RAIKA BIO-CULTURAL PROTOCOL
APPENDIX
OUR BIOCULTURAL VALUES
Where we live:
and way of life. We have always considered ourselves a
distinct indigenous community, a fact that is recorded,
We are the Raika, an indigenous pastoral community who
for example, in the 1891 Marwar census undertaken on
live in Rajasthan, North West India. We number about 1m
behalf of the Maharaja of Jodhpur.
people, with the Maru Raika living across the State and the
Godwad Raika living in Pali, Jalore and Sirohi.
Our traditional livelihoods:
Despite the arid climate and the region’s dryland ecosystem,
We are indigenous nomadic pastoralists who have
we have lived in the region for over 700 years rearing unique
developed a variety of livestock breeds based on our
livestock and acting as custodians of the local environment.
traditional knowledge and have customarily grazed our
camels, sheep, goats and cattle on communal lands and in
Our origins:
forests. This means that our livelihoods and the survival
of our particular breeds are based on access to forests,
At a spiritual level, we believe that we were created by
gauchar (village communal grazing lands) and oran
Lord Shiva. The camel was shaped by his wife, Parvati, and
(sacred groves attached to temples). In turn, our animals
it was brought to life by Lord Shiva. But the camel’s
help conserve the biodiversity of the local ecosystems in
playfulness caused a nuisance, so Lord Shiva created the
which they graze and we provide assistance to the area’s
Raika from his skin and sweat to take care of the camels.
local communities. In this way, we see our indigenous
Our spiritual universe is linked to our livestock breeding,
pastoralist culture as both using and benefitting from the
and our ethnicity is inextricably intertwined with our breeds
forests, in a virtuous cycle.
WE PRESERVE UNIQUE ANIMAL GENETIC RESOURCES
AND HAVE ASSOCIATED TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Animal genetic resources:
and Benefit Sharing or a future International Treaty on Animal
Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Through our interaction with the forests, gauchar and
oran, and through selective breeding for generations
Specifically, we maintain the following breeds that are more
we have created breeds that are particularly hardy, able
fully described in Appendix I:
to forage and digest rough vegetation, withstand the dry
Rajasthani environment and to walk long distances –
• Cattle: Nari and Kankrej;
all attributes that “high performance” exotic breeds do
• Sheep: Boti (officially the Mar wari) and Bhagli
not have. Local breeds need fewer inputs and are less
(officially the Sonadi);
s u s c e p t i b l e to d i s e a s e a n d a re we l l - s u i te d to
• Goat: Marwari and Sirohi;
harsh conditions. The animal genetic diversity they embody
• Camels: Mewari, Marwari, Malvi; Bikaneri, Jaisalmeri.
enables us to respond to changes in the natural environment,
important attributes in the context of climate change
Many of our breeds are intrinsically migratory, and cannot
adaptation and food security. Their genetic traits and our
be stall bred. Just as our lifestyles are suited to the
traditional knowledge associated with them will also be
conditions they require to survive, these breeds are
of use in breeding for disease resistance, and may
suited to our biocultural realities.
provide us with other diverse economic opportunities
under the forthcoming International Regime on Access
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