Traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous people and sustainable development

United Nations has declared the year 2010 as the International Year of the Biodiversity. The links between the protection of biodiversity, combating poverty and climate change are widely recognized, as pointed out by the choice of the Year's Theme Day: Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation.

The term ‘ecosystem services' has been helpful in translating the benefits of biodiversity protection in the language of the economists and (development) policy-makers. However, the relationship between traditional ecological knowledge and the mainstream sustainable development remains ambiguous, if the issue of power imbalance between the power-holders and the indigenous people is not addressed.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and the natural resources management practices of indigenous people have provided valuable insights that are in many cases also recognized by the western science as sustainable methods of protecting and using the natural resources. The farming techniques, in which the diversity of the seeds, the combination of the plants, natural dunging and vermin control, and the thrifty watering techniques are used, have become valuable since the negative effects of industrial agriculture have become clear. The fire-regulation techniques of the indigenous people in Australia and southern Africa are acknowledged to help in the prevention of destructive mass-fires. The examples vary from forestry to fishing practices, and from health-care to tourism, but the win-win story remains short unless the most important and contentious issues, often related to the use and ownership rights of the land and natural resources, are addressed.

These issues are not easy, nor quick to solve, but they need to be settled in order for the development to be socially, culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable. However, the Draft Nagyoa Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, born in Cali, Colombia 28.3.2010, is a good step forward in the field of access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of their utilization.