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1.6  PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES

Questions: Whose perceptions and attitudes?

n Community - should know more about Traditional healers (TH) and Traditional medicine (TM)

Main Problems:

n Stereotypes of Traditional Medicine and Traditional Healers of the general public, which is typically negative (perpetuated by the media)

n Western personel never approached the Traditional healers to see where they consult and what they do

Objectives:

n Get traditional medicine and traditional healers exposed in a positive way

Strategies:

n Expose traditional healers and Western personel to each other

n Get Traditional healers and Western medicine to sit down and talk to each other

n Promote a positive view of Traditional medicine and Traditional healers

n Researchers and other (media, etc.) must go to umbrella organization for good Traditional healers

n Need enabling Government and Academic policy constraints

Constraints

n Bad publicity by the media

n Stagnate stereotypes of 50 years ago (illiterate)

n Problems of translations and words with negative connotations such as “witch-doctor” or “cure”

n Need to create understanding of Traditional healers in the general public

n These workshops, etc. have changed representations so there is no progress the same players are not coming back all the time

n Traditional healers need training in things like the pharmichological and botanical names so they can appropriately interact with Western medicine (researchers)

n Training of Lecturers to be able to teach Western medicine about Traditional medicine

n There are some charlatans (not real traditional healers) especially in urban set ups.

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Activities

n Media release

n Conferences

n Newsletters about Traditional medicine

n Workshop with Traditional healers and Western medicine

n Referal system where Western medicine have a list of Traditional healers and where they live 50 Western medicine can refer patients to Traditional healers for community based health care follow ups

n Educate Western medicine and pharmacy personel at University about Traditional medicine formal part of Western medicine training

n Umbrella organizations constituted so real Traditional healers are consulted (not consultants)

n Traditional healers informed of workshops and conferences on Traditional  medicine

n In future more Traditional healers and cross sectional participation in these workshops

n Promote enabling policies

Main actors

n Traditional healers

n Western personel

n Ngo and donors

n Media

n Government agencies, offices, etc. such as Health & enviroment

n University admin, lecturers and pharmacutical students

n Researchers

n Conference organizers           

 

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TOPIC 1

PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 8(j) OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (CBD)                                                                                 

 

1.1  IDENTIFICATION, DOCUMENTATION, PROPAGATION AND DATA           BASING.

Definition of terms:

Identification - Identification of plants using both scientific and traditional systems.

Documentation/ Data basing- All forms of documentation or storage of information such as herbaria, museums, libraries, electronic information technology, on-form documentation, etc. and how this information is disseminated to various stakeholders.

Propagation  -  Domestic and cultivation techniques, multiplication for commercial use, harvesting and drying techniques,etc.

Main Problem:

n Following the agreement and common understanding of the above terms, the group identified the main problem.  This was defined as follows: “That Medicine plants are not properly known, documented and conserved.”

Objectives:

n Thus the major objective would be to properly identify, document, and conserve medicinal plants.

Strategies:

The group discussed and agreed on a number of strategies that need to be adopted for the above objective to be achieved.

 These are :

n Identify plants with medicinal properties

n Collect existing information and generate new information through research.  Such information could be botanical, ethobotanical biochemical, agromonic, etc.

n Build up data bases as well as publish research findings and also disseminate to interested parties especially communities and Traditional healers

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n Promote sustainable utilization through sustainable harvesting techniques including traditional methods as well as domestication of plants.

n Promote Community participation

Constraints/ Needs:

A number of constraints were identified that may have to be overcome in order to implement the strategies.  These were:

n Lack of recognition of the traditional health sector by most governments.

n Lack of capacity in terms of human resource, infrastructure and financial.

n Gap between traditional and western knowledge systems

n Traditional healers have tended to protect information as one way of protecting their rights (IPR), for economic reasons as well as the sacredness/ secrecy associated with traditional medicine.

n Lock of partnership among stakeholders i.e. between scientists and traditional healers and also among traditional healers themselves.

Activities:

n Provide training at all levels, informal as well as formal

n Promote collaboration between and among stakeholders

n Promote awareness through education; lobbying, etc.

n Source funding from Governments, private sectors, international and regional agencies, etc.

n Promote networking - north - south and south south

n Implement the OAU initiative on community property rights.

Main Actors:

The following actors were identified:

n Communities

n Governments

n Academic i.e. Universities, Herbaria, museums, etc.

n Traditional Healers/ Practitioners

n Private sector

n Parastatels including National Parks

        

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1.5  AFRICAN INDIGENOUS & WESTERN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS

Main Problem:

n Lack of systematic knowledge & negative attitudes.

Objectives:

n To promote increased understanding of the 2 systems

n To promote better cooperation between the 2 systems

n To promote communication

n To generate knowledge systems and to change attitudes.

Strategies:

n Promotion of participatory research

n Establish local & regional networks

n Establish schools of indigenous knowledge & a training programme at all levels

n Develop curricular for existing institutions.

Constraints/ Needs:

n Policy-reform programme

n Allocation of financial & human resources

n To promote institutional capacity

n Lack of perceived common concern

n Need for community-based learning systems.

Activities:

n Identification priority areas & implement research on traditional knowledge systems

n Source funding

n Policy advocacy

n Development training curricular at all levels

n Forums, meeting, newsletters, publications journals (African medicinal plant & traditional medicine journal)

n Interdisciplinary, regional joint projects

n Establish schools for training

n Evaluation & monitoring of activities.

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Main Actors:

n Government ministries & depts

n Universities & research institutions

n NGO’s & CBO’s

n communities

n donors

n private sector

n Traditional healers & traditional healer organizations

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1.4  MECHANISM AND STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE        8j OF CBD/ IPR

Article 8j of the convention on biological diversity of June 1992 states that :

“Subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable uses of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices.

The group has summarized the Article 8(j) as addressing three issues:

n Preservation of indigenous knowledge

n Wider application of the knowledge

n Encouragement of equitable sharing of benefits gained from indigenous knowledge.

Main Problem:

n Unfair exploitation of Traditional knowledge (violation of IPR)

Objectives:

n Promote and enforce equitable sharing of benefits arising from the exploitation of Local knowledge

            Benefits addressed to:

n Monetary benefits

n Job creation

n Acknowledgment (degrees)

n Conservation and sustainable utilization

n Accessibility to information

n Technological transfer

Strategies:

n Implementation of articles 8(j)

Constraints/ Needs:

n Inaccessibility to knowledge (Laws patents, article 8j)

n No government capacity

n Lack of awareness of article 8(j) to the community, Government, NGO and companies

n Lack of political will

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n Lack of cooperation/ coordination in the government

n Ownership of knowledge (individual, or community ) identification of community parameters.

Activities:

n Awareness of Article 8(j) through education, workshops, community involvement

n Improved coordination - intersectoral platform

n Policy and legislation, awareness of policy makers

n Institutional capacity  for enforcement and compliance

n Distribution of benefits clear definition of ownership

n Policy research for implementation   

Role and Players

n Politicians

n Government departments

n Community members

n Medicine/ pharmaceutical companies

n Universities

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1.2  IN SITU AND EX SITU CONSERVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

IN-SITU”

Main Problem:

n Over-exploitation

Objectives:

n Sustainable conservation

n Increasing awareness

n Legislation establishment

n Establishment of coordination mechanism

Strategies:

n Sustainable use

n Empowerment

n Capacity Building

n Involvement of stakeholders at all levels

Constraint/ Needs

n Conflicts in resource management

n Lack of access

n Uncontrolled economic development

n Unsustainable harvesting

n Lack of enabling legislative enviroment

n Conflicting line management

Activities:

n Training (1,5,6)

n Community gardens (1,5,6)

n Workshop (all)

n Exchange visits (1,5,6)

n Media programmes(2,5)

n Policy formulation (1,2,5,6)

n Civil education (1,2,5)

Main Indicators:

n Trained people

n Reports

n # of visitors to sites

n Policy gaezetted

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“EX-SITU”

Main problems:

n Over exploitation

n Establishing gene banks is only mainly for ex-situ situation for species already almost exstinct. The gene bank has not given the medicinal plants adequate attention, as they should.

Objectives:

n To conserve and protect

n Identify priority species

Strategies:

n Preserve Bio-resources under controlled conditions

n Monitoring and assessment of wild populations

n Monitoring of marketed plants

Constraints/ Needs

n Lack of exposure to natural enviroment

n Loss of gene-diversity

n Expensive

n Inadequate expertise

n Inappropriate to Community access

n Lack of mandate by genebanks

Activities:

n Collection of genetic resources (2,3,4)

n Training (1,3,4,5)

n Complement with In-Situ (all)

n Qualitative and quantitive assessement

n Wild

n Market (1,4,6)

Main Indicators:

n Gene-banks

n Plantations

n Increase genetic diversity through preparation

n Red data list

n Species report

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Main Actors:

n Resource users (1)

n Policy makers (2)

n Industry (3)

n Researchers(4)

n NGO’s (5)

n CBO’s (6)

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1.3  AFRICAN CULTURAL PRACTICES WHICH ARE SUPPORTIVE OF THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILIZATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

Problems:

n One of the causes of the problem is the erosian of cultural practices due to various factors.

n In turn, the major underlying causes of this are economic (at all levels)

Objectives:

n To increase the supply of medicinal plants by promoting useful cultural practices.

Strategies:

n Use community based participartory research methods to identify existing (and in particular “threatened” cultural practices) that are supportive of conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants, e.g. traditional harvesting and propagation methods.

n Focus on potential income generating and self-sustaining activities.

Constraints/ Needs

n Lack of “self-regulatory” mechanism at the national level

n Some key stakeholders in the medicinal plant trade not adequately recognized (e.g. traders and gatherers)

n Lack of coordination between/ among different stakeholder groups, especially among traditional healer’s associations

n Need for a national unifying body of traditional healer organizations and other groups involved in the medicinal plant trade

n Inadequate recognition of other natural resource uses and users (i.e. often the same species have many competing and different uses and users)

Activities:

n Organize/ establish propagation and distribution programmes at different levels and scales as appropriate (e.g. Promotion of home medicinal/ nutritional gardens; community-based and commercial nurseries; large scale propagation efforts by private companies)

n Training programmes to promote useful cultural practices aimed at supporting local efforts of bio-diversity conservation/ sustainable utilization

n Public awareness campaigns; information dissemination to medicinal practitioners and others.

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Actors:

n Traditional healers, traders and gatherers

n Appropriate government departments (e.g. community forestry; botanical gardens; reserves etc.)

n NGO’s CBO’s

n Commercial sector (e.g. forestry companies who can afford the costs of cultivating slow growing species)