Introduction
BCPs and the Western Ontological Matrix
Since the late 1980s onwards, countless declarations, reports, and scholarly works
have underlined the crucial role of indigenous peoples and local communities
(IPLCs) in conserving biodiversity. In parallel with the rise of the concept of
biocultural diversity,
2 IPLCs are increasingly featured as guardians or stewards of
rich landscapes and vital ecosystems. The Brundtland Report (Brundtland &
World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, para. 74) described
these communities as “[…] the repositories of vast accumulations of traditional
knowledge and experience that links humanity with its ancient origins”. One
year later, the Declaration of Belém (1988), under the lead of the anthropologist
Darrell A. Posey, forcefully stated that “native peoples have been stewards of 99
percent of the world’s genetic resources”. Posey, and his team of lawyers, anthropologists, and indigenous activists (Graham Dutfield, Kristina Plenderleith,
Addison Eugênio da Costa e Silva, and Alejandro Argumedo to name a few),
played a considerable role in mainstreaming the “integrated rights approach”
(Posey & Dutfield, 1996) as one of the progressive ways to synergistically advance
the human rights of IPLCs and what they called “the right to development and
environmental conservation” (Posey & Dutfield, 1996, p. 95). They emphasised
biodiversity conservation with a strong and innovative focus on mutual adaptations and co-evolution between human cultures, languages, and the environment (Maffi & Woodley, 2010, p. 5). But the crux of their proposal was the
maintenance of identity for IPLCs. More critical for Posey was the defence of
indigenous peoples and the belief that better protection of their language and
identity necessarily implied recognising the holistic nature of their community
11
BIOCULTURAL COMMUNITY
PROTOCOLS AND THE ETHIC OF
STEWARDSHIP
The Sovereign Stewards of Biodiversity
Reia Anquet and Fabien Girard
1
DOI: 10.4324/9781003172642-14
BCPs and the Western Ontological Matrix
Since the late 1980s onwards, countless declarations, reports, and scholarly works
have underlined the crucial role of indigenous peoples and local communities
(IPLCs) in conserving biodiversity. In parallel with the rise of the concept of
biocultural diversity,
2 IPLCs are increasingly featured as guardians or stewards of
rich landscapes and vital ecosystems. The Brundtland Report (Brundtland &
World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, para. 74) described
these communities as “[…] the repositories of vast accumulations of traditional
knowledge and experience that links humanity with its ancient origins”. One
year later, the Declaration of Belém (1988), under the lead of the anthropologist
Darrell A. Posey, forcefully stated that “native peoples have been stewards of 99
percent of the world’s genetic resources”. Posey, and his team of lawyers, anthropologists, and indigenous activists (Graham Dutfield, Kristina Plenderleith,
Addison Eugênio da Costa e Silva, and Alejandro Argumedo to name a few),
played a considerable role in mainstreaming the “integrated rights approach”
(Posey & Dutfield, 1996) as one of the progressive ways to synergistically advance
the human rights of IPLCs and what they called “the right to development and
environmental conservation” (Posey & Dutfield, 1996, p. 95). They emphasised
biodiversity conservation with a strong and innovative focus on mutual adaptations and co-evolution between human cultures, languages, and the environment (Maffi & Woodley, 2010, p. 5). But the crux of their proposal was the
maintenance of identity for IPLCs. More critical for Posey was the defence of
indigenous peoples and the belief that better protection of their language and
identity necessarily implied recognising the holistic nature of their community
11
BIOCULTURAL COMMUNITY
PROTOCOLS AND THE ETHIC OF
STEWARDSHIP
The Sovereign Stewards of Biodiversity
Reia Anquet and Fabien Girard
1
DOI: 10.4324/9781003172642-14