206 Miri (Margaret) Raven and Daniel Robinson
Indigenous peoples hold biodiversity knowledge, NGS’ new portable capabilities
mean that existing knowledge, and vast amounts of associated biological
resources, can be quickly screened. This may pick up other associated biological
materials to which the initial plant or animal of interest is dependent. It may
help to map plant and animal communities that would otherwise have not been
known by outside researchers.
Protocols, or BCPs, provide a process for Indigenous peoples to determine
whether to allow access to their knowledge and lands for research and biodiversity conservation purposes, among potentially other uses (such as ecotourism).
Establishing clear processes for free prior and informed consent to establish ABS
procedures to Indigenous knowledge associated with biological resources ensures
that the rapidly changing technological landscape can be included in discussions
about what access entails now, and in the future. The research we are undertaking seeks to recognise BCPs in various locations across the Pacific as well as
working with Aboriginal peoples and enterprises in Australia.
The Geographical Contexts
The research occurs in Vanuatu, Cook Islands and in various locations
across Northern Australia. These countries are geographically located in the
“Pacific”. Vanuatu is located in the Melanesian sub-region and Cook Islands
is located in the Polynesian sub-region. The geographical delineation of
Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia was coined by French navigator Jules
Dumont d’Urville to designate ethnic and geographic regions in the Pacific.
While we use the Melanesian and Polynesian terminology in this chapter, we
understand that for some Indigenous peoples, these groupings may be problematic and that there are overlaps between culture and history. Additionally,
the location of Australia, as part of the Pacific, is also a difficult geographic
distinction for Indigenous peoples located on the western and southern parts
of the continent which borders the Indian Ocean. Notwithstanding this, we,
as geographers, need some kind of word to geographically located research.
We have chosen to use these terms, but acknowledge the difficulties with
them. Vanuatu and Cook Islands were included in the project so as to advance
further research and development of BCPs.
To date, in the communities in Vanuatu and Cook Islands, the development
of BCPs has been a highly practical process, with the people that we have worked
with preferring simple BCP tools and documents – including posters and signs
– that can be posted in airports or at the entrance to protected areas to indicate
their customary laws, rules and processes.
We have begun the development of community protocols in some specific
communities that utilise traditional medicines for customary purposes (in Cook
Islands), as well as some communities that are heavily involved in “biotrade”
3
of traditional skin-care oil products derived from tree nuts (in Vanuatu) and use
and sale of kava.
Indigenous peoples hold biodiversity knowledge, NGS’ new portable capabilities
mean that existing knowledge, and vast amounts of associated biological
resources, can be quickly screened. This may pick up other associated biological
materials to which the initial plant or animal of interest is dependent. It may
help to map plant and animal communities that would otherwise have not been
known by outside researchers.
Protocols, or BCPs, provide a process for Indigenous peoples to determine
whether to allow access to their knowledge and lands for research and biodiversity conservation purposes, among potentially other uses (such as ecotourism).
Establishing clear processes for free prior and informed consent to establish ABS
procedures to Indigenous knowledge associated with biological resources ensures
that the rapidly changing technological landscape can be included in discussions
about what access entails now, and in the future. The research we are undertaking seeks to recognise BCPs in various locations across the Pacific as well as
working with Aboriginal peoples and enterprises in Australia.
The Geographical Contexts
The research occurs in Vanuatu, Cook Islands and in various locations
across Northern Australia. These countries are geographically located in the
“Pacific”. Vanuatu is located in the Melanesian sub-region and Cook Islands
is located in the Polynesian sub-region. The geographical delineation of
Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia was coined by French navigator Jules
Dumont d’Urville to designate ethnic and geographic regions in the Pacific.
While we use the Melanesian and Polynesian terminology in this chapter, we
understand that for some Indigenous peoples, these groupings may be problematic and that there are overlaps between culture and history. Additionally,
the location of Australia, as part of the Pacific, is also a difficult geographic
distinction for Indigenous peoples located on the western and southern parts
of the continent which borders the Indian Ocean. Notwithstanding this, we,
as geographers, need some kind of word to geographically located research.
We have chosen to use these terms, but acknowledge the difficulties with
them. Vanuatu and Cook Islands were included in the project so as to advance
further research and development of BCPs.
To date, in the communities in Vanuatu and Cook Islands, the development
of BCPs has been a highly practical process, with the people that we have worked
with preferring simple BCP tools and documents – including posters and signs
– that can be posted in airports or at the entrance to protected areas to indicate
their customary laws, rules and processes.
We have begun the development of community protocols in some specific
communities that utilise traditional medicines for customary purposes (in Cook
Islands), as well as some communities that are heavily involved in “biotrade”
3
of traditional skin-care oil products derived from tree nuts (in Vanuatu) and use
and sale of kava.