Ten years ago, the Nagoya Protocol was adopted which has opened the possibility for Indigenous peoples and local communities to enter into Access and Benefit-sharing arrangements with governments, research institutions and the private sector. This has been an important development in the international space: communities have been able to give consent to the use of their genetic resources and traditional knowledge in exchange for benefits – protecting the resources and contributing to local development.
Since then, many Indigenous peoples and local communities have engaged both in the development of national ABS frameworks and in the negotiation of ABS agreements. Natural Justice and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative have been key facilitators of these processes, engaging with numerous communities over the last ten years through the mechanism of the Biocultural Community Protocols. Many lessons have been learned through this, and many challenges remain.
A recent series of webinars enabled these lessons to be shared and we wish to thank everyone who attended, as well as the various presenters. Please see below the presentations:
07 October 2020: Practical advice for facilitating the development of ABS-related community protocols
Case studies of community protocol processes:
12 October 2020: Using community protocols for ABS implementation
19 October 2020: Policy guidance for the recognition of community protocols in national policy and legal frameworks
If you attended and would like to share feedback or add to the ongoing information sharing, please do contribute to this feedback form.
The notes from the sessions can be found here: https://naturaljustice.org/publication/webinar-series-indigenous-peoples-and-local-communities-involvement-in-abs-implementation/
