Side Event during COP-14 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on Monday, 26nd November 2018, at 13:15

Community Protocols – Lessons learned for ABS and launching of the BCP Guidelines

Hosts: Natural Justice, The League for Pastoral Peoples and the ABS Initiative

A community protocol is a document, produced by a local community, about the biological diversity it creates and conserves, its knowledge, values and governance systems. Community protocols are an important way for local people to claim their rights under national and international law, especially through the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity. They can serve as an interface between communities and external actors such as users of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

This side event will discuss experiences with community protocols in the ABS context and present two new resources:

– A manual on community protocols for pastoralists and livestock keepers (by the League for Pastoralists Peoples and the LIFE Network)

– A document with lessons learned and case studies of community protocols in Africa (by Natural Justice and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative)

Presenters will share experiences from the facilitation of several community protocol and share lessons and guidance. The event will close with a discussion with participants on future action to support and recognize community protocols, including the role of Competent National Authorities.

The LIFE Network Coordinator for Africa, Dr. Jacob Wanyama and Dr. Geetha Nayak, representative of the GIZ India Biodiversity Initiative, will participate on behalf of LPP and will release the BCP Guidelines.

Community protocols for pastoralists and livestock keepers

Claiming rights under the Convention on Biological Diversity

A community protocol is a document, produced by a local community, about the biological diversity it creates and conserves. Community protocols are an important way for local people to claim their rights under national and international law, especially through the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

This manual shows how pastoralists and other livestock-keeping communities can draw up a community protocol about their animal breed or production system. It describes why they should consider producing a community protocol, walks through the steps of doing so, and advices how to use the finished document. It explains in easy language the complex concepts of access and benefit sharing and how the community protocol can be used within the legal system.

This manual is aimed at community leaders and organizations, nongovernment organizations and all those concerned with managing and conserving animal breeds and production systems.

-> Books and Brochures

The German Ambassador to India, Dr. Martin Ney, conferred the prestigious German ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, on Dr. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson at the German Embassy on 16th May.

Before the ceremony a Science Talk on ‘Pastoralism: A Blueprint for Ecological Animal Husbandry’ by Dr. Köhler-Rollefson took place. Dr. Köhler-Rollefson explained that from both an ecological and economic perspective pastoralism has many advantages over intensive animal husbandry causing water soil and air pollution, which has led to dangerous levels of antibiotic resistance and is burdened with animal welfare issues.

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