Biocultural community protocols for livestock keepers
Since there is currently no formal process for an international agreement in which Livestock
Keepers’ Rights could be embedded, there is now a move to turn them into “soft law” to
which concerned parties could voluntarily agree. For this purpose Guidelines for putting
Livestock Keepers’ Rights into practice have been developed (Life Network, 2009a).
Furthermore there is a Declaration on Livestock Keepers’ Rights, drafted in Kalk Bay,
South Africa in late 2008 that sets out three principles and five rights for livestock keepers
(Life Network, 2009b. See also box below).
Biocultural protocols represent an approach to invoking Livestock Keepers’ Rights locally
and in a decentralized manner. They provide livestock keepers with the means to articulate
their concerns and views, and to document their breeds and ecosystems as well as their
traditional knowledge and institutions. Through the process of establishing the biocultural
protocol, they establish their identity as an indigenous or local community and thereby can
claim certain rights or entitlements under the provisions of the Convention on Biological
Diversity as well as other existing laws and legal frameworks.
Declaration on Livestock Keepers’ Rights
Principles
1. Livestock Keepers are creators of breeds and custodians of animal genetic resources for
food and agriculture.
2. Livestock Keepers and the sustainable use of traditional breeds are dependent on the
conservation of their respective ecosystems.
3. Traditional breeds represent collective property, products of indigenous knowledge and
cultural expression of Livestock Keepers.
Livestock keepers have the right to:
1. Make breeding decisions and breed the breeds they maintain.
2. Participate in policy formulation and implementation processes on animal genetic resources
for food and agriculture.
3. Appropriate training and capacity building and equal access to relevant services enabling
and supporting them to raise livestock and to better process and market their products.
4. Participate in the identification of research needs and research design with respect to their
genetic resources, as is mandated by the principle of Prior Informed Consent.
5. Effectively access information on issues related to their local breeds and livestock diversity.
(LIFE Network, 2009b)
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