Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
Sharing Traditional Knowledge: Who
benefits? Cases from India, Nigeria, Mexico
and South Africa
Julie Cook Lucas, Doris Schroeder, Roger Chennells, Sachin Chaturvedi and
Dafna Feinholz
Abstract
Benefit sharing is a relatively new area in international law, given
that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was only adopted in 1992.
However, the history of formal benefit-sharing agreements between the users
and the providers of traditional knowledge goes back beyond the adoption of the
CBD. This chapter outlines indigenous peoples' rights in the context of access
to plants, animals, micro-organisms and associated traditional knowledge, and
discusses four paradigm cases: The Kani people (India); Niprisan (Nigeria);
the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group project (Mexico), and the
San/
Hoodia
case (southern Africa). These cases straddle the historical boundary
between unregulated and regulated access to non-human biological resources, and
are thus highly instructive in terms of lessons learned, best practice and emerging
policy challenges for the access and benefit sharing regime of the CBD.
Keywords
Benefit sharing • Traditional knowledge • Indigenous peoples
Kani • Niprisan • Maya ICBG • San-
Hoodia
J. C. Lucas (
*
) · D. Schroeder
UCLAN, Centre for Professional Ethics, Brook 317, Preston PR1 2HE, UK
e-mail: jmlucas@uclan.ac.uk
D. Schroeder
e-mail: dschroeder@uclan.ac.uk
R. Chennells
Chennells Albertyn: Attorneys, Notaries and Conveyancers, 44 Alexander Street,
Stellenbosch, South Africa
e-mail: scarlin@iafrica.com
S. Chaturvedi
RIS, Zone IV-B, Fourth Floor, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India
e-mail: sachin@ris.org.in
D. Feinholz
Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO, 1, rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France
e-mail: d.feinholz@unesco.org