The League for Pastoral Peoples
The League for Pastoral Peoples was founded in October 1992 by
a group of concerned veterinary, agricultural and social
scientists. It is an advocacy and support organization for
pastoralists relying on communally owned pasture resources.
The goal of the League is to raise awareness among the general
public and among NGOs about the predicament these groups are
currently facing because of land alienation, population growth
and inappropriate development concepts. The League draws
attention to the importance of traditional pastoral cultures
and their indigenous knowledge systems for the sustainable
utilization of arid lands and other marginal environments and
emphasizes their role in preserving bio-diversity by
maintaining a wide variety of indigenous livestock breeds.
While the concerns of the League are world-wide, its
geographical focus is on Asia, where the pastoralists have
received less attention than those of Africa. In cooperation
with the School of Desert Sciences in Jodhpur (India) the
League is trying to develop appropriate concepts for the camel
and sheep pastoralists of Rajasthan.
Contact: League for Pastoral Peoples,
Pragelatostrasse 20, 64372 Ober-Ramstadt, Germany. Tel/Fax:
+49-6154-53642.
Rainforest Medical Foundation
As the rapid process of destruction of the tropical rainforest
has become one of the major concerns of environmentalists
around the globe, a growing number of individuals and groups
have protested. Campaigns have been conducted to halt
deforestation and its serious side effects. There is an
obvious threat of a great loss of biodiversity, but the
rainforest also plays a key role in providing medicinal plants
for traditional healers and local communities. This indigenous
knowledge and practice--for both Western and non-Western
medicines--are now equally at risk of extinction as a result
of the disappearing forest.
Although much attention has been drawn since the early
eighties to the ecological, climatological and biological
aspects of this major environmental threat to our planet, the
health dimension of the problem has so far largely been
neglected. In the large-scale exploitation of the tropical
rainforest, its medical potential and the significance of this
potential for the position of indigenous forest peoples are
still grossly overlooked.
In this context, the Rainforest Medical Foundation was
recently established by a group of physicians in The
Netherlands. The general aim is to contribute to the
conservation of the tropical rainforest and to support its
indigenous peoples. More specifically, however, the Foundation
seeks to reach its goal through the following, health-oriented
activities:
Forest, Trees and People
What started as an FAO network between community forestry
projects has developed and expanded over the years into a
global Forest, Trees and People Network, which includes a
variety of local institutions, universities, projects, NGOs,
etc.. At present the FTPP Network has over 5000 members.
The FTPP Network is designed for sharing information about
improved methods for planning and strengthening community
forestry activities. Emphasis is on building on local
knowledge and publicizing ongoing or planned activities that
are of potential interest to its members. A quarterly FTPP
Newsletter (available in English, French and Spanish) is sent
to members, who are also invited to contribute information and
articles.
Contact: Ms. Daphne Thuvesson, Editor FTPP Newsletter
(English version), Internationl Rural Development Centre
(IRDC), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box
7005, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
or: Ms. Francois Besse, Editor FTPP Newsletter
(French version), SILVA, Programme FTP, 21 rue Paul Bert,
94130 Nogent-sur-Mame, France.
or: Mr. Carlos Herz, Editor Boletin Bosques, Arboles
y Comunidades Rurales, 12 de Octubre 14-36, Casilla 8513,
Quito, Ecuador.
or: Ms. Marilyn W. Hoskins (other FTPP activities),
Senior Forestry Officer (Community Forestry), Community
Forestry Unit, Forestry Policy and Planning, FAO, Viale delle
Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. Tel: +39-6-52253256.
Fax: +39-6-52253152.
CIKO
Cameroon Indigenous Knowledge Organisation (CIKO), which
enjoys corporate personality under Cameroonian law, is an
independent, non-profit and non-partisan action-research and
advocacy organization. It has the following objectives:
ELCI
The Environmental Liaison Centre International is setting up a
networking programme on indigenous knowledge on sustainable
agriculture. They are looking for volunteers to act as focal
points. NGO's or grassroots communities with expertise in this
field should send information on past or present projects
to:
Jean-Marie Fayemi, ELCI, P.O. Box 72461, Nairobi, Kenya.
(Ecoforum 17 (3): 18, 1993)
ASOCON
Five countries of Asia recently signed a Joint Memorandum of
Understanding that effectively creates an international
organization concerned with soil conservation and related
matters. (ASOCON).
This was the culmination of three years of preparation by UNDP
and FAO with China, Indonesia (host country), Malaysia, Papua
New Guinea, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. China and
Malaysia are expected to add their signatures before the end
of 1993.
The priorities for developing training and information
exchange, chosen on the grounds of common interest, are:
economics of conservation, national conservation policy
formulation and implementation, development of conservation
farming systems, conservation project design, study and
improvement of shifting cultivation practices, modelling soil
loss in relation to productivity loss and promotion of
conservation awareness through environmental education.
Particular attention is being paid to shifting cultivation,
which has developed into a full exercise on indigenous
conservation farming practices. A workshop in Papua New Guinea
was co-sponsored with the Commonwealth Secretariat. All
participants returned home to develop national case studies on
an on-going basis.
ASOCON contact is:
Ir. Susadi Sastrowihardjo, Programme planner, P.O. Box 133
JKWB, Jakarta 10270, Indonesia.
Additional information can be supplied by;
Drs. G.W.J. van Lynden, c/o ISRIC P.O. Box 353, 6700 AJ
Wageningen, The Netherlands, Tel: +31-8370-71735. Fax:
+31-8370-24460
or: Mr. Robert Brinkman, Chief Soils Resources,
Management and Conservation Service, Land and Water
Development Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome, Italy. Tel: +39-6-52253068. Fax: +39-6-52256275.
INDKNOW mailing
list
Since September 1993 seven organizations have been working
together to create an open, electronic forum for discussing
issues associated with indigenous knowledge systems and
traditional ecological knowledge.
INDKNOW, as this forum or electronic mailing list is called,
will carry notices which individuals and groups wish to
disseminate regarding publications, projects and questions,
and will make possible a rapid, global exchange of ideas and
information. The ultimate purpose of the electronic forum is
to contribute to the understanding, validation and application
of indigenous knowledge systems and traditional ecological
knowledge; to promote the use of indigenous knowledge as
complementary to the scientific tradition; to help countries
to fulfil their obligation to support IKS under provisions
contained in Agenda 21, the Biodiversity Convention and other
international agreements and conventions applying to
indigenous peoples; to work for the preservation of IK and for
the just compensation of the communities that have shared
their knowledge; and to support the international indigenous
knowledge and development network.
To subscribe to the INDKNOW list, send a message to:
listserv@uwavm (Bitnet)
or: listserv@uwavm.u.washington.edu (Internet)
Send a single line of text: subscribe indknow <Your
Name>.
The INDKNOW list is facilitated by the Center for Indigenous
Environment and Development (CIED), Seattle, Washington, USA;
the Center for Indigenous Knowledge for Agriculture and Rural
Development (CIKARD); the Center for Traditional Knowledge
(CTK), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; the Centre for International
Research and Advisory Networks/Netherlands Organization for
International Cooperation in Higher Education (Nuffic-CIRAN),
The Hague, The Netherlands; Cultural Survival (CS), Cambridge,
Massachusetts, USA; the Society for Research and Initiatives
for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and the
Honey Bee Network, Ahmedabad, India; and the University of
Washington Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology
(SCB-UW), Seattle, Washington, USA.
Facilitators help maintain INDKNOW as an open forum for
discussion and do not necessarily subscribe to all of the
views expressed. Other IKS networks are invited to become
facilitators of INDKNOW.
For more information please contact:
Preston Hardison, List Manager CIED and SCB-UW, 4224
University Way Seattle, WA 98105, USA. Tel: +1-206-547 2361.
Fax: +1-206-547 1666. E-mail:cied@u.washington.edu or
pdh@u.washington.edu
APINMAP
The Asian Pacific Information Network on Medicinal and
Aromatic Plants (APINMAP) is a specialized information network
operating within the framework of the UNESCO-supported
Regional Network for the Exchange of Information and
Experiences in Science and Technology in Asia and the Pacific
(ASTINFO).
It is designed primarily to assists its 14 participating
member countries to improve their capability to collect,
process, disseminate and use research information and data on
medicinal and aromatic plants. Its objective is to promote the
exchange of information in the field of medicinal and aromatic
plants. The network seeks to achieve its objectives by:
Farmers' rights and plant genetic resources
(PGR)
Indigenous knowledge related to the conservation and
sustainable utilization of genetic resources is as important
as the genetic resources themselves. With increasing change in
the habits of indigenous peoples and the disappearance of
indigenous cultures, humanity is losing not only the
biodiversity that has been domesticated and developed for
millennia, but also local knowledge and technologies for its
conservation and use. This loss is especially dramatic in the
case of agro-biodiversity and related knowledge.
The FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources is an
intergovernmental forum where donors and users of germplasm,
information, technology and funds, discuss and reach consensus
on matters related to the conservation and use of plant
genetic resources as well as related knowledge and
technologies. The Commission also monitors the implementation
of an international legal agreement: the International
Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources. Since its first
meeting in 1983, the Commission and its intergovernmental
subsidiary working group have discussed the rights that
farmers and farming communities have to a share of the
benefits derived from the germplasm and knowledge they have
helped to develop.
In the context of an agreed interpretation of the
International Undertaking proposed by the Commission, the FAO
Conference in 1989 formally and unanimously recognized the
concept of farmers' rights and those rights žarising from the
past, present and future contributions of farmers in
conserving, improving and making available plant genetic
resources, particularly those in the centres of
origin/diversity. These rights are vested in the International
Community as trustee for present and future generations of
farmers, for the purpose of ensuring full benefits to farmers
and supporting the continuation of their contributions, as
well as the attainment of the overall purposes of the
International Undertaking.' The Resolution on Farmers' Rights
provides an agreed conceptual basis for developing mechanisms
that could promote equitable sharing of benefits between the
users and donors of germplasm.
Following the recommendation of the Commission at its fourth
session, the FAO Conference in 1991 also unanimously approved
a complementary resolution (C 3/91) prepared by the Commission
on Plant Genetic Resources. Its operative paragraphs endorse
the following: