Arpitha Kodiveri of Natural Justice attended the Regional Workshop on awareness raiding and capacity-building to support the ABS mechanism under the Nagoya Protocol held in Chengdu, China between the 15th- 17th of May,2013 which was organized by ICIMOD. The workshop sought to bring together regions concerned with issues of biodiversity conservation and traditional knowledge across the Hindu Kush Himalayan landscape. Key representatives from Pakistan, Bhutan, India, China, Nepal and Myanmar presented efforts in their countries to set up domestic legal frameworks to facilitate the process of access and equitable sharing of benefits as proposed by the Nagoya Protocol.
Arpitha presented on the use of Biocultural Community Protocols in the context of ABS especially in relation to a transboundary landscape. The presentation highlighted the use of BCPs as tools in facilitating negotiations around ABS which can be in tune with priorities of the communities and their protocols that govern traditional knowledge. The presentation also spoke to the importance of using BCPs in this context as they have been given official legal recognition within the Nagoya Protocol.
