Traditional Knowledge

Access and Benefit Sharing: New rules for use of biodiversity

The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …

Cabinet nod to biosafety protocol ratification

The Cabinet has given the green signal of the signing of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) arising from the fair and equitable utilisation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. The protocol will also contribute to the twin objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity relating to …

Arunachal villagers to share knowledge at bio meet

Guwahati, Oct. 2: Thirty families of Salari village in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district have developed bio-cultural community protocols for medicinal plants, setting terms and conditions for access to their knowledge and resources to outsiders. The state will unveil the bio-cultural protocols for the first time at a side event …

Green buildings: it’s common sense

Frenzied growth in real estate and changing lifestyle in Indian cities are inciting resource guzzling. Architects have innovative ideas to build green homes.

Ten years of the Biological Diversity Act

As India plays host to the Convention on Biological Diversity's 11th Conference of the Parties in Hyderabad in October 2012, this article takes a closer look at the country's legislation on the subject - the Biological Diversity Act (2002).

Hyderabad gears up to host global biodiversity meet

Hyderabad: The Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Bio-diversity will be held in Hyderabad from October 1 to 19 to deliberate on issues concerning conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and regulated access to genetic resources. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the global meet to be …

The co-benefits of carbon management on country

Carbon offsetting is a fraught science, but there are schemes that have additional benefits beyond their carbon-mitigation value.

Heritage on the edge: protecting traditional knowledge and genetic resources in the Eastern Himalayas, India

The Eastern Himalayan belt is the centre of origin for a number of crops, including rice. This study explored the customary laws and farming practices of Lepcha and Limbu communities, and what they mean for the design of mechanisms to protect traditional knowledge (TK) at national and community levels. It …

Capturing the monsoons

It's a season that inspires and engages everyone, from the farmer to the policy maker. From the scientist to the travel writer. From the economist to the music critic, and from the botanist to the epicure. In a year in which the monsoon has played truant, Down To Earth invited …

Modern buildings cannot breathe

Kolkata-based architect Laurent Fournier tells how ceilings can float and why bamboo-reed-mud make more sense than brick-concrete-steel.

Repositioning grassroots innovation in India’s S&T policy: from divider to provider

Analysis of the features attributed to grassroots innovation shows them to be common to all innovations whether in rural, industrializing or industrial locations and does not justify splitting innovation into one with the suffix ‘grassroots’ and another without it as done in India’s current innovation policy. Examples and experience from …

Struggles for Adivasi livelihoods - Reclaiming the foundational value of work

A fundamental principle of livelihood is that work has a foundational value. It is opposed to the labour-commodity process where the foundational value of work is thoroughly undermined and where work is disembedded from society and taken out of it. In adivasi livelihoods, work is foundational and only through work …

New drugs from ancient texts

Despite the bad press that traditional Chinese medicine sometimes receives, proponents believe it represents an untapped pharmacopeia and are using cutting edge biotechnology to prove it. Gary Humphreys reports.

Prized or priced?: protection of India’s traditional knowledge related to biological resources and intellectual property

The traditional knowledge (TK) of India’s people touches many lives within the country and outside it. For the holders of TK, it is their very lives and thus valuable as is. For others who don’t live by it, it has been priced – given a monetary value, be it by …

Organic farming catches fancy of Samrala growers

Bumper crop of vegetables, herbs despite insufficient rain Ludhiana/Samrala: Farming in our country is monsoon-driven, but there's no reason why it should be pesticide-driven. Taking an initiative in this direction, a number of farmers in Ludhiana district have taken to organic farming in a big way. Jasbir Singh is one …

The impact of transnational “Big Food” companies on the south: A view from Brazil

In an article that forms part of the PLoS Medicine series on Big Food, Carlos Monteiro and Geoffrey Cannon provide a perspective from Brazil on the rise of multinational food companies and the displacement of traditional food systems, and offer suggestions for the public health response.

Phytoresources of Satpura region of Chhindwara district Madhya Pradesh: An ethno-medicinal case study for antimalarials

Ethno medicinal survey was conducted in Satpura region with special reference to Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh. This district is a forest district,Chhindwara district, has acquired great importance because of its scenic beauty. Patalkot is a lovely landscape located at a depth of 1200-1500 feet in a valley, inhabited by …

Ethnomedicinal investigation of phytomedicines among the local communities of arid areas of Pakistan

The investigation on phytomedicine was conducted in order to asses the traditional uses and exact distribution of medicinal flora of arid areas of Pakistan. It was found that in a total of 59 plant species belonging to 50 genera and 30 families are reported to be used for different diseases …

Consequences of human land use for an Afro-alpine ecological community in Ethiopia

The Guassa area of Menz in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia is an Afro-alpine ecological community with an indigenous resource management system. The local community harvest different resources including collecting grass and firewood from the Guassa area. Cattle and other livestock are also grazed in the Guassa area, especially during …

Bringing culture back: Traditional agricultural knowledge, food production and sustainable livelihood among Chuktia Bhunjia of Orissa

This article deals with how Chuktia Bhunjia tribe of Orissa negotiates with their ecosystem to ensure that agricultural production and livelihood are sustainable. This study shows that the reasons behind continuation of traditional agriculture are the life experience with the traditional methods and cultural acceptance that not only make them …

Weathering uncertainty: traditional knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation

Published by the UN University (UNU) Traditional Knowledge Initiative and the UNESCO, the book "Weathering Uncertainty: traditional knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation" was launched at the International Council for Science's Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development, held in parallel to the UN Conference on Sustainable …

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