Genetic Resources And Traditional Knowledge

This fascinating study describes efforts to define and protect traditional knowledge and the associated issues of access to genetic resources, from the negotiation of the Convention on Biological Diversity to The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Nagoya Protocol. Drawing on the expertise of local specialists from around the globe, the chapters judiciously mix theory and empirical evidence to provide a deep and convincing understanding of traditional knowledge, innovation, access to genetic resources, and benefit sharing.

Because traditional knowledge was understood in early negotiations to be subject to a property rights framework, these often became bogged down due to differing views on the rights involved. New models, developed around the notion of distributive justice and self-determination, are now gaining favor. This book suggests – through a discussion of theory and contemporary case studies from Brazil, India, Kenya and Canada – that a focus on distributive justice best advances the interests of indigenous peoples while also fostering scientific innovation in both developed and developing countries.

Comprehensive as well as nuanced, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge will be of great interest to scholars and students of law, political science, anthropology and geography. National and international policymakers and those interested in the environment, indigenous peoples’ rights and innovation will find the book an enlightening resource.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Indigenous Rights and Traditional Knowledge
Tania Bubela and E. Richard Gold

PART I: THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLITICAL LANDSCAPE
2. WIPO, Genetic Resources and TK: The Evolution of a Formal Intellectual Property Agreement Protecting TK Associated with Genetic Resources
Charles Lawson

3. A Comparative Analysis of Access and Benefits-Sharing Systems
Rebecca Crookshanks and Peter W.B. Phillips

4. From Traditional Medicines to Modern Drugs
Graham Dutfield

PART II: CASE STUDIES
Brazil
5. Property Rights, Biocultural Resources and Two Tragedies: Some Lessons from Brazil
Edson Beas Rodrigues Jr

Kenya
6. Old Wine in New Skin: Traditional Knowledge and Customary Law Under the Evolving Normative Environment in Kenya
Kent Nnadozie

India
7. Sustaining the Indigenous Knowledge Commons
Ashok Kumbamu

Canada
8. Canada’s First Nations’ Policies and Practices Related to Managing Traditional Knowledge
Peter W.B. Phillips, Sidi Zhang, Tara Williams and Laural DeBusschere

9. Aboriginal Rights and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Northern Canada
Cherie Metcalf and Tania Bubela

10. Respecting and Aligning Knowledge Systems in Northern Canada: Beyond the International Polar Year
David S. Hik, Tania Bubela and Scot Nickels

PART III: CONCLUSION
11. A Capabilities-based Framework
Julia Carbone

Index