Chapter 7 Current initiatives in the protection of indigenous and local community knowledge: problems, concepts and lessons for the future

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines a range of current initiatives being undertaken for the protection and promotion of indigenous and local community knowledge. Particular attention is paid to the proposed Peruvian draft law, Philippines legislation and the Organization of African Unity Model Law. However, reference is also made to the activities of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. This international perspective is considered vital on the basis that the failure to establish some minimal international regulation of indigenous and local community knowledge will be likely to undermine the effectiveness of any national systems that are developed. This systemic risk exists because the main demand for access to, and capacity to commercially develop, indigenous and local community knowledge tends to be present in states and regions other than the points of origin of that knowledge. Many of the fundamental problems in addressing the protection of indigenous and local community knowledge involve accommodating the world views according to which the holders and potential users of such knowledge conduct their daily lives. It is argued here that the current state of international debate on these questions indicates that, at least for the time being, understanding of the most basic of points is not significantly increasing. This paper asserts that the protection and promotion of knowledge cannot be approached as an isolated goal in the indigenous and local community context.