Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
shared equitably among humankind and that the proviso of prior informed consent
is sufficient to avoid the desecration of sacred knowledge, concern about which is
one of the strongest arguments against commodification.
The history of formal benefit-sharing agreements between those who would uti-
lize traditional knowledge for product development and the holders of traditional
knowledge (indigenous peoples) goes back beyond the adoption of the CBD in
1992. These 'transitional' cases, which straddle the boundary between unregulated
and regulated access to biological resources, are highly instructive in terms of les-
sons learned, best practice and emerging policy challenges. One of the best-known
benefit-sharing cases to date is also one of the earliest, which began outside the
remit of the CBD in the late 1980s.
4.3 The Kani Case (India)
The story of the Kani access and benefit-sharing agreement began in April 1987,
when a scientist from the All India Coordinated Research Project on Ethnobiology
(AICRPE)
8
arrived in the forests of the Agasthyar hills in southern India to seek
permission in accordance with local custom from the Mottu Kani (head of the
Kani tribe) to launch an expedition into the forests.
9
The tribal head, Adichan
Kani, deputed a team of three Kanis to accompany the expedition as guides. The
full team, led by the chief coordinator of the AICRPE, Dr P. Pushpangadan,
arrived in the forests in December 1987.
Within a few days, the scientists noticed that they were feeling more tired
and fatigued than their Kani guides. After much urging, the guides revealed their
secret, namely that they regularly chewed fruit from a plant that imparted this
vitality and rejuvenation. They were reluctant to share this information because
members of the Kani tribe considered the knowledge sacred and not to be dis-
closed to others. The scientists took samples for phytochemical and pharmacologi-
cal study at the Regional Research Laboratory in Jammu, which coordinated the
AICRPE project. The investigations confirmed the presence of certain glycolipids
and non-steroidal polysaccharides with immuno-enhancing and anti-fatigue prop-
erties. The plant was
Trichopus zeylanicus travancoricus
, which the Kanis call
Arogyappacha (meaning 'source of evergreen health'). Detailed phytochemical
and pharmacological investigations pursued at the Regional Research Laboratory
have since led to the filing of five patents.
8
The AICRPE was launched by the Department of Science and Technology in 1982. It soon
joined the Ministry of Environment and Forests, with a mandate to develop several interdiscipli-
nary teams across the country to document the multidimensional perspectives of tribal lives: their
culture, beliefs and knowledge systems that promote sustainable resource management.
9
The project coordinator, Dr S. Rajasekharan, met the Mottu Kani from the Chonampara tribal
settlement, Kootur Thiruvananthapuram district, in April 1987 (personal communication from Dr
S. Rajsekharan).
