Winona LaDuke Keynote Speech @ UNM "Biodiversity & Indigenous Peoples" Workshop (3/8/2013)
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This is the 2nd part of Winona LaDuke's speech ~ The 1st part can be seen here: http://youtu.be/NveAkuszFDQ ... WORKSHOP: THE CONVENTION OF BIODIVERSITY, THE PROTOCOL OF NAGOYA AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES (Sponsored by El Centro de la Raza, www.elcentro.unm.edu)
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international agreement that aims toward the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of genetic resources, species, ecosystems, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the use of these resources. The fair and equitable distribution of benefits derived from traditional knowledge associated to biodiversity was first discussed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. At this meeting a call was made for the negotiation of an international regime that would estipulate the terms for access and benefits sharing. This access and benefit sharing included traditional knowledge from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. After six years of deliberations between governments (the Parts), industry, NGOs, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, the Protocol of Nagoya was adopted on October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. This Protocol includes all the provisions on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits. (For more information see: http://www.cbd.int/abs/).
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The Protocol of Nagoya is a very complex agreement that is expected to be ratified by the Convention of the Parts (COP) in South Korea at the end of 2014. To enforce the Protocol once it goes into effect, the Part, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, industry, and local traditional and civil governments will have to be trained on how to best implement the provisions of this Protocol. Another important task that is pending is the dissemination of the existence of the Protocol. The dissemination needs to be sensitive to local customs and cultural ways of communicating to appropriately and clearly inform Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities as to how they can protect their resources and traditional knowledge under the provisions of the Protocol of Nagoya. To effectively do this, the stipulations for Prior and Informed Consent, the terms of Mutual Agreement (contracts), and the respect for community protocols need to be understood to level the playfield when a transaction for access to biodiversity and traditional knowledge is proposed by either a government agency or a Corporation. In order for the implementation of the Protocol of Nagoya to be successful and to accomplish its goals, Indigenous Peoples and local communities need to be prepared to participate effectively in the implementation of the international agreement. Training has to be the backbone if the aim is to protect and preserve biodiversity. The balance between the States and Industry with respect to Indigenous Peoples and local communities is uneven due to the economic and political power that government have with respect to Indigenous Nations. If Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are not prepared to negotiate the terms of the contracts to provide or prevent access to their natural resources, then abuses of power and unfair practices will become the norm and not the exception. Because of this unequal relationship alternatives need to be put in place to educate and raise consciousness about how to defend traditional knowledge associated to genetic resources. Government and Industry need to learn, respect, and follow community protocols to ensure that the relationship between the Parts is fair for the benefit of all. Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities through their community councils need to develop their community protocols to ensure the integrity of their relationship with government and/industry. Learn more at http://elcentro.unm.edu/news/biodiversity
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