BCP Initiative Briefing Note

Natural Justice has released a new briefing note on the Biocultural Community Protocols Initiative entitled Biocultural Community Protocols: Articulating Stewardship, Asserting Rights, Affirming Responsibilities.

The briefing note first seeks to articulate what biocultural community protocols (BCPs) are, offering a clear definition of BCPs and detailing how BCPs are developed and used. It then offers a number of examples where communities are working through the Initiative to develop BCPs. Included are the Tanchara and Daffiama communities of northern Ghana, which are developing BCPs on gold mining and shea nut conservation, respectively. The work of a community in the Ulu Papar Valley of Sabah, Malaysia, who used various forms of participatory action research to establish a Community Use Zone in a state park that overlaps with their customary lands, is also presented. Communities developing BCPs in Kenya, India and South Africa are also spotlighted. 

The note also briefly outlines Biocultural Community Protocols: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators, which was developed by Natural Justice to support community members and supporting organisations in facilitating BCPs. The new Community Protocols website, as well as the numerous key publications available on the Natural Justice website, are also presented. 

The briefing note can be downloaded here. Learn more about BCPs at the new website here and on Facebook here.