What are biocultural
community protocols?
B
are statements by communities about the genetic
resources they are stewarding, about their traditional knowledge used to manage these
resources, and their role in biodiversity conservation. They are the result of a facilitated
process in which communities learn about their rights over these resources under existing
national and international legal frameworks and reflect about the importance of traditional
knowledge for their livelihoods and their aspirations for the future of this knowledge.
IOCULTURAL COMMUNITY PROTOCOLS
They have been described as “tools that facilitate culturally rooted, participatory decisionmaking processes within communities with the aim of asserting rights over their communally
managed lands and traditional knowledge” (Natural Justice, 2010b).
The significance of biocultural community protocols lies both in the process of establishing the protocol and in the product, a document that puts on record the contribution of a
community to biodiversity conservation. Biocultural community protocols have important
meaning with respect to two international frameworks: the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity (which is a legally binding instrument) and the Global Plan of Action for Animal
Genetic Resources (which is an international agreement that is implemented under the
guidance of the FAO and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture). But one of their greatest benefits may
actually be the discussions generated during
the process, both within the communities, as
What is the difference between
well as among outside stakeholders. Equally
biocultural protocols and comsignificant, they change the equation bemunity protocols?
tween livestock keepers and development
Basically, these are two different names for
professionals or scientists by establishing
the same concept. The term community
the former as active holders of traditional
protocol is easier to understand for comknowledge, resources and rights, rather than
munities and is also used in the draft text
as passive recipients of top-down-driven
for the International Regime on Access and
development interventions.
Benefit Sharing. In this publication, the two
terms will be used interchangeably.
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