l Whose access and whose benefit? The Nagoya Protocol and customary rights in India 63
Weaving Gongadi textiles.
Community strategies to conserve the
breed have involved actions to secure grazing rights in forests using the FRA law,
which legalised grazing in forests, involving the gram panchayats.7 They convinced
them to pass resolutions to protect the last
remaining village common property
resources, restoring ancient forest grazing
paths which had been encroached on,
preventing the harvest of acacia trees,
which are critical sources of summer
fodder, and desilting village water bodies.8
They are also promoting animal health and
sustainable agriculture based on indigenous knowledge and practices, and are
involved in rediscovering and sustaining
the communities’ breeding knowledge
about the Deccani. Elders share knowledge
with young people through different
community gatherings and cultural events
that are closely associated with the breed.
With the revival of the breed, came the
revival of wool and the gongadi woolcraft.
Shepherds, spinners, weavers and kada
specialists, who produce the gongadi
borders, are rebuilding linkages between
them and all are deriving benefits from
conserving the breed.
In a context of climate change, the
hardy black wool Deccani breed promises
to be the best option for the pastoralists
and farmers of the Deccan. However, the
communities now face a new threat: a State
decision to expand Hyderabad city, swallowing up 600 villages, including those in
Medak district. The villages are determined
to use the powers of the gram panchayat
under PESA to resist this takeover.
Conclusions
Adivasis and pastoralist communities in
India are challenging the fundamental
premises of ABS agreements and laws
which lie within a capitalist market
7 Local village institutions of self-governance formed under the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj
Act, 1994.
Acacia nilotica trees are being harvested for their timber value.
8