BIO-CULTURAL COMMUNITY PROTOCOLS AS A
COMMUNITY-BASED RESPONSE TO THE CBD
PART I / CHAPTER 2
Conservation farming: Through Gunis’ knowledge, some of
between our livestock, the environment and our way of life.
our community members have begun to grow medicinal plants
We particularly value their abilities to withstand drought, to
for the local and regional market. While being distinct from
walk long distances and survive on small quantities of rough
Gunis, we include medicinal plants’ conservation farmers in
vegetation, as well as their strong resistance to disease. Because
this group. We are able to buy low cost plants directly from the
these breeds are integral to our lives, we also have a wealth of
farmers. The farmers constitute 20 to 30 families who employ
knowledge about them, including breeding methods
indigenous farming methods, including no use of pesticides
and animal health knowledge.
or herbicides that adversely affect microorganisms and other
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life forms beneficial to the environment.
Our indigenous breeds and their characteristics are the result
of our relationship with the land, and as a result we see them
3.3.2 Animal Genetic Resources and Culture
as part of our cultural heritage. We have learned that our
breeds are also considered important by others because of
Both the Samburu and the Raika expressed a deep connection
their hardiness and disease resistance.
to their livestock and explained how they sustained particular
indigenous breeds. The Raika, for example, state the following:
Our culture and animal breeds are integral to who we are
as a People. Without our indigenous breeds we will have
Through our interaction with the forests, gauchar and oran,
lost a critical part of our collective bio-cultural heritage,
and through selective breeding for generations we have
and without our culture our indigenous breeds are less
created breeds that are particularly hardy, able to forage and
likely to be conserved.
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digest rough vegetation, withstand the dry Rajasthani
environment, and walk long distances – all attributes that
3.4 Bio-spirituality
“high performance” exotic breeds do not have. Local breeds
need fewer inputs and are less susceptible to disease and are
well-suited to harsh conditions. The animal genetic diversity
they embody enables us to respond to changes in the natural
environment, important attributes in the context of climate
change adaptation and food security. Their genetic traits and
our traditional knowledge associated with them will also be
of use in breeding for disease resistance, and may provide us
with other diverse economic opportunities under the
forthcoming International Regime on Access and Benefit
Sharing or a future International Treaty on Animal Genetic
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Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Closely linked to the above is the spiritual connection that all
communities spoke about but that was most highlighted by
the traditional healers. The Bushbuckridge traditional healers
living in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve state how
their spirituality guards against the over-harvesting of any of
their natural resources:
Our harvesting of medicinal plants is guided by our spiritual
values and is regulated by our customary laws that promote
the sustainability of our natural resources. For example, we
ask our ancestors as we harvest to ensure that the medicines
will have their full effect, and believe that only harvested leaves
or bark that are taken in ways that ensure the survival of the
The Samburu echo this idea in their respective context:
plant or tree will heal the patient. This means that we take
only strips of bark or selected leaves of stems of plants, and
We keep the small East African Zebu cattle, Red Maasai sheep
and East African goats. Our indigenous breeds are particularly
suited to local conditions because of adaptation through
natural selection, as well as our contribution to their genetic
development through selective breeding. Until the recent
introduction of exotic breeds, these were the only breeds we
kept, representing hundreds of years of co-development
always cover the roots of trees or plants after we have collected
what we require. Also, we have rules linked to the seasons in
which we can collect various plants, with severe consequences
such as jeopardizing rains if they are transgressed. Because
we harvest for immediate use, we never collect large scale
amounts of any particular resource, tending to collect a
variety of small samples. This inhibits over-harvesting.
8.
Biocultural Community Protocol of Gunis and Medicinal Plant Conservation Farmers of Rajasthan, India. For more information contact Bhawar Dhabai or Ganesh Purohit,
Jagran Jan Vikas Samiti, www.jjvs.org.
9. Supra note 4.
10. Supra note 2.
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