Presentation to GEF SGP - Kenya

Natural Justice was invited to present at a meeting of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Kenyan National Steering Committee on 9 November, 2012. The National Steering Committee includes representatives from  governmental, intergovernmental and civil society bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, WWF and Oxfam. It provides support to community based environment projects in the country with the aim of environmental conservation and sustainable livelihood development. Gino Cocchiaro presented on the work of Natural Justice, focusing on biocultural rights and biocultural community protocols as mechanisms to support the wellbeing of communities, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

E-Module on REDD+ for Communities

Human activities are consuming huge amounts of fossil fuels and raw materials that are creating massive amounts of persistent gases that are dramatically changing weather patterns in unpredictable ways. Deforestation contributes an estimated 18-25% of carbon emissions. The idea behind the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) programme is to generate funds to reduce emissions through forest conservation in order to slow the onset of climate change. Since most of the world’s remaining forests are in the ‘developing world’ and most of the world’s emissions are from the ‘developed world’, the majority of funding for REDD+ will be directed from the latter to the former. As REDD+ is implemented, communities will be significantly impacted, often negatively. 

In this context, Natural Justice has prepared a draft e-module on REDD+ for communities. The module seeks to prepare communities, especially communities developing biocultural community protocols, to engage proactively with the international framework of REDD+. It briefly describes the rationale behind and plans for REDD+. It then looks at the key issues that have emerged around REDD+, focusing especially on the concerns with its current status and the safeguards that are being developed to attempt to protect community rights. It closes by looking at the current forms in which REDD+ is being implemented. 

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).

State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

With the threats faced by indigenous peoples and minorities increasing, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) has released its annual “State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Report.” The report finds that “the scale and severity of the threats to indigenous peoples and minorities have reached new proportions, due to an unprecedented demand for the world’s remaining resources.” 

The report “provides concrete evidence of how the generation of vast revenues from logging and dams, oil and mineral extraction, coastal tourism, fish farming, conservation parks and large-scale agriculture, is often at the expense of the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.” According to the report, “despite a wave of new commitments from governments and corporations, the revenues from natural resource development continue to flow out of the regions where poor communities live, while the harms stay behind.” 

The report can be downloaded here. The global press release can be found here. MRG can be found on Facebook (here) and Twitter (here).

E-Module on TK and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

Natural Justice has developed a number of draft e-learning modules to support communities developing biocultural community protocols (BCPs) to increase their understanding of key international legal frameworks, concepts and programmes. These modules supplement ‘BCPs: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators’. 

The second module in this series examines international law’s recognition of and protections for communities’ traditional knowledge and sustainable uses of biodiversity. Traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices (often referred together as ‘traditional knowledge’) are developed and nurtured over many generations. They are underpinned by spiritual beliefs and customary laws that reinforce communities’ identities, cultures, and ways of life. They enable communities to live within the natural limits of specific territories, areas, or resources upon which they depend for livelihoods and wellbeing. They are also integral to Indigenous languages, spiritual beliefs, and culturally appropriate education, health, and nutrition. 

There are several international agreements that address traditional knowledge and customary sustainable uses of biodiversity. The focus of this module is the most prominent agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity. From the outset of the Convention, the Preamble recognizes “the close and traditional dependence” of many Indigenous peoples and local communities on biological resources. Thereafter, two Articles in particular grant important rights to Indigenous peoples and local communities: Article 8(j) on traditional knowledge, innovations and practices; and Article 10(c) on customary sustainable uses of biodiversity. 

The module can be downloaded here. The BCP Toolkit can be downloaded 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).

Kinabalu Project Planning Meeting

On 13 January, Harry Jonas and Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) joined partners Borneo Conservancy Initiative (BC Initiative) and Sabah Biodiversity Centre (SaBC) for a full-day planning meeting about the Kinabalu Biocultural Law Project, which is set to begin local work soon. Dr. Jamili Nais (Sabah Parks) and Dr. Agnes Lee Agama also joined the meeting for specific topics.

Presentations and topics discussed throughout the day included: Projek Etnobotani Kinabalu; international framework for access and benefit sharing (ABS); Sabah's framework for ABS; project aims, activities, outputs, and outcomes; proposed workplan for the first year; and linkages with other related initiatives around Mount Kinabalu (including a proposed wildlife corridor, Biosphere Reserve, and collaborations between Kinabalu Park and surrounding communities). Natural Justice thanks all of the participants as well as SaBC for hosting the meeting.

Kinabalu Biocultural Law Project

On the 20th of December, Natural Justice and Borneo Conservancy entered into a Memorandum of Understanding relating to the Kinabalu Biocultural Law Project. The project will be undertaken in partnership with the Sabah Biodiversity Centre and will explore with a number of Dusun communities living around Kinabalu Park (Sabah, Malaysia) innovative ways of engaging with laws towards protecting their biological and cultural diversity. The project will build on the work undertaken by partners to the Projek Etnobotani Kinabalu (Kinabalu Ethnobotany Project) and a recent study on traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous peoples' and community conserved areas (some outputs of which are available online). The project will also benefit from input from Dr. Agnes Lee Agama (South East Asia Coordinator of the Global Diversity Foundation) acting in her personal capacity. Natural Justice looks forward to working with the communities and team on the project.

L-R in the photo: Dorothy Lim, Lanash Thanda, Alice Mathew, and Daniel Doughty (Borneo Conservancy); Holly Shrumm and Harry Jonas (Natural Justice).

Recap: Workshop on Biocultural Rights and Community Protocols

A workshop on Biocultural Rights and Biocultural Community protocols was held in Namibia from 18-19 August. The workshop was organized by the San Support Organizations (a forum for all community-based and non-governmental organizations working with the San communities) and the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation, with support from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).

Natural Justice facilitated sessions on the biocultural rights of Indigenous communities in Namibia to their to material and cultural resources through the development of biocultural community protocols. These presentations, role-plays, and discussions invited community representatives and supporting CBOs and NGOs to consider how they could utilize biocultural rights in their specific contexts. The Integrated Rural Developmentand Nature Conservation (IDRNC) and the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) also highlighted the strategies of the Khwe Community from the Bwabwata National Park and the Hai//om from Etosha National Park in asserting their biocultural rights over their resources and knowledge and the continued conservation of their lands.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) also attended the second day of the meeting and presented on Namibia’s domestic and international obligations in relation to access and benefit sharing, traditional knowledge, and genetic resources. The Ministry officials were asked a number of pertinent questions by community representatives on recognition of traditional authorities, traditional lands, the failure of the Government to recognize Indigenous peoples, and rights over resources. As a result of the discussions, the Ministry officials indicated that all community representatives present would be invited to attend the public consultations at the National Consultative Workshop on the Access and Benefit Sharing Draft Bill for Namibia, which were held on the 24th of August in Windhoek.

Natural Justice will continue to work with the San support organizations, including LAC, IDRNC, the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation, and OSISA in supporting the biocultural rights of Indigenous peoples in Namibia. San communities of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy and the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation indicated their interest in the development a biocultural community protocol and have invited Natural Justice and OSISA to assist them in this process.

Workshop on Biocultural Rights and Community Protocols

From 18-19 August, Natural Justice will be facilitating a workshop on biocultural rights and biocultural community protocols for Namibian San organizations in Windhoek. The workshop is being organized by the San Support Organizations and the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia. The objective of the workshop is to build the capacity of San Support Organizations and San communities to identify and strategically assert their biocultural rights to their material and cultural resources through the development of biocultural community protocols. The workshop will include sharing of experiences from representatives of the Bushbuckridge Traditional Health Practitioners Association, the Khwe from Bwabwata National Park, and the Hai//om from Etosha National Park. The workshop will be supported by the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA).