TEK
I am currently researching Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and what project possibilities lie in that direction. What is TEK? Well mostly it is the knowledge taught between generations of Indigenous people on how they live within the environment.
For some groups this is where the food is in winter, where fish are caught or animals hunted, for others it is what plants are planted when and
The expansion of colonial Europe and the dominance of a hierarchical and scientific based culture has led to the disruption of the traditional lifestyle and as well the utilisation of TEK for commercial purposes without compensation, acknowledgment or understanding of the importance of that knowledge.
In the race to discover new products and processes, the use of traditional ecological knowledge can shorten the odds enormously. As Erica-Irene Daes, Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and Chairperson of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, noted in 1997, ‘using traditional knowledge increased the efficiency of screening plants for medical purposes by more than 400 per cent’ (Katie O'Bryan THE APPROPRIATION OF INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: - RECENT AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPMENTS) However the money from the drugs and medicine which is developed goes directly to the large drug companies.
Taking a natural resource and isolating the active components and patenting them to remove anyone else from doing the same without compensation or acknowledgment to the people who told you about the resource is stealing, it is stealing thousands of years of experience and knowledge of an area from a group of people who are already disadvantaged in the ways of making inroads into western based lifestyles. Some people may look at this as an irrelevance but when the issues are examined more closely there is certainly a strong argument for compensation of use of TEK.
Acknowledgment and compensation of TEK can provide financial development of Indigenous Communities which can begin redress economic parity
It can assist western style farmers in developing sustainable land management and ongoing use of arable land (cases in sub Saharan Africa)
Maintain genetic diversity of food crops which is important for protecting future food resources from pests and diseases
Maintenance and value of Cultural practices by younger community members
These are just a few positive aspects that can come out of respecting traditional ecological knowledge. Indigenous communities have often given up their knowledge to others only to find that it has been taken and used by others to make large sums of money, leaving them with an almost worthless asset.
For some groups this is where the food is in winter, where fish are caught or animals hunted, for others it is what plants are planted when and
The expansion of colonial Europe and the dominance of a hierarchical and scientific based culture has led to the disruption of the traditional lifestyle and as well the utilisation of TEK for commercial purposes without compensation, acknowledgment or understanding of the importance of that knowledge.
In the race to discover new products and processes, the use of traditional ecological knowledge can shorten the odds enormously. As Erica-Irene Daes, Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and Chairperson of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, noted in 1997, ‘using traditional knowledge increased the efficiency of screening plants for medical purposes by more than 400 per cent’ (Katie O'Bryan THE APPROPRIATION OF INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: - RECENT AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPMENTS) However the money from the drugs and medicine which is developed goes directly to the large drug companies.
Taking a natural resource and isolating the active components and patenting them to remove anyone else from doing the same without compensation or acknowledgment to the people who told you about the resource is stealing, it is stealing thousands of years of experience and knowledge of an area from a group of people who are already disadvantaged in the ways of making inroads into western based lifestyles. Some people may look at this as an irrelevance but when the issues are examined more closely there is certainly a strong argument for compensation of use of TEK.
Acknowledgment and compensation of TEK can provide financial development of Indigenous Communities which can begin redress economic parity
It can assist western style farmers in developing sustainable land management and ongoing use of arable land (cases in sub Saharan Africa)
Maintain genetic diversity of food crops which is important for protecting future food resources from pests and diseases
Maintenance and value of Cultural practices by younger community members
These are just a few positive aspects that can come out of respecting traditional ecological knowledge. Indigenous communities have often given up their knowledge to others only to find that it has been taken and used by others to make large sums of money, leaving them with an almost worthless asset.