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SECTION III
USING THE TOOLKIT
This Toolkit is intended to support Indigenous peoples and local communities to secure their rights and
responsibilities and strengthen customary ways of life and stewardship of their territories and areas. It is
directed primarily towards facilitators from the communities themselves or from supporting organizations
with whom they have long-standing and positive relationships. Even if the idea of a biocultural community
protocol is introduced by an external actor, the Toolkit should be used by the community.
Section III highlights key considerations to explore before beginning the process of documenting,
developing, and using a biocultural community protocol. It includes guidance on understanding how the
community defines itself, cultural and internal dynamics, local institutions, and participation and
representation. It also provides suggestions of how to facilitate the protocol process, including
understanding your role as a facilitator, managing expectations and information, and supporting
community catalysts. Finally, it explores the notion of free, prior and informed consent.
These are not hard rules or step-by-step requirements, but could be considered good practice guidelines
to adapt to the local context and your skills as a facilitator. They can be explored in a number of different
ways, including through workshops, open-ended discussions with certain groups, and focused meetings
with community leaders.
A.
UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNITY
A1. Contextualizing ‘Community’
A discussion about the community could begin with
Traditional health practitioners in Mpumalanga,
the questions of who defines it and how it is defined.
South Africa, established an association through
Outsiders commonly use the term ‘community’ to
which they advocate for greater recognition of
refer to people living in a geographically defined
their collective medicinal knowledge. They are
space without much consideration of what joins
from two different ethnic and linguistic groups
them together or what may separate them. People
that normally do not consider themselves part
generally know the boundaries of their own
of the same ‘community’.
community and where another one begins. This
understanding of boundaries is governed by Box 7: Changing notions of 'community'
relations between groups that are often historically