Workshop on the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nagoya Protocol and Indigenous Peoples Held at University of New Mexico Law School

From March 8-10, 2013, Eli Makagon attended a workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico addressing the rights of Indigenous peoples related to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol. Co-organized by Jorge Garcia of Centro de la Raza, University of New Mexico and Yolanda Teran of RMIB-LAC, the workshop brought together a variety of participants from the United States and Ecuador to discuss issues regarding access and benefit sharing and community protocols. The first day saw presentations providing an overview of the Nagoya Protocol and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, Eli presented on the Living Convention on Biocultural Diversity, a tool that Natural Justice is developing to facilitate access to justice for Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Role playing exercise to explore the different perspectives of stakeholders involved in the development of BCPs. (Copyright: Eli Makagon)

The second day of the workshop revolved around biocultural community protocols (BCPs). Eli provided a general overview of BCPs and gave examples of some of the BCPs that communities have developed. The participants then broke into small groups to conduct a role-playing exercise that explored the different perspectives of stakeholders who are often involved in the development of a BCP.

On the third day, participants discussed the implications of the fact that the term “indigenous and local communities,” which does not contain the word “peoples,” is used in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its subsidiary instruments. The discussion helped to inform a submission that will be made to the CBD Conference of the Parties in 2014 seeking to add the word “peoples” to the term “indigenous and local communities.”