UK House Of Parliament
As a concluding post I would like to write about biopiracy and the problems that many indigenous peoples face as corporations and government agencies seek to gain control over their traditional ecological knowledge. This link above is from the UK House of Parliament and is about the WTO's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights."The TRIPs agreement is controversial because it recognises patents on plants that have been developed through biotechnology using plant varieties that themselves are the result of years of cross breeding by farmers. This implies that TRIPs, does not recognise communities' rights over their resources but those of individuals and companies claiming the patents as their own inventions." As we have talked about in lecture, companies that have patents on seed genetics often exert that power over farmers that had no intention of "breaking the law", such as the Enola bean case. In many countries around the world, indigenous peoples survive because of the crops that they grow and their ability to use the surrounding environment. It is the TEK that has been passed down through the generations that allows them to do that.
It is difficult for me to imagine a company being able to have the "exclusive rights" to a body part, or a way of life for a group of peoples. The ability to patent life and knowledge is unnerving. As one article notes, "In its 2009 report titled "Pirating African Heritage", the ACB documented seven new cases of suspected biopiracy, including in African countries such as Ethiopia and Madagascar. Affected resources even include viruses that have been identified in the Cameroonian Baka people's blood and which are now 'claimed as the exclusive intellectual property of corporations'" (Battling Biopiracy). Even if indigenous communities are compensated for the use of their knowledge, it is not guaranteed that this compensation will be even close to fair, such as the hoodia case. As one expert from the Institute for Sustainable Development in Ethiopia put it, "They are stealing the loaf and sharing the crumbs" (Dr. Tewolde Berhan Egziabher, Science in Africa).
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Indigenous People and National Parks
The article that I am sharing has to do with the displacement of indigenous people in order to create national parks in various countries. This article also draws from the World Park Congress and the closing statement made by indigenous delegates. What the author draws on reminds me of the readings on indigenous identities by Li, who notes that indigenous peoples will self-identify in order to protect and advocate their own self interest. As Professor Pena mentioned, “local, place-based cultures negotiate these identity positions, and may even choose to adopt concepts for strategic reasons, for e.g., to gain legitimacy as bona fide ecological actors” (Presentation 22).
In addition to learning how indigenous peoples shape their environment through TEK and enhance biodiversity from Professor Pena’s lectures and readings, I have also been learning about this concept in my other environmental studies classes. One main example of this being Yellowstone National Park, and the realization that indigenous communities did play a role in shaping this historic icon of nature and wilderness. Parks and national wildlife reserves were created with the thought that people inhibit the production of a healthy ecosystem when in reality it was the indigenous people themselves that managed and setup the biodiversity that we see today. I think that this European mentality that parks need to exist without human involvement stems from the fact that Western thought often looks to dominate their environment, and so they assume that other cultures are the same. As we learned from both the Fairhead/Leech reading and the Posey reading, the misreading of a landscape can lead to the destruction of an indigenous community and a huge loss to that culture and environment.
-Melissa
In addition to learning how indigenous peoples shape their environment through TEK and enhance biodiversity from Professor Pena’s lectures and readings, I have also been learning about this concept in my other environmental studies classes. One main example of this being Yellowstone National Park, and the realization that indigenous communities did play a role in shaping this historic icon of nature and wilderness. Parks and national wildlife reserves were created with the thought that people inhibit the production of a healthy ecosystem when in reality it was the indigenous people themselves that managed and setup the biodiversity that we see today. I think that this European mentality that parks need to exist without human involvement stems from the fact that Western thought often looks to dominate their environment, and so they assume that other cultures are the same. As we learned from both the Fairhead/Leech reading and the Posey reading, the misreading of a landscape can lead to the destruction of an indigenous community and a huge loss to that culture and environment.
-Melissa
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Karez - Ancient Irrigation Project in Xinjiang
As I mentioned before that Xinjiang is an extremely dry windy sandy place.Oases in desert now benefited from a huge irrigation project, Karez well, which is said by indigenous people to have existed for over 2000 years, and is on the waiting list to be added in UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Karez is used in bahada areas and has shafts, underground and open channels, and flood dams, water comes from the snow melting in spring and summer from mountains around it, underground water yield can be stable regardless of the heat, drought, gale and sand outside, people along the hillside can pump water from every mouth of the well in front of each house.
Ancient people in this poor environment developed Karez by their traditional ecology knowledge of altitude difference between mountains and basins, climate seasonality and soil texture here, now we have approximate 1700 wells and 340km2 land irrigated.
Isn't it the brilliant result of ancient humans' fight with the tough nature?
--Zhang Yin
Karez is used in bahada areas and has shafts, underground and open channels, and flood dams, water comes from the snow melting in spring and summer from mountains around it, underground water yield can be stable regardless of the heat, drought, gale and sand outside, people along the hillside can pump water from every mouth of the well in front of each house.
Karez's structure in English
Ancient people in this poor environment developed Karez by their traditional ecology knowledge of altitude difference between mountains and basins, climate seasonality and soil texture here, now we have approximate 1700 wells and 340km2 land irrigated.
Isn't it the brilliant result of ancient humans' fight with the tough nature?
--Zhang Yin
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Climate Change and Native American Culture
This quarter in my Environmental Health class, we were supposed to do a research paper on the effects of climate change among tribes. After doing some research, I was saddened though not entirely surprised to find out the negative consequences of global warming on Native American culture and traditional environmental knowledge, among other things.
First of all, global warming is one of the biggest crises of the 20th century. Global warming is the theory that the world's average temperature is increasing due to the burning of fossil fuels and other forms of energy resulting in higher atmospheric concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps the Sun's heat near the Earth's surface, causing Earth's temperature to rise. This greenhouse effect is seen as an environmental hazard as average temperature rises, resulting in changes in weather patterns that disrupt once stable ecosystems and communities. Global warming affects all of us no matter our location on the globe. However, indigenous people are especially vulnerable to climate change because they highly depend on their environment for sustenance.
The primary impacts of climate change on indigenous communities are prolonged droughts, excessive rainfall, diminishing sources of freshwater, increase in fires, and changes in habitat for wildlife. The disruption of plant and animal habitats results in significant economic losses to indigenous people who depend on hunting and fishing as their main source of livelihood.
Most importantly, climate change has resulted in the loss of culturally important animal and plant species, on which traditional environmental knowledge depends. This makes it more difficult for elders to practice and pass knowledge to the new generation. The immigration of native youth seeking economic opportunities in outside domains further aids in the destruction of tribal economy, culture, and community.
Native Americans have always been close to the land on a deep, spiritual level and have always treated the land well. However, the exponentially increasing threat of global warming have resulted in Native Americans reaching out to other non-indigenous communities to help in the conservation and recovery efforts of healing Mother Earth. An article in The Boston Globe "Indians Speak Forcefully on Climate" illustrates the efforts of Native Americans in spreading the word about the unhealthy effects of global warming on the land through the media and political actions.
Overall, unless preventive measures are implemented to delay the onset of the catastrophic effects of extreme climate change, tribal cultures and natural resources could be lost forever. Control climate change and you preserve Native American culture and traditional environmental knowledge of the land that future research could take advantage of and benefit society.
-Sharmin Dingle
First of all, global warming is one of the biggest crises of the 20th century. Global warming is the theory that the world's average temperature is increasing due to the burning of fossil fuels and other forms of energy resulting in higher atmospheric concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps the Sun's heat near the Earth's surface, causing Earth's temperature to rise. This greenhouse effect is seen as an environmental hazard as average temperature rises, resulting in changes in weather patterns that disrupt once stable ecosystems and communities. Global warming affects all of us no matter our location on the globe. However, indigenous people are especially vulnerable to climate change because they highly depend on their environment for sustenance.
The primary impacts of climate change on indigenous communities are prolonged droughts, excessive rainfall, diminishing sources of freshwater, increase in fires, and changes in habitat for wildlife. The disruption of plant and animal habitats results in significant economic losses to indigenous people who depend on hunting and fishing as their main source of livelihood.
Most importantly, climate change has resulted in the loss of culturally important animal and plant species, on which traditional environmental knowledge depends. This makes it more difficult for elders to practice and pass knowledge to the new generation. The immigration of native youth seeking economic opportunities in outside domains further aids in the destruction of tribal economy, culture, and community.
Native Americans have always been close to the land on a deep, spiritual level and have always treated the land well. However, the exponentially increasing threat of global warming have resulted in Native Americans reaching out to other non-indigenous communities to help in the conservation and recovery efforts of healing Mother Earth. An article in The Boston Globe "Indians Speak Forcefully on Climate" illustrates the efforts of Native Americans in spreading the word about the unhealthy effects of global warming on the land through the media and political actions.
Overall, unless preventive measures are implemented to delay the onset of the catastrophic effects of extreme climate change, tribal cultures and natural resources could be lost forever. Control climate change and you preserve Native American culture and traditional environmental knowledge of the land that future research could take advantage of and benefit society.
-Sharmin Dingle
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Traditional Medicine and Western Science in Uganda
After several minutes of searching online, I came across an interesting article about the application and acceptance of traditional knowledge in Uganda by Westerners. I tried to include the link to the article in this post but it won't let me for some reason.
Nevertheless, it can be found in African Business, January 2006:
Uganda, home of 30% of the world’s healing plants, have been threatened in the past by big, western companies taking over their traditional medicines and plants. Many pharmaceutical companies are attempting to negotiate harvesting rights for natural products in Uganda, although locals are skeptical. In a way, this reminded me of the threat of biopiracy as illustrated in Winona La Duke’s article “Wild Rice: Maps, Genes, and Patents”.
However, Mannatech seems to be the most promising and trustworthy.
Sam Caster, CEO of Texas-based healthcare provider Mannatech, was sparked with interest when Ugandan President Museveni claimed that “Glyconutrients… sugars that enhance the body’s defense mechanism are found in our natural plants.” After meeting each other, they banded to research the medical properties and usefulness of native plants. Ugandan chemists were especially excited because of the recent debate of the enactment of the Traditional Medicine Bill, which was “designed to integrate the traditional healing practices of rural Uganda into the national healthcare system.”
Mannatech Inc. has trained a handful of Ugandan chemists in the process of identifying, analyzing, and extracting the active ingredients, glyconutrients, of native Ugandan plants. Many have substantial nutrition value and discoveries could improve the quality of life. Ugandan chemists, with the help of Mannatech, is to identify suitable sugar carbohydrates in native Ugandan plants that can be utilized in dietary products designed especially to support the immune system against the effects of HIV/AIDS.
Since Mannatech is a billion dollar industry, with 350,000 marketing associates in some of the world’s most affluent countries and a major player in the nutritional supplement business, the Ugandan government can pride itself on having found a potential partner with some substance. Ugandan efforts can be made more productive and benefit from support of such a large, influential business.
I really enjoyed this article because it shows that there can be common ground between traditional environmental knowledge and the scientific background of the West. The partnership between Uganda and Mannatech serves as a blueprint for the future with Africa positioned to take the lead in the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS and the potential to make vast improvements in research using the world’s most nutritional and traditionally-used plants.
-Sharmin Dingle
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
"The Garden' Movie
I went to class expecting to sit through a dreary documentary and was suprised at how much I enjoyed watching "The Garden" and I would just like to elaborate on it some.
This movie is set in South Central Los Angeles, California and covers the legal steps the campesinos must take as they try to hold onto the 13 acres of land in the middle of downtown. This land is special because it has been a community urban garden presently for over twenty years (est. 1986). This land provides food (zuchinni, celantro, bananas, apples, papaya, corn, and more) and a market to sell produce for low income, Latino families in this area. The issue all stemmed from an eviction notice from the land owner Ralph Horowitz who wanted to replace the community urban garden with storage warehouses, and the community said no.
So, how does "The Garden" relate to this blog?
I wouldn't go so far as to call South Central Californians indigenous communities with their own TEK, but I will say that this a prime example of globalization in the world that is creating trauma for communities that have some level of self sufficiency like this one.
Discussed in the movie were the different ways in which one planted, the passing down of knowledge from father to son, and the unity that the community felt from having this land as their own. Without these gardens, the community's whole lifestyle would have to change, the foods they eat, even the amount of money they bring home. This is another form of what Dr. Pena has called ethnocide which I consider a trauma to a community.
It all works out in the end, thankfully. The campesinos keep their land, expanding it later on to 80 acres, and continue to plant, grow, harvest, eat, sell, and enjoy the "fruits of their efforts."
-Rachel
This movie is set in South Central Los Angeles, California and covers the legal steps the campesinos must take as they try to hold onto the 13 acres of land in the middle of downtown. This land is special because it has been a community urban garden presently for over twenty years (est. 1986). This land provides food (zuchinni, celantro, bananas, apples, papaya, corn, and more) and a market to sell produce for low income, Latino families in this area. The issue all stemmed from an eviction notice from the land owner Ralph Horowitz who wanted to replace the community urban garden with storage warehouses, and the community said no.
So, how does "The Garden" relate to this blog?
I wouldn't go so far as to call South Central Californians indigenous communities with their own TEK, but I will say that this a prime example of globalization in the world that is creating trauma for communities that have some level of self sufficiency like this one.
Discussed in the movie were the different ways in which one planted, the passing down of knowledge from father to son, and the unity that the community felt from having this land as their own. Without these gardens, the community's whole lifestyle would have to change, the foods they eat, even the amount of money they bring home. This is another form of what Dr. Pena has called ethnocide which I consider a trauma to a community.
It all works out in the end, thankfully. The campesinos keep their land, expanding it later on to 80 acres, and continue to plant, grow, harvest, eat, sell, and enjoy the "fruits of their efforts."
-Rachel
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