Kenyan Civil Society Meeting on ICCAs

Natural Justice's Gino Cocchiaro attended a meeting of Kenyan civil society representatives investigating the promotion of Indigenous peoples' and community conserved territories and  areas (ICCAs)  on 7 November, 2012, in Nairobi, Kenya. During the meeting, which was facilitated by the GEF Small Grants Programme and UNDP, Natural Justice presented on the recently completed Kenyan ICCA legal review, developed by Natural Justice and its partners, and on biocultural community protocols, a legal tool being used by communities in Kenya to secure their ICCAs. Through its BCP Initiative, Natural Justice continues to work closely with Kenyan partners and lawyers to assist communities in the development and use of their BCPs and as they attempt to shape and leverage national law and policy that respect their territories and waters.

E-Module on ABS for Communities

Natural Justice has developed a draft e-module that aims to provide an introduction to access and benefit sharing (ABS) and its implications for Indigenous peoples and local communities. It explores the implications of a range of rights and responsibilities and how communities may be able to realize them in practice. Natural Justice is developing a number of e-learning modules to support communities developing biocultural community protocols (BCPs) to increase their understanding of key international legal frameworks, concepts and programmes. 

Throughout history, Indigenous peoples and local communities have used traditional knowledge and biological resources to cure sicknesses, provide nourishment, and fulfill everyday livelihood needs. More recently, many people have benefitted from the use of some of this knowledge and biodiversity to develop pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, crop varieties and livestock breeds, and other products for personal use. However, the communities that have nurtured the genetic diversity over thousands of years of cultivation and wild use often have not benefitted from these developments. Frequently, they are not involved in the research and development process, receive little to no compensation for their knowledge or resources, and have no access to the final products. 

Over the past couple of decades, the concept and practice of access and benefit sharing (ABS) has emerged in attempt to address these concerns at international and national levels. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, ABS is defined as the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. International law states that states are the 'owners' of genetic resources located within their borders. Communities have both customary and recognized rights over genetic resources and traditional knowledge of those resources. Those who want to research and use traditional knowledge or genetic resources are obliged to follow certain procedures and uphold standards in collaboration with the appropriate governments and communities. 

The actual practice of ABS does not always live up to its stated aim. Communities can be excluded or even dispossessed due to conflicting claims or understandings of relationships with genetic resourcesand traditional knowledge. It is essential that communities to understand their rights and obligations under ABS to achieve the best possible results. This e-module seeks to support that aim. 

The full e-module can be downloaded here. Other e-modules drafted by Natural Justice can be accessed here. These modules supplement ‘BCPs: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators’, which can be viewed here. The documents are not final and any comments can be directed to Holly Shrumm (holly (at) naturaljustice.org) and Harry Jonas (harry (at) naturaljustice.org).

African BCP Initiative Meeting - Nairobi

Building on its earlier meeting held in December 2011, African BCP Initiative Kenyan partners met in Nairobi to discuss the experiences of members in developing and implementing BCPs. Member organizations including Natural Justice, ETC Compas, the Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization, Save Lamu, Kivulini, Ogiek Peoples Development Programme and Life Network provided updates on the status of their BCPs. They shared valuable information regarding lessons learned during development and implementation of BCPs, and discussed some of the challenges they faced in the process. 

Natural Justice contributed insights on dealing with some of these challenges, and introduced the Biocultural Community Protocols Toolkit, which sets forth tools for community facilitators to support communities in the BCP process. The Toolkit is now available for member comments, with a final version scheduled to be published by the end of 2012. An electronic version is available here. Finally, ETC Compas facilitated a discussion on the relationship between BCPs and multistakeholder partnerships, and addressed the next steps to be taken by the African BCP Initiative. All African partners of the BCP Initiative will be attending a final meeting and planning session in Ghana in June.

BCP Initiative Meeting in Nairobi

On 30th November, Natural Justice hosted participants and partners of the African BCP Initiative in Nairobi. Members of the Initiative presented on their Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) development workplans and implementation and members and partners offered feedback on ensuring meaningful BCPs. Throughout the day the key themes that emerged were the importance of good process in preparing BCPs and ideas for increasing the practical uses of BCPs.

Members represented a wide range of communities. The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) described the work of two communities in Ghana who are preparing BCPs to protect the Shea Tree and coastal sacred groves.  Local organizations working with pastoralist communities in Ilkesumeti and Kivulini, Kenya, shared their aims, which primarily address issues of land security, and the process through which they are engaging with their respective communities to ensure community ownership of the BCPs. Save Lamu presented on the BCP they are developing to enable local communities in Lamu to assert their rights as the Kenyan government prepares to build a major port in Lamu without any meaningful community consultation. MELCA Ethiopia illustrated the BCP being prepared with communities in Sheka Forest to consolidate their land rights and assert their traditional practices of conserving the forest. Representatives from the Laikipia Abandoned Lands Project and the USAID SECURE Project shared successes in community protection of land rights and developments in Kenyan law relevant to communities.

The meeting closed with a discussion of the meaning of good process in BCP development, which focused on the importance of full and effective community engagement in each step of the process. It was emphasised that an inclusive process will increase the usefulness of the BCP in asserting community rights. Participants also expressed their desire to build and deepen linkages between communities with BCPs to share ideas and broaden the recognition of BCPs by states and other actors as legitimate vehicles of community self-assertion.