FAO Study on Women's Role in Livestock Conservation

Via www.fao.org

While two-thirds of the world’s 600 million livestock keepers are women, the role of women in conservation and breeding indigenous livestock remains poorly documented and undervalued. A new UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) study, entitled “Invisible Guardians: Women manage livestock diversity,” seeks to address this shortcoming. 

The report notes the capacity of indigenous livestock breeds to adapt to harsh climates, resist disease, thrive on local fodder, and support themselves with low maintenance. The report argues that the role that women play in conserving and breeding these livestock has been significantly underappreciated. Study author and Natural Justice-partner Ilse Köhler-Rollefson argues that women are the guardians of livestock diversity. The report offers specific guidelines to ensure that gender issues are made central to projects, programmes and policies that focus on animal genetic resource management.

A summary of the report, along with a supplementary interview with study author Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, can be accessed here. The report can be downloaded here. An interview with Dailibai Raika, a livestock activist from Rajasthan, has been produced as a supplement to the brief and can be viewed here. 

Read More

Two Opportunities for EMRIP Submissions

Via www.ohchr.org

Two significant opportunities are available to contribute to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' (EMRIP) work to develop and monitor the implementation of law and policy around Indigenous people’s rights. The first is a survey for Indigenous peoples on strategies for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The survey can be completed online here and should be submitted by 18 February, 2013. 

The second is an opening for contributions by Indigenous peoples, academia, national human rights institutions, civil society and other interested groups and persons  on EMRIP's study on access to justice in the promotion and protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights. There is no prescribed form for submissions, and contributions should submitted via email to expertmechanism@ohchr.org by 11 Febrary, 2013.

Read More

Resource Media Report on Ecosystem Services Messaging and Strategy

Via the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) research programme, a new report has been released by Resource Media on public communications strategies and "messaging" for ecosystem service policies. The report was developed through in-depth interviews with ecosystems services practitioners, government officials, and other stakeholders, through a survey of media and digital coverage of ecosystem services projects, and a review of a wide range of materials produced by practitioners. The report finds that out of 16 terms to describe the benefits of nature, “ecosystem services” and “natural capital” ranked 13th and 15th, respectively, as the terms were found to be difficult to understand and inadequate in conveying meaning by those surveyed. 

On messaging, the report recommends a clearer discussion of nature’s value and benefits instead of using the term ‘ecosystem services’. To achieve this, it recommends discussing specific lands and areas, the acknowledgement of nature’s intangible and incalculable benefits, increased emphasis on the gap in traditional economic analysis’s ability to understand and quantify nature’s benefits, and using plain English over jargon. 

Find a summary of the report’s findings on ESPA’s blog here. Download the full report here.

Read More

1st Africa Land Forum - Yaoundé Declaration

In recent years, the demand for productive land has surged as a result of global food and financial crises, as well as increasing concerns about energy security. In many countries, carbon sequestration as a response to climate change has also contributed to land pressure. This has rendered land an increasingly disputed and commoditised resource, compromising rural people’s access to, and control over, land. Indigenous communities have been particularly vulnerable to these pressures as many in Africa are pastoralists and hunter-gatherers and the land they occupy and depend on for their livelihoods is often perceived as empty. 

In this context, the First Africa Land Forum, themed “Securing the land rights of indigenous people and rural communities,” was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 7-8 November, 2012. The forum was organised by the Africa Platform of the International Land Coalition (ILC) and hosted by the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (MBOSCUDA). Over 95 participants from 22 countries, representing indigenous and non-indigenous organisations, attended. The forum culminated in the drafting and signing of the Yaoundé Declaration. 

The declaration identifies many challenges and issues emerging in the African context. The land rights of women are still limited by existing African patriarchal systems. Laws and policies often fail to recognise and protect the land rights of indigenous and minority populations. Land tenure is under pressure as a result of population growth and climate change. Low literacy on land laws by citizens, a lack of land laws published in local languages, and complex land administration systems make it difficult for many to secure their land rights. The commodification and privatisation of land has led to conflict and has undermined customary land tenure systems. In addition, the creation of national parks and protected areas continues to displace marginalised populations. 

The declaration seeks to address these challenges by encouraging sustainable and equitable land governance systems; the registration of collective rights over the commons, including grazing lands; wider participation in decision-making over land; the harmonisation of customary law and legislation so that women and men have equal rights to control and own land and natural resources; recognition for small-scale producers in the development of national strategies for food security and rural development; and fair and accessible land conflict resolution mechanisms, particularly where land and natural resources are shared by indigenous peoples and others. 

Read more about the forum here. The Yaoundé Declaration can be downloaded in French here and in English here.

Read More

DRAFT WIPO Toolkit on TK for Comment

While a wide range of tools have been developed to protect Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs), the focus has primarily been on documentation. With emerging concerns that documentation has potential effects on the rights, cultures and livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities, partly through placing TK and TCEs in the ‘public domain’, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has produced a draft Traditional Knowledge Documentation Toolkit to address some of these concerns. WIPO is seeking input on the draft towards a final publication. 

The Toolkit seeks to offer practical guidance on how to undertake a TK documentation exercise as a process and how to address critical intellectual property-related issues and questions as they surface during this effort. The Toolkit primarily focuses on TK but much may also apply to TCEs. The Toolkit does not promote documentation or suggest any one approach to intellectual property management, but rather offers a menu of alternatives to be taken into account in documentation projects and efforts. 

A summary of the consultation draft of the Toolkit can found here, and the Toolkit can be downloaded in English here (drafts in Spanish and French are being prepared). Comments and suggestions should be sent to grtkf@wipo.int.

Read More

Apply for Global Environments Summer Academy - 2013

Via www.global-diversity.org

The third Global Environments Summer Academy (GESA) on Socio-ecological Interactions in a Dynamic World will be held from 27 July – 18 August, 2013 at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Bern. This year's academy will focus on the human dimensions of global environmental change, ranging from adaptive community management to planetary processes. The academy has been organised by the Global Diversity Foundation, in partnership with the Rachel Carson Center, since 2011. 

Organisers are seeking applications from students in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences – as well as from professionals already working in advocacy, law, media or policy – who focus on the relationship between environment and society. 

According to GESA’s description, “every year the course focuses on different themes within the broad concern of human dimensions of global environmental change. The course spans local to global scales and diverse ecosystems, exploring the most critical contemporary environmental issues from multiple perspectives including biocultural diversity, environmental history, political ecology, sustainability studies and personal activism.” 

More details about course content, financial information and registration can be found here. Applications to GESA should be submitted here before 15 January, 2013.

Read More

Major Report on Ocean-Grabbing

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, has warned of the threat of ‘ocean-grabbing’ to food security in a special report to the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. In the report he urges world governments and international bodies to halt the depletion of fish stocks and take urgent steps to protect, sustain, and share the benefits of fisheries and marine environments. 

‘Ocean-grabbing’, which sees access agreements between major corporations and governments that are often unregulated, ultimately harms small-scale fishers and often allows for incursions into protected waters. According to Mr De Schutter, it can be as serious a threat as land-grabbing. “Without rapid action to claw back waters from unsustainable practices, fisheries will no longer be able to play a critical role in securing the right to food of millions,” he said at the release of the report, “with agricultural systems under increasing pressure, many people are now looking to rivers, lakes and oceans to provide an increasing share of our dietary protein.” 

The report's executive summary can be downloaded here. The report can be downloaded in all of the UN’s official languages here.

Read More