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10 Rev. Eur. Comp. & Int'l Envtl. L. 37 (2001)
International Environmental Law and Human Rights: Towards the Explicit Recognition of Traditional Knowledge

handle is hein.journals/reel10 and id is 37 raw text is: RECIEL 10 (1) 2001. ISSN 0962 8797 International Environmental Law and Human Rights: Towards the Explicit Recognition of Traditional Knowledge Anja Meyer INTRODUCTION The international community, until recently, paid scant attention to indigenous and local communities' tra- ditional knowledge of biological resources. Such knowl- edge was only applied by these communities for their own use in medicine and agriculture. With the advent of biotechnology, however, traditional knowledge has acquired a commercial value that it did not possess before, leading to calls for protection to ensure indigen- ous and local communities have a reasonable share of the benefits generated by the use of their knowledge. Further, as cases of exploitation of indigenous and local communities are reported,' these groups wish to ensure that their knowledge is not used without their prior informed consent. This discussion is paralleled in the arena of human rights, in particular with regard to the emerging rights of indigenous peoples. Traditional knowledge has found explicit recognition within human rights docu- ments on indigenous peoples yet it is international environmental law that first flagged the issue of tra- ditional knowledge for international attention. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has emerged as the primary instrument permitting indigenous groups to express their interests and demands for the protection of their knowledge. In some cases, these demands even go beyond the scope and objectives of the Convention. In the following sections, this article will give an over- view of the existing international environmental instru- ments as well as the human rights instruments which are relevant to traditional knowledge. Such an overview does not intend to manifest any separation of tra- ditional knowledge into environmental concerns on the one side and human rights issues on the other. As tra- 1 See on different cases A. Jacanimijoy, Initiatives for the Protection of the Rights of the Possessors of Traditional Knowledge, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, document presented at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Roundtable on Intellectual Property and Indigenous Peoples on 23/24 July 1998, (WIPO/INDIP/RT/98/4E, 4). ditional knowledge is a subject for both environmental and human rights law, possible ways of protecting such knowledge should not be confined to only one of these two areas but take all different aspects into account. Before turning to the different instruments, the central term 'traditional knowledge' will be defined, the holders of such knowledge identified, and the relationship between traditional knowledge and biological diver- sity explained. The overview of international environmental instru- ments will show an emerging recognition of indigenous and local communities and their traditional knowledge. Indigenous and local communities and their traditional knowledge can not only be found in the Rio Declar- ation, Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles, but also in internationally binding conventions such as the Con- vention to Combat Desertification and the CBD. This is detailed in the section 'The explicit recognition of tra- ditional knowledge in environmental law'. Besides environmental instruments, human rights instruments are relevant in this context, namely Con- vention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Draft Declar- ation on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and - on a regional level - the Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (see the section 'Tra- ditional knowledge and human rights'). As no specific ways and means for protection of tra- ditional knowledge exist, the World Intellectual Pro- perty Organization (WIPO) has also taken up work on traditional knowledge. While so far WIPO has been mainly concerned with identifying needs and concerns of holders of traditional knowledge, WIPO will now move on to address these needs and concerns (see 'WIPO's activities with regard to traditional knowledge'). In conclusion, this article argues that, while no specific standards for the protection of traditional knowledge exist at the international level, two emerging principles 0 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2001, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 37

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