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65 Köhler-Rollefson, Kakar, Mathias, Singh Rathore and Wanyama
secure their rights (Köhler-Rollefson et al.,
2010). Biocultural community protocols
(BCPs) are one tool for helping to do this. A
livestock BCP might document breeds and
associated traditional knowledge and practices, and invoke rights under various
existing legal frameworks such as the
UNCBD. The process of developing these
documents – when driven and designed by
communities – offers the potential to
strengthen community cohesion and the
capacity to secure and defend rights.
Through LIFE’s connection with the
legal NGO Natural Justice, some LIFE
Network partners were inspired to support
the development of a number of BCPs by
livestock keepers in Pakistan, India and
Kenya.
This article examines three different
experiences, and the extent to which these
BCPs were community-driven processes. It
looks at whether and how communities
have been able to make use of the protocols
in the struggle to have their rights recognised, and whether there were other
benefits for communities in developing the
protocols. It also discusses some emerging
lessons and how these might help inform
future work.
tion systems and can be nomadic, seminomadic or sedentary. Livestock is
important not just for livelihoods. They are
an intimate part of the cultural and spiritual life of Pashtun livestock keepers. The
community is proud of their role in the
conservation of precious biodiversity and
landscape diversity. They decided to
develop the BCP because the importance
of their role had never been appreciated.
The community wanted to reflect this
through the BCP. Although other Pashtun
people share knowledge, breeds and
customary practices with the Janobi Pashtunkhawa, accessibility to some Pashtun
lands is difficult due to conflicts in tribal
areas of Pakistan and southern
Afghanistan. It was not possible to develop
a BCP for all the Pashtun people.
Process
Initial awareness-raising about the BCP
began in October 2010 by three people
from SAVES.5 They travelled throughout
the region, meeting with livestock keepers.
Their aim was to raise awareness about the
general process of developing a BCP and
about specific ideas for this particular
process.
Pashtun Biocultural Protocol
Primary meetings
The Pashtun live in the north-east highlands of Balochistan province, mid-west
Pakistan. They are an indigenous and tribal
pastoral community known as the Janobi
Pashtunkhawa. Their territory centres
around the Suleiman mountains and is
comprised of 13 districts of Balochistan.
References to the area, also known as Arya
Warsha or ‘the place for grazing’, can be
found in the Avesta, the holy book of
Zoroaster, which is 2700 years old. Pashtunkhuwa is the cradle of domestication for
many species like the Bactrian camel,
sheep and goats.
Pashtun people are nature lovers. They
keep their livestock in eco-friendly produc-
First, we held group discussions with
community groups at different village
levels. These were documented in Pashto
(the Pashtun language). Discussions
focused on their livestock breeds, flora and
fauna diversity that they know and use, and
farming systems and practice. The community members demonstrated their
familiarity with biological resources and
their pride in their biological and cultural
richness. Basic yet vital information was
gathered, such as the names of breeds, their
importance in low-input systems and dry
seasons, the taste of the food items
produced by their animals, and the cultural
importance of the breeds. A first draft of
5 The Society of Animal, Veterinary and Environmental Scientists (SAVES) is an organisation set
up by a university-educated Pashtun man with a background in animal science.