Introduction: The Growing Importance of Traditional Forest-Related Knowledge

Abstract

The knowledge, innovations, and practices of local and indigenous communities have supported their forest-based livelihoods for countless generations. The role of traditional knowledge—and the bio-cultural diversity it sustains—is increasingly recognized as important by decision makers, conservation and develop­ment organizations, and the scientific community. However, there has long existed a lack of understanding of, and an uneasy relationship between, the beliefs and practices of traditional communities and those of formal forest science. This mutual incomprehension has a number of unfortunate consequences, both for human societies and our planet’s forests and woodlands, which play out both on solid ground in many parts of the world as well as in international policy arenas. In this chapter, we define traditional forest-related knowledge, and explore the relationships between traditional knowledge systems and scientific approaches. We follow with an overview of the scope and central questions to be addressed in subsequent chapters of the book, and then provide an overview of international and intergovernmental policy processes that affect traditional knowledge and its practitioners. Finally, we introduce some of the major international programmes and research initiatives that focus on traditional forest-related knowledge and its applications for sustaining livelihoods in local and indigenous communities in a world struggling to deal with environmental, cultural, social, and economic change.

Appendix—Traditional Forest-Related Knowledge in Intergovernmental Policy Processes and Selected Intergovernmental Programs

1.1.1 The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII⁹), established in 2000, is an advisory body to the UN Economic and Social Council, with a mandate to discuss indi­genous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health, and human rights. The Permanent Forum provides expert advice and recommendations on indigenous issues to the Council, as well as to programmes, funds, and agencies of the United Nations, through the Council. The UNPFII also seeks to raise awareness and promotes the integration and coordination of activities related to indigenous issues within the UN system, and prepares and disseminates information on indigenous issues, including traditional knowledge (UNPFII 2005).

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples¹⁰ was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007, the result of more than 20 years of work by indigenous peoples and the United Nations system. The Declaration is the UN’s most comprehensive statement of the rights of indigenous peoples, giving prominence to collective rights to a degree unprecedented in international human rights law. Its adoption is a clear indication that the international community is committing itself to the protection of the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples. With respect to traditional knowledge, Article 31 of Declaration states that: (1) ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions,’ and, (2) ‘In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights.’

Other articles of the Declaration relate to issues that are fundamental to the protection and development of traditional forest-related knowledge and practices, including the collective and individual right to lands, territories, and resources that they have traditionally owned or occupied; the rights to self-government by their own institutions and authorities within their lands and territories; the rights to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands and resources; and the right to determine priorities and strategies for their development. The Declaration also calls on states to prevent dispossession of indigenous peoples from land, territories, and resources; allow indigenous peoples to participate in decision-making in matters affecting their rights; and to protect their right to be secure in their means of subsistence and development (Collings 2009; Lyster 2010).

1.1.2 UNCED and the Rio Conventions

1.1.2.1 Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles

The Programme of Action on Sustainable Development (Agenda 21) adopted by UNCED in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 includes a number of recommendations, directed primarily to countries with support from regional and international organizations, concerning the relevance of traditional knowledge for implementation of sustainable development policies and programmes (UNU-IAS 2005). These traditional knowledge-related recommendations address a variety of sustainability issues, including, among others: human health; deforestation; desertification; agriculture; and agricultural, forest, marine, and freshwater resource management. Dealing specifically with the connections between traditional and formal scientific knowledge, recommendation 35.7 (h) (on science for sustainable development) urges countries, with support of international organizations, to:

Develop methods to link the findings of the established sciences with the indigenous knowledge of different cultures. The methods should be tested using pilot studies. They should be developed at the local level and should concentrate on the links between the traditional knowledge of indigenous groups and corresponding, current “advanced ­science”, with particular focus on disseminating and applying the results to environmental protection and sustainable development.¹¹

The Forest Principles—whose objective is to contribute to the management, conservation, and sustainable development of forests and to provide for their multiple and complementary functions—encourages countries to pursue forest policies that recognize and support the identity, culture, and rights of indigenous and local communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods. They also stress the importance of recognizing, respecting, recording, and developing indigenous capacity and local forest knowledge and the equitable sharing of benefits derived from indigenous forest-related knowledge.¹²

1.1.2.2 Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which entered into force in 1993, encourages states to:

Protect and encourage customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements¹³ (CBD Article 10c).

Likewise, CBD Article 8(j) emphasizes:

the need to respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and [promotion of] their wider application with the approval and involvement of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices.

Since 1994, CBD’s Conference of the Parties decisions related to the Convention’s thematic areas and cross-cutting issues have routinely emphasized the important role of traditional knowledge and practices towards the achievement of the Convention’s three major objectives: conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Traditional forest-related know­ledge also is also explicitly considered in CBD’s expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity adopted in decision VI/22 of the Convention’s 6th Conference of the Parties in 2002, and calls on parties, governments, international, and regional organizations and processes, civil society organizations, and other relevant bodies to:

Support activities of indigenous and local communities involving the use of traditional forest-related knowledge in biodiversity management;

Encourage the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity by indigenous and local communities through their development of adaptive management practices, using as appropriate traditional forest-related knowledge; [and to]

Implement effective measures to recognize, respect, protect and maintain traditional forest-related knowledge and values in forest-related laws and forest planning tools, in accordance with Article 8(j) and related provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity.¹⁴

The CBD’s Working Group implementation of Article 8 (j) and related provisions, established in 1998, has sought to raise the profile of indigenous and local community issues throughout the Convention. It has developed and monitored the implementation of the work programme on Article 8(j) and related provisions (adopted by the Conference of the Parties in 2000), as well a plan of action for the retention of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, including the development of voluntary Akwé: Kon¹⁵ guidelines (SCBD 2004) for the conduct of cultural, environmental and social impact assessment regarding developments proposed to take place on, or likely to have an impact on, sacred sites and lands and waters traditionally occupied or used by indigenous and local communities (adopted in 2004). The Working Group has also reported on the status and trends of traditional knowledge from all regions of the world and the identification of processes at national and local levels that may threaten the maintenance, preservation, and application of traditional knowledge.

At its 10th meeting in October 2010, the CDB Conference of the Parties (COP-10) adopted the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (SCBD 2011), which includes traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources that is held by indigenous and local communities. Article 9 of the Protocol calls on parties (governments) to not restrict customary use and exchange of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge within and amongst indigenous and local communities in accordance with the objectives of the CBD, and to take into consi­deration, and support development of, indigenous and local communities’ customary laws, community protocols, and procedures with respect to access to traditional know­ledge associated with genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from utilization of such knowledge.

COP-10 also adopted a decision (COP/10/L.38) including an ethical code of conduct,¹⁶ and inviting parties and other governments to make use of this code to develop their own models on ethical conduct for research, access to, and use of information concerning traditional knowledge for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and to undertake education, awareness-raising, and communication strategies on the code for incorporation into policies and processes governing interactions with indigenous and local communities.

Currently under discussion within the CBD is the development of a joint programme of work on biological and cultural diversity, proposed during the International Conference on Biological and Cultural Diversity: Diversity for Development—Development for Diversity,¹⁷ held in Montreal in June 2010. The proposed work program, led by the Secretariat of the CBD and UNESCO (acting as the global focal point on issues related to cultural diversity), would aim to better coordinate closely related activities of the CBD and UNESCO; to broaden the knowledge base on linkages between biological and cultural diversity including, among others, the ways in which cultural diversity has shaped biodiversity in sacred natural sites, cultural landscapes, and traditional agricultural systems; and to raise awareness of these linkages through educational activities and related work with decision makers.

1.1.2.3 UN Convention to Combat Desertification

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification¹⁸ (UNCCD) was adopted in 1994 and entered into force in 1996. The Convention contains a number of provisions related to the protection, development, and use of traditional and local knowledge, technologies, know-how, and practices to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought on agricultural and pastoral systems and traditional livelihoods in dryland ecosystems. Since 1997, the UNCCD has been involved in the inventory of traditional knowledge systems through the work of the two ad hoc panels—regional cooperation within the Convention’s Thematic Programme Networks, and National Action Programmes. Based on the work of the ad hoc panels, the Convention’s Committee on Science and Technology prepared a compilation of official documents and reports focusing on the use of traditional and local technologies, knowledge, know-how, and practices relevant to efforts to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought (UNCCD 2005).

1.1.2.4 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the principal international forum for negotiations among governments on issues related to climate change, and measures to be taken for its mitigation. Until recently the inclusion of forests, and forest-dependent people, in development of policies and programmes for climate change mitigation under the Kyoto Protocol was constrained until 2007, when the UNFCCC’s 13th Conference of the Parties adopted the so-called Bali Action Plan,¹⁹ or ‘Bali roadmap,’ for a future international agreement on climate change. The Bali Action Plan’s overall goal is to develop a ‘shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions, to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention .…’ The Bali Road Map contains detailed lists of issues to be considered under topics related to climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, among others. There are no specific references to indigenous people or traditional knowledge in these issues. The issues do, however, refer to the economic and social consequences of response measures.

Indigenous peoples’ groups (as well as many other key stakeholders in climate change policy) have for many years been disappointed by the limited consideration given to their views, knowledge, and interests within UNFCCC negotiations, and space allowed within the UNFCCC process for their involvement. For example, while indigenous peoples’ organizations have been acknowledged as a constituency in climate change negotiations within UNFCCC since 2001, they are still awaiting UNFCCC’s approval of an Ad Hoc Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change, which would allow them to actively participate in the meetings of the Conference of Parties in the same way they are able to under the Convention on Biological Diversity (Collings 2009, Galloway-McLean 2010). However, recent developments since adoption of the Bali Action Plan should create opportunities within the UNFCCC (as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) processes for indigenous views and traditional knowledge about climate change to be incorporated in the development of future policies and commitments.

1.1.3 United Nations Forum on Forests

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF²⁰) was established in 2000 as a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council of the UN together with the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), comprising forest-related UN agencies and international and regional organizations, institutions, and instruments. Its main objective is to promote the management, conservation, and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end.

Prior to the establishment of the UNFF, between 1995 and 2000, the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF), both under the auspices of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, were the main intergovernmental forums for international forest policy development. IPF and IFF examined a wide range of forest-related topics over a 5-year period. The final reports of these processes included 270 non-legally binding proposals for action towards sustainable forest management. These propo­sals for action include numerous references to traditional forest-related knowledge (TFRK) related to: the use of TFRK for sustainable forest management; development of intellectual property rights for TFRK and promotion of equitable benefit-sharing; technology transfer and capacity-building; and promotion of participation of people who possess TFRK in the planning, development, and implementation of national forest policies and programmes.

Although the UNFF failed to adopt a decision on traditional forest-related knowledge during its 4th meeting in 2004, the Non-Legally Binding Instruments on All Types of Forests (NLBI) adopted by the UNFF in 2007 (United Nations 2007) commits member states to:

Support the protection and use of traditional forest-related knowledge and practices in sustainable forest management with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, and promote fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their utilization, according to national legislation and relevant international agreements (NLBI, para. 6(f)).

The first inter-governmental instrument on sustainable forest management, the NLBI covers issues ranging from protection and use of traditional forest-related knowledge and practices in sustainable forest management, to the need for enhanced access to forest resources and relevant markets to support the livelihoods of forest-dependent indigenous communities living inside and outside forest areas.

Despite UNFF’s recognition of the role that indigenous and local communities play in achieving sustainable forest management, indigenous peoples’ organizations and civil society have generally been disappointed with the results achieved by the UNFF (Collings 2009). Many argue that the UNFF does not build on what were seen as the more open and progressive practices of the IPF/IFF and Commission on Sustainable Development (Forest Peoples Programme 2004). The NLBI has also been criticized for its failure to recognize, respect and support the implementation of customary rights of indigenous peoples who live in and depend on forests and for failing to comply with best practices in environment management (Forest Peoples Programme 2007).

1.1.4 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Under the auspices of UNESCO, two conventions have been adopted that are relevant to the preservation and development of traditional forest-related knowledge: the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

However, UNESCO has been criticized for exclusion of indigenous peoples in their drafting, and the inadequate acknowledgement that a large part of ‘cultural heritage’ and ‘cultural expressions’ that these conventions deal with is the heritage of indigenous peoples and indigenous cultures (Kipuri 2009).

1.1.5 TFRK and Intellectual Property Protection

Issues related to access, benefit sharing, and protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) with respect to traditional knowledge are considered in a number of international agreements and in ongoing policy debates, largely within the UN system. These involve a wide array of international forums and intergovernmental organizations concerned with food and agriculture, conservation, health, human rights, indigenous issues, and development and trade (UNU-IAS 2005). Prominent among them, discussed above, are the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the UNFF’s Non-Legally Binding Instruments on All Types of Forests. Traditional forest-related knowledge issues also figure prominently in the work of bodies and processes that deal more directly with intellectual property protection, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), established as a UN agency in 1967, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Although international human rights standards since 1948 have recognized the importance of protecting intellectual property (IP), these rights have not yet been extended to the holders of traditional knowledge. Requirements for IP protection under current IP regimes are widely considered to be inconsistent or incom­pa­tible with the nature of traditional knowledge (Hansen and Van Vleet 2007). The approaches taken towards traditional knowledge in these organizations and processes, each with their own mandate, are often very different, not very well-coordinated, and at times conflicting. For example, while the Convention on Biological Diversity is generally more open to approaches that recognize collective ownership of traditional knowledge, innovations, and cultural expressions that are more compatible with the philosophical and cultural standards of indigenous and local communities, the emphasis within WIPO and WTO is on promoting existing IPR regimes (i.e., copyright, trademark, and patent systems) that have evolved based on assumptions of individual ‘ownership’ of such knowledge and expressions. The issue of patenting of life forms (species and varieties of plants, animals, and micro-organisms), relevant to the conservation and development of traditional forest-related knowledge, is a particularly contentious one in all forums dealing with intellectual property protection. It is of particular concern to farmers in traditional communities who, through many generations, have developed and applied traditional knowledge and practices to develop new crop varieties that have created and continue to enrich the world’s agricultural biodiversity.

The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), negotiated in the 1986–1994 Uruguay Round, introduced IPR rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time in its Article 27.3(b), which deals with patentability or non-patentability of plant and animal inventions, and the protection of plant varieties. The 2001 Doha Declaration broadened discussion of IPR issues by directing the TRIPS Council to review TRIPS Article 27.3(b), specifically the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity with respect to the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore.

WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) undertakes negotiations with the objective of reaching agreement on principles for, and an international legal instrument (or instruments) intended to ensure, the effective protection of traditional knowledge (TK), traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), folklore, and genetic resources (WIPO 2010a, b). Standards under development by the IGC focus on protection against misappropriation of TK, and they attempt to complement other international instruments and processes dealing with other aspects of the preservation, safeguarding, and conservation of such knowledge (UNU-IAS 2005). At a recent meeting of the IGC’s Second Intersessional Working Group (in February 2011), consolidated, streamlined text on the protection of traditional knowledge was produced (on issues related to a definition of traditional knowledge, beneficiaries of protection, and the scope of rights to be granted, and how they would be managed and enforced). The results of this meeting²¹ were considered by many to be a step towards an international legal instrument to ensure the effective protection of traditional knowledge.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) also seeks to address the protection of traditional knowledge as part of its work, recognizing the need to harmonize its work in this area with relevant organizations such as WIPO, WHO, and CBD. In 2001, UNCTAD Trade and Development Board’s Commission on Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities recommended that international efforts be made to promote capacity-building to implement protection regimes for traditional knowledge, promote fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from this knowledge in favour of local and traditional communities, exchange information on national systems to protect traditional knowledge, and explore minimum standards for internationally recognized sui generis systems for traditional knowledge protection. UNCTAD’s mandate for work on traditional knowledge was reaffirmed at its 11th Conference in São Paolo in 2004 (UNU-IAS 2005).

Intellectual property rights and benefit-sharing issues relevant to traditional forest-related knowledge have been given significant attention by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). FAO’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), which entered into force in 2004, focuses on the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, for sustainable agriculture and food security (FAO 2009). Closely related to this treaty, FAO’s Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture promote a number of specific actions by countries to realize the objectives of the treaty (UNU-IAS 2005).

Within the CGIAR, the Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC) provides guidance to the CGIAR on policy issues surrounding genetic resources in line with the provisions of the PGRFA (SGRP 2010). These include research ethics guidelines that are relevant to the study of traditional knowledge and practices within CGIAR centres and the agriculture and forest science community more generally. These and other guidelines for researchers are discussed in Chap. 14 of this book.

1.1.6 UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) and LINKS Programmes

Concerned with problems at the interface of scientific, environmental, societal, and development issues, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme,²² initiated in the early 1970s, aims to improve human livelihoods and safeguard natural ecosystems by promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable. The programme supports research involving natural and social sciences, economics, and education. Its interdisciplinary research agenda and capacity-building activities target the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of biodiversity loss and the reduction of this loss through empowerment of local and indigenous peoples in various aspects of environmental management. The biosphere reserve concept, developed through the MAB Programme (Batisse 1982), has emerged as a widely used model for integra­ting conservation of biological and cultural diversity while promoting sustainable economic and social development of cultural landscapes based on traditional values, local community efforts, and conservation science, particularly in the ‘buffer zones’ of protected areas (Ramakrishnan et al. 2002).

In 2002, UNESCO launched the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Global Society (LINKS) programme, a collaborative multidisciplinary effort (involving all programme sectors of UNESCO) focusing on local and indigenous knowledge. The programme aims at empowering local and indigenous peoples in various aspects of environmental management by advocating recognition and mobilization of their traditional knowledge. Its goals include exploration of synergies between traditional and scientific knowledge as a means to: enhance biological and cultural diversity; revitalize intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge within local communities; identify customary rules and processes that govern know­ledge access and control; improve dialogue amongst traditional knowledge holders, natural and social scientists, resource managers, and decision makers to enhance biodiversity conservation efforts; and promote active and equitable roles for local communities in natural resource governance (UNU-IAS 2005; Kipuri 2009).

1.1.7 United Nations University–Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU–IAS)

The UNU–IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative²³ seeks to build greater understanding and facilitate awareness of traditional knowledge to inform action by indigenous peoples, local communities, and domestic and international policy makers. The Initiative supports research activities, policy studies, capacity development, and online learning and dissemination in several thematic areas. These include: traditional knowledge and climate change, with activities including the Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment and Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change; traditional knowledge and biological resources; and traditional knowledge and natural resources, with a special focus on forests and forest management, marine resources, and water management.

Information services provided by the Initiative include newsletters, reviews of thematic areas (such as the REDD site, available online at: http://www.unutki.org/redd/), focusing on indigenous peoples and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), and the Traditional Knowledge Bulletin (available online at: http://unu.edu/tk/). The Bulletin is a weekly review of traditional knowledge issues in the global media and postings on issues of relevance to traditional knowledge at a global level, including issues discussed at international meetings and fora, such as:

• World Intellectual Property Organization’s Inter-governmental Committee on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore;

• World Trade Organization;

• United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples;

• United Nations Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues;

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (e.g., the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources);

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD);

• processes of the World Bank and regional development banks;

• initiatives such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology; and

• work of regional organizations such as the Organization of American States.

The Initiative’s TK and Higher Education project explores the integration of indigenous knowledge in higher education programmes through relevant topics and methodologies in an attempt to gain recognition and valuation for traditional know­ledge in academic and scientific circles, an important step in finding points of convergence between Western scientific and traditional indigenous understanding. The International Policy Making project supports research and training to facilitate the participation and empowerment of traditional knowledge holders in relevant policy processes. Initial activities of the project have focussed on information and policy analysis for indigenous and local communities on emerging issues in traditional knowledge discussions in international fora.