Protection of Traditional Knowledge in India, Lecture notes of Contemporary History

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Conclusion

Hello Learners

India possesses the world's oldest civilization. Throughout our 5000-year journey, we have been ruled by many rulers from various religions and cultures. Furthermore, a large number of people migrated from other countries, and India welcomed them with open arms. As a result of this exchange, we can see a lot of diversity in our country in terms of religion, culture, race, and religion. Despite these differences, India remained united even during dark times and faced all crises with a united spirit. "Unity among diversity" is the thread that binds all Indians together.

In this session, we will look at the meaning of unity in diversity in India, the different types of diversity in India, what diversity is, the provisions for unity in the constitution, the importance of unity, and the obstacles to achieving unity. India is diverse in terms of its religions, ethnicities, customs, and social structures. India's secular and pluralist stance from the country's inception may have aided India in realising a "Diversity Dividend." From Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Indians practise a variety of cultures, religions, languages, and traditions. However, living together with love and peace despite these differences describes India's concept of unity in diversity.

The Indian Constitution allows individuals the freedom to live by their religious beliefs and practices as they interpret these. Secularism is important for a country to function democratically. The Indian constitution mandates that the Indian state be secular. According to the constitution, only a secular state can realize its objectives to ensure the following: That one religious community does not dominate another; That some members do not dominate other members of the same religious community; That the state does not enforce any particular religion nor take away the religious freedom of individuals. The Indian state works in various ways to prevent the above domination. First, It uses a strategy of distancing itself from religion. The Indian state is not ruled by a religions group and nor does it support any one religion. In, India government spaces like law courts, police stations, government schools and offices are not supposed to display or promote any one religion.

Conclusion Indian culture is a synthesis of many different human cultural trends that is organic an d harmonious. India is an excellent example of the one in many philosophies despite having a diverse culture. There is a deeper unity in diversity than that produced by either geographic seclusion or political suzerainty. There is a unity in India that transcends the countless differences in race, colour, language, dress, manners, and sects. The continuity of religious practises and the spirit of tolerance displayed by its people throughout history is what makes Indian culture, civilization, and its history distinctive.

In this course, I hope you all understood the essence of Tradtional knowledge. Indian traditional knowledge is widespread as we have seen. It is there in our culture, languages and literature, it is spreaded through our religion, it is in expressed in our fine arts in the form of music, dance, paintings, drama, handicrafts and it is inherent in our medicinal system of practice. Also the deep traditional knowledge can be seen in different sectors like engineering, architecture, bio diversity and sustainable development. As we all know it is our responsibility to protect and preserve this novel indigenous knowledge legally. Hope you have enjoyed learning the course. Thank you

One of the petitioners’ key arguments has been that it is beyond the legislative competence of Parliament to enact the FRA as ‘land’ is a state subject.

Development vs Conservation: Often, the combined stretch of land claimed by Indigenous people has been taken away for building dams, mining, laying railway lines and roads, power plants, etc. Moreover, forcibly removing tribal peoples from their land will only result in environmental damage and violate human rights. Illegal Encroachment of Land: The government records also reveal that 43 lakh hectares of forest land encroached legally and illegally until 1980 when the Forest Conservation Act came into force. The Forest Rights Act (FRA): A dramatic shift in the Indian conservation paradigm came in 2006 through the Forest Rights Act that went beyond sanctioning local usage, to conferring local communities’ rights over forest land and produce. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs was mandated to operationalise the Act, while conservation remained under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Forest Rights Act (FRA) is legislation which aims to address the historical injustice that our forest-dwelling communities have had to face for nearly 150 years by providing them with the security of tenure over land for cultivation and habitation through individual rights. It also provides access to various resources through more than a dozen types of community forest rights. The FRA also empowers forest-dwelling communities to protect, regenerate, conserve and manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and preserving for sustainable use. It has the provision for creating critical wildlife habitats within protected areas which currently is the most robust conservation provision among existing laws of the country. The FRA does not sanction any fresh clearance of forest, as individual rights over land will only be granted if the forest dweller owned that parcel of land on December 13, 2005.

Way Forward: Recognition of the Rights of the Indigenous People: For preserving the rich biodiversity of the region, the recognition of the rights of the forest dwellers who depend on the forests is as important as the declaration of natural habitat as a World Heritage Site. Effective Implementation of the FRA: The government must make an effort to build trust between its agencies in the area and the people who depend on these forests by treating them as equal citizens like everyone else in the country. The FRA’s loopholes have already been identified; all it needs is to work on amending it. Traditional Knowledge of the Tribal People for Conservation: The Biodiversity Act, 2002 mentions about the equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use and knowledge of biological resources with the local communities. Therefore, all the stakeholders should realise that indigenous people’s traditional knowledge is a way forward for more effective conservation of biodiversity.

Tribals, The Forest Scientists: Tribal peoples are generally regarded as the best conservationists, as they connect with nature more spiritually. The cheapest and quickest way to conserve areas of high biodiversity is to respect tribal peoples’ rights. Conclusion As the indigenous people are integral to conservation as they relate with it in a more integrated and spiritual way, a sense of respect needs to be developed for the indigenous people; their presence helps in the conservation of biodiversity.

Indigenous knowledge transmission in india

Education programmes provide important tools for human development, but they may also compromise the transmission of indigenous knowledge. With formal education, children spend much time learning passively in classroom settings, rather than engaged in hands-on learning on the land. Teachers replace parents and elders as the holders of knowledge and authority. National languages become the medium of instruction, while vernacular languages are sidelined.

Formal education may, therefore, contribute to an erosion of cultural diversity, a loss of social cohesion and the alienation and disorientation of indigenous youth. There is an urgent need to enhance the intergenerational transmission of indigenous knowledge, as a complement to mainstream education. Efforts are now being made to bring indigenous language and knowledge into school curricula and to move learning back into the community, thus reaffirming the status of elders as knowledge holders.

 Traditional knowledge is frequently ignored when science and technology move so quickly. Even though contemporary ideas have taken the place of our understanding of conventional wisdom, we nevertheless need to acknowledge its contributions. Traditional knowledge must be protected and preserved at all costs.

Reasons to Protect Traditional Knowledge (TK)  Equity,  Biodiversity conservation,  Preservation of traditional practices,  Prevention of biopiracy, and.  TK's significance in development.

Biopiracy:

Theft of traditional knowledge (TK) with the intention of obtaining a patent on it exclusively. The method through which the ownership of genetic resources and knowledge is "erased and taken over by those who have abused indigenous knowledge and biodiversity."

Example of Biopiracy of Traditional Knowledge - Colgate Case

 The biggest toothpaste manufacturer in the world, Colgate, has a patented tooth powder.  A major American retailer of home products received a patent in June for what it called a revolutionary "red herbal dentifrice.“  Indian activists assert that the patent is invalid since the components, such as clove oil, camphor, black pepper, and spearmint, have been employed for the same function on the subcontinent for hundreds, "if not thousands," of years. Its patent application claims that red iron oxide, which is less abrasive than the components in conventional toothpaste, is a novel constituent.  Colgate claims that an ancient recipe has been updated and that by using this "legal contrivance," the American company will avoid having to pay royalties.  To stop the "biopiracy" of its historic folk medicines, which records the methods and claims them as Indian property, India is in the midst of producing 34 million web pages. The United States Patents and Trademark Office is still considering the case.

National Attempts to Protect Traditional Knowledge-India

National Biological Diversity Act, 2002 Patents Act, 1970 through its amendments in 2005 Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers‟ Rights Act, 2001 Geographical Indications Act, 2003

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ACT, 2002 AND THE RULES 2004

India's efforts to realize the goals outlined in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992, which affirms the sovereign rights of states to utilise their own biological resources, gave rise to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Section 2 (b) “biological diversity” means the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part and includes diversity within species or between species and of eco-systems; Section 2 (c) “biological resources” means plants, animals and micro-organisms or parts thereof, their genetic material and by- products (excluding value added products) with actual or potential use or value, but does not include human genetic material; Section 2 (g) “fair and equitable sharing” means sharing of benefits as determined by the National Biodiversity Authority under section 21;

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 The act was enacted in 2002, it aims at the  conservation of biological resources,  managing its sustainable use and  enabling fair and equitable sharing benefits arising out of the use and knowledge of biological resources with the local communities.  The act envisaged a three-tier structure to regulate the access to biological resources:  The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)  The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs)  The Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) (at local level)

Salient Provisions of the Act  Transmission of Indian genetic material outside of India is prohibited without express government of India consent;  Anyone claiming an Intellectual Property Right (IPR), such as a patent, over biodiversity or associated knowledge is prohibited from doing so without the Indian Government's consent.;  Regulation of the acquisition and use of biodiversity by Indian citizens, but exempting local populations from such regulations;  Measures for distributing the benefits of biodiversity utilisation, such as technological transfers, financial rewards, shared R&D, joint IPR ownership, etc;  Measures to protect habitats and species, conduct environmental impact analyses before projects, and include biodiversity into various agencies' and sectors' plans, programmes, and policies are all examples of ways to conserve and sustainably utilise biological resources.  Making provisions for local communities to have a say in how their resources and expertise are used and charging fees for this.  Protection of traditional or indigenous knowledge by proper legislation or other steps such as registering such knowledge.  The usage of genetically modified organisms must be governed;  Establishing national, state, and local biodiversity funds to aid in benefit-sharing and conservation.

Scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers act

Forest landscapes cover over 23% of the country.

Around 200 million i.e., 20% of population live in and near India's forest lands.

Source: Citizens' report 2013 on Community Forest Rights under Forest Rights Act

But They had no legal right to their homes, lands or livelihoods. Result?

Both forests and people were suffering.

In 2006, "Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act was passed which granted legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities. It entitles.

1. Individuals & Families or communities to a right over their own land, and importantly,
2. Empowers the Gram-sabha, or village assembly, with initiating the process of recognition.

What Kind of Rights?

1. Land rights
2. Use rights
3. Right to Protect and Conserve

Till Sept 2013, the government had received around 3.3 million claims, but only 40 % had resulted in land titles.

Community forest rights (CFR) constituted just two per cent (approx.) of all claims, and only 29 % of such claims had resulted in land titles.

Source: Ministry of Tribal Affairs (2013), Status report on implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

Issues in the Implementation

1. Less awareness among government bureaucrats about the FRA has resulted in poor implementation of its provisions.
2. Participation at Gram Sabha level is poor.
3. Recognition of rights of Other Traditional Forest Dwellers has been grossly neglected in terms of their eligibility.
4. Poor recognition of CFR rights and community rights
5. There is no clear boundary of community rights area, where multiple villages are dependent on the same forest.
6. Right holders and the Gram Sabhas are not empowered enough to protect wildlife, forest and biodiversity, and to regulate access to their forest areas.
7. Large scale interference by the Forest Department in the rights recognition process.
8. Issues relating to preparation of conservation and management plans.

Source: Report on REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON IMPLEMENATTION OF FOREST RIGHTS ACT; 'Issues implementation of community rights with focus on management and governance of CFR’ 23 rd_24th^ September 2013, of BHUBANESW AR. ODISHA

Our Work

• Land resource mapping
• Workshop for leaders of Gram sabhas and Forest Wild Life Management Committee on NREGA, FRA, PESA, Biodiversity the different government programmes, gender concepts and institution building.
• Capacity building of all eligible communities and helpline them in claiming for their rights.
• Advocacy on FRA through participation in state and National level networks, meetings with government officials, consultation.
• Promoting meetings of FMC and NTFP cultivator groups.
• Facilitating public hearing on NREGS, FRA and other issues.
• Enabling inclusion of women in decision making process for management of forests and other natural resources.

2013 Highlights

1. 18725 tribal people benefitted from our work
2. 1,430 tribal men and women from across three states have received individual land titles under FRA.
3. The gram sabha of Panchgaon village earned Rs. 148000/-by selling Bamboo from the village forest for which the CFR has been granted.
4. 34 communities from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh who have received management rights have formed committees and are enforcing rules agreed in the community meetings to stop illegal felling prevent forest fires, conserve biodiversity etc.

given genotype or combination of genotypes. The variety should be distinguished from other plant grouping by expression and should be considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged.

REGISTERABLE PLANT VARIETIES IN INDIA

a. New Varieties: A Variety which is not in public domain in India earlier than one year before the date of filing or outside India, in the case of trees or vines earlier than six years or in any other case earlier than four years. b. Extant Variety: A Variety which is notified under Seed Act, 1966 or a variety about which there is common knowledge or a farmer's variety or any other variety which is in public domain is considers as an Extant Variety. c. Farmer's Variety: A Variety which has been traditionally cultivated and evolved by the farmers in their fields or a variety which is a wild relative or land race of a variety about which farmers possess common knowledge. d. Essentially Derived Variety (EDV): i) Predominantly derived from such initial variety, or from a variety that itself is predominantly derived from such initial variety, while retaining the expression of the essential characteristics that result from the genotype or combination of genotypes of such initial variety. ii) Is clearly distinguishable from such initial variety; and iii) Conforms to such initial variety in the expression of the essential characteristics

NON-REGISTERABLE PLANT VARIETIES IN INDIA

• All plant varieties cannot get legal protection in India. Certain Plant varieties are excluded from the protection under PPVFR Act 2001. Any variety where prevention of commercial exploitation of such variety is necessary to protect public order or public morality or human, animal and plant life and health or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment or any varieties which has terminator technology or any variety belonging to the species or genera which is not listed in the notification issued by the Central Government cannot be registered for the protection under the Act.

CRITERIA FOR PROTECTING A PLANT VARIETY The plant variety must be:

1. Distinct: A variety should be clearly distinguishable by at least one essential characteristic from existing or commonly known varieties in any country at the time of filing of the application.
2. Uniform: A Variety must be sufficiently uniform in its essential characteristics.
3. Stable: Essential characteristics of a variety must be stable after repeated propagation or in the case of a particular cycle of propagation at the end of each cycle.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR THE REGISTRATION OF A PLANT VARIETY?

a. any person claiming to be the breeder of the variety; b. any successor of the breeder of the variety; c. any person being the Assignee or the breeder of the variety in respect of the right to make such application; d. any farmer or group of farmers or community of farmers claiming to the breeder of the variety; e. any person authorized to make application on behalf of farmers; and f. any university or publicly funded agricultural institution claiming to the breeder of the variety.

WHERE TO FILE THE APPLICATION FOR THE REGISTRATION OF A PLANT VARIETY?

• For the purposes of Protection of Plant
• Varieties and Framers Right Act, 2001 Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Authority was established in October 2005 and its Head Quarters is located at NASC Complex, DPS Marg, Opp-Todapur, New Delhi - 110 012.
• Any information regarding protection, application, fee structure etc can be obtained from the office or at http://www.Plantauthority.gov.in/

PREREQUISITES FOR FILING AN APPLICATION FORM FOR REGISTERATION OF PLANT VARIETY

• Denomination assigned to such variety
• An affidavit that variety does not contain any gene or gene sequence involving terminator technology
• Complete passport data of parental lines with its geographical location in India and all such information relating to the contribution if any, of any farmeref) village, community, institution etc in breeding and dev oping the variety
• Characteristics of variety with description of Novelty, Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability
• A declaration that the genetic material used for breeding of such variety has been lawfully acquired
• A breeder or other person making application for registration shall disclose the use of genetic material conserved by any tribal or rural families for improvement of such variety

DEPOSITION OF SEED OR PROPAGATING MATERIAL BEFORE REGISTRATION

• Deposition of seeds is necessary for DUS test conducted by PPV FR authority. The applicant needs to deposit the fixed amount of seed or propagating material with prescribed germination percentage and physical purity along with the seed quality test report to the authority.

DURATION OF PROTECTION FOR A REGISTERED PLANT VARIETY

2. BENEFIT SHARING The Plant Variety Act of India has benefit sharing mechanisms which requires sharing the benefits arising from commercialization of traditional knowledge. The bio-diversity has a great economic value and hence need to be conserved. Unless there is adequate incentive for conserving the bio diversity for future generations, there will be genetic erosion that will ultimately be detrimental to the interests to the society.
3. Case Study of Jeevani: The Miracle Drug The drug Jeevani is developed from the perennial plant Arogyapaacha. Four patent applications were filed on Jeevani. The technology was then licensed to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy Ltd. an Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer pursuing the commerciahzation of ayurvedic herbal formulations. A trust was established to share the benefits arising from the commercialization of the traditional knowledge-based drug called ecwani'. The rationale attributed beillg, if the local communities ad not conserved the biodiversity, the probability of scientists making any selection at all would have been remote or nil.

Forest Rights Act 2006

• Forest landscapes cover over 23% of the country.
• Around 200 million i.e., 20% of population live in and near India’s forest land.

But They had no legal right to their homes, lands or livelihoods. Results? Both forest and people were suffering.

Source: Citizen’s report 2013 on community forest rights under Forest Rights Act.

• In 2006, “Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of the Forest Rights) Act was passed which granted legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities.
• It entitles, Individuals & Families or communities to a right over their own land, and importantly.
• Empowers the Gram-sabha, or village assembly, with initiating the process of recognition.

What kind of Rights?

• Land rights.
• Use rights.
• Rights to protect and conserve.
• Till Sept 2013, the government had received around 3.3 million claims, but only 40% had resulted in land titles.
• Community forest rights (CFR) constituted just two per cent (approx.) of all claims, and only 29% of such claims had resulted in land titles.

Source: Ministry of Tribal Affairs (2013), Status report on implementation of the scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

Issues in the Implementation

• Less awareness among government bureaucrats about the FRA has resulted in poor implementation of its provisions.
• Participation at Gram Sabha level is poor.
• Recognition of rights of others traditional Forest Dwellers has been grossly neglected in terms of their eligibility.
• Poor recognition of CFR rights and community rights.
• There is no clear boundary of community rights area, where multiple villages are dependent on the same forest.
• Rights holders and the gram sabhas are not empowered enough to protect wildlife, forest and biodiversity, and to regulate access to their forest areas.
• Large scale interreference by the Forest Department in the rights recognition process.
• Issues related to preparation of conservation and management plans.

Source: Report on REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON IMPLEMENATTION OF FOREST RIGHTS ACT: ‘Issues in implementation of community rights with focus on management and governance of CFR ‘ 23 rd_24th^ September 2013, BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA.

Hello learners. Welcome to the video on the Importance of Conservation & Sustainable Development of Environment, Management of Biodiversity and Protection of Traditional Knowledge.

In this chapter, we'll introduce the Importance of Conservation & Sustainable Development of Environment, Management of Biodiversity and Protection of Traditional Knowledge.

Introduction to the Importance of Conservation & Sustainable Development of Environment

Environmental conservation is a practice that opens the door for governmental, organisational, and individual protection of the environment and natural resources. Numerous fundamental environmental problems are severely affecting human existence. All of these problems, including overpopulation, hydrological problems, ozone depletion, global warming, deforestation, desertification, and pollution, represent a serious threat to humankind's continued survival. It is pointless to anticipate positive progress until environmental protection turns into a powerful mass movement, particularly in the era of digital media, which has the power to spark a revolution and prevent the destruction of our world.

Importance of Conservation & Sustainable Development of Environment

Working for environmental protection has become increasingly vital in modern times. The necessity to protect the environment from further damage is illustrated by the following considerations:

To eliminate pollution of the air, water, and land. To make it easier to protect natural resources for future generations. To make sure that biodiversity is protected. To put sustainable development into action. To establish ecological harmony. To protect the environment from the harmful effects of global warming.

India is the second largest country in Asia and the seventh largest country overall, with a total size of 329 million hectares. India's rich and diversified flora was supported by the wide variety of habitats that result from different climates and altitudes. Fortunately, India is blessed with a variety of agro-climatic conditions that foster the development of a vast range of plant and animal species. However, the country is facing a very serious issue with the loss of biodiversity. More species of living things are going extinct than ever before, and biodiversity is under greater threat than ever. According to global consensus, deforestation is the primary factor contributing to the current catastrophe. Other major factors include global climatic change, shifting agriculture, soil erosion, uncontrolled urbanisation, etc. A determined effort must be made right now to protect biodiversity for future generations due to the current rate of extinction.

It is common knowledge that productive and valued biological resources are essential for long-term economic growth. The rural populace has long held the belief that biodiversity is crucial to their survival and means of subsistence. Industries including construction, pharma, cosmetics, pulp and paper, agriculture and agro-industries, horticulture, and waste treatment depend on biological resources, therefore protecting and conserving biodiversity is in our own interest. In poor nations, between 70 and 80 per cent of the populace relies only on plants for medical care.

Importance of Traditional Knowledge

The preservation of biodiversity and its traditional uses depends heavily on traditional knowledge: The authorized healthcare system in India includes Indian Systems of Medicine (Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani), which rely on a variety of biological resources and conventional knowledge. Over many years, farmers and livestock keepers have cultivated and enhanced a wide range of domesticated plant and animal species. This has been crucial for ensuring food security as well as for offering clothing, healthcare, and housing. Local communities have autonomously protected wild spaces throughout India, including natural ecosystems that are occasionally regarded as sacred, such as 'sacred groves,' some of which are tens of thousands of years old and devoted to a regional deity.

Protection of Traditional Knowledge

The protection of traditional knowledge innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities has received increasing international attention since the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD) in 1992. It is now clearly established that Traditional Knowledge is valuable to contemporary business and agriculture in addition to those who depend on it for their daily needs and plays a significant part in the global economy The majority of traditional civilizations rely on this knowledge to meet their needs for food and medical care. As a large portion of the world's crop diversity has been kept and preserved by indigenous/local peoples, which has aided in the protection and conservation of biodiversity, the protection of Traditional Knowledge is crucial for the conservation and sustainable development of the ecosystem. Their expertise is essential for preserving and conserving Genetic Resources (GR) and other bioresources..

With this, we come to the end of our session. In today’s session, we discussed Importance of Conservation & Sustainable Development of Environment and Management of Biodiversity and Protection of Traditional Knowledge.I hope you have got a fair understanding of the topic. Thank you and Happy Learning!