' visions for the future and their decision-making processes. 

The short report for the African BCP Initiative 2011-2012 can be found here.

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LED Lab interviewed for Tactical Technology Collective

Arpitha Kodiveri of Natural Justice was featured in the micro magazine that was published as a part of the evidence and influence conference organized by the Tactical Technology Collective in June, 2013. The magazine features interviews of environmental activists from across the world who have attempted to use creative techniques for intervention. The interview highlights the role of design in the communication of law, an approach which is being experimented with at the Law,  Environment and Design Lab. The LED Lab is an innovative space set up collaboratively between the Srishti School of Art, Technology and Design and Natural Justice. This interview features its pioneering efforts to create a board game on a progressive law in India called the Forest Rights Act, 2006 as well as a paralegal toolkit that uses puppet theater to speak about this law and its importance. The interview is available for viewing here.

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Participatory Mapping Workshop in Melangkap

From 29 June to 1 July, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) joined Borneo Conservancy Initiative for the first of a series of participatory mapping workshops with the villages of Melangkap (Sabah, Malaysia). The workshop involved sketch mapping by each of the five villages, comparisons of certain overlapping areas and common resources, and a basic introduction to taking Global Positioning System (GPS) points with hand-held units.

Subsequent workshops will involve creating 2-D and 3-D maps on the basis of GPS points currently being collected, and as part of an ongoing process to document and develop a community protocol.

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Natural Justice Submits Letter to US Secretary of the Treasury Regarding World Bank Safeguard Policies

Natural Justice, along with several other organizations, endorsed a July 1, 2013 letter to US Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew regarding the ongoing review and update of the World Bank safeguard policies. The letter asks Secretary Lew, who is responsible for the management of the United States’ interests in the World Bank, to support four threshold issues during an upcoming World Bank Board meeting on July 23, 2013 where the safeguards review will be addressed. These threshold issues include: The safeguard policies and procedures, to avoid weakening, must continue to be based on mandatory, detailed, enforceable, time-bound requirements; the Bank’s Board needs an informed basis for making decisions on the scope of application of the safeguard policies; the review must continue to focus attention on the emerging areas identified by the Bank; and the updated safeguards must be accompanied by a detailed implementation plan.

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