Conclusions
B
for livestock keepers are a way of making visible
community-based management of animal genetic resources and highlighting the
association between breeds and communities. They are a tool for empowering livestock
keepers and of upgrading their knowledge and heritage.
IOCULTURAL COMMUNITY PROTOCOLS
The biocultural community protocol concept has emerged from the discussion around
access and benefit-sharing in other fields of natural resources. Their rationale is to ensure
that communities are aware and prepared when they enter into access and benefit-sharing
negotiations and agreements. However, with respect to livestock keepers, the real value
of biocultural community protocols would be as a tool for reaffirming Article 8j of the
UN Convention on Biological Diversity which commits signatory governments to the
Convention to respect, preserve indigenous and local communities and to support in-situ
conservation. The entitlement for in-situ conservation implicitly entails access to land and
grazing areas which is of much larger importance and significance for local livestockkeeping communities than possible access and benefit-sharing agreements in which they
would provide access to genes, etc. So far, Article 8j has hardly been invoked by livestockkeeping communities and their supporters, so a concerted effort to establish a critical mass
of biocultural community protocols by livestock-keeping communities could serve to do
so and remind governments and other concerned authorities of their commitments under
the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Biocultural protocols correspond to a number of the Strategic Priorities for Action in the
Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, including numbers 2, 5, 6, 8, 14 and
20 (see Appendix, page 31) which specifically mention community involvement in a range
of activities aimed at the conservation and sustainable management of animal genetic resources. FAO’s guidelines for developing national strategies and action plans also request
effective participation by local and indigenous communities (FAO, 2009b).
Besides being of potential legal significance under provisions of the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity, biocultural community protocols have an empowering effect on
communities: the process makes them aware of their rights and nudges them to reflect on
their current situation and their future aspirations. This tool has met with great response
and interest among both communities and support organizations.
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