BIO-CULTURAL COMMUNITY PROTOCOLS - Portal do Professor

PART I / CHAPTER 2
Conservation farming: Through Gunis’ knowledge, some of
our community members have begun to grow medicinal plants
for the local and regional market. While being distinct from
Gunis, we include medicinal plants’ conservation farmers in
this group. We are able to buy low cost plants directly from the
farmers. The farmers constitute 20 to 30 families who employ
indigenous farming methods, including no use of pesticides
or herbicides that adversely affect microorganisms and other
life forms beneficial to the environment. 8
3.3.2 Animal Genetic Resources and Culture
Both the Samburu and the Raika expressed a deep connection
to their livestock and explained how they sustained particular
indigenous breeds. The Raika, for example, state the following:
Through our interaction with the forests, gauchar and oran,
and through selective breeding for generations we have
created breeds that are particularly hardy, able to forage and
digest rough vegetation, withstand the dry Rajasthani
environment, and walk long distances – all attributes that
“high performance” exotic breeds do not have. Local breeds
need fewer inputs and are less susceptible to disease and are
well-suited to harsh conditions. The animal genetic diversity
they embody enables us to respond to changes in the natural
environment, important attributes in the context of climate
change adaptation and food security. Their genetic traits and
our traditional knowledge associated with them will also be
of use in breeding for disease resistance, and may provide us
with other diverse economic opportunities under the
forthcoming International Regime on Access and Benefit
Sharing or a future International Treaty on Animal Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture. 9
The Samburu echo this idea in their respective context:
We keep the small East African Zebu cattle, Red Maasai sheep
and East African goats. Our indigenous breeds are particularly
suited to local conditions because of adaptation through
natural selection, as well as our contribution to their genetic
development through selective breeding. Until the recent
introduction of exotic breeds, these were the only breeds we
kept, representing hundreds of years of co-development
between our livestock, the environment and our way of life.
We particularly value their abilities to withstand drought, to
walk long distances and survive on small quantities of rough
vegetation, as well as their strong resistance to disease. Because
these breeds are integral to our lives, we also have a wealth of
knowledge about them, including breeding methods
and animal health knowledge.
Our indigenous breeds and their characteristics are the result
of our relationship with the land, and as a result we see them
as part of our cultural heritage. We have learned that our
breeds are also considered important by others because of
their hardiness and disease resistance.
Our culture and animal breeds are integral to who we are
as a People. Without our indigenous breeds we will have
lost a critical part of our collective bio-cultural heritage,
and without our culture our indigenous breeds are less
likely to be conserved. 10
3.4 Bio-spirituality
BIO-CULTURAL COMMUNITY PROTOCOLS AS A
COMMUNITY-BASED RESPONSE TO THE CBD
Closely linked to the above is the spiritual connection that all
communities spoke about but that was most highlighted by
the traditional healers. The Bushbuckridge traditional healers
living in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve state how
their spirituality guards against the over-harvesting of any of
their natural resources:
Our harvesting of medicinal plants is guided by our spiritual
values and is regulated by our customary laws that promote
the sustainability of our natural resources. For example, we
ask our ancestors as we harvest to ensure that the medicines
will have their full effect, and believe that only harvested leaves
or bark that are taken in ways that ensure the survival of the
plant or tree will heal the patient. This means that we take
only strips of bark or selected leaves of stems of plants, and
always cover the roots of trees or plants after we have collected
what we require. Also, we have rules linked to the seasons in
which we can collect various plants, with severe consequences
such as jeopardizing rains if they are transgressed. Because
we harvest for immediate use, we never collect large scale
amounts of any particular resource, tending to collect a
variety of small samples. This inhibits over-harvesting.
8. Biocultural Community Protocol of Gunis and Medicinal Plant Conservation Farmers of Rajasthan, India. For more information contact Bhawar Dhabai or Ganesh Purohit,
Jagran Jan Vikas Samiti, www.jjvs.org.
9. Supra note 4.
10. Supra note 2.
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