Protection of traditional knowledge and bio diversity

Sri Lanka is a country with a rich history of traditional knowledge and bio diversity. Traditional knowledge is local knowledge which is unique to a country and was the basis for local decision making in agriculture, health etc. particularly in the rural communities. Traditional knowledge empowers local communities.

In agriculture, traditional knowledge is used in home gardens and small land holdings which provide the owner with food, vegetables, fruits fuel, herbs, medicines etc. while contributing to the conservation of bio diversity.

Modern day developments in globalising the world has also succeeded in bringing to light the importance of preserving and protecting such valuable traditional knowledge and bio diversity.The role of Intellectual Property systems with regard to traditional knowledge and bio diversity and how to preserve, protect and make equitable use of traditional knowledge is now an area included in international policy discussions. The TRIPS Council (Trade Related  aspects of Intellectual Property rights) of the WTO and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) are the international organisations handling trade related  intellectual property matters on traditional knowledge and bio diversity. Paragraph nine of the WTO Doha Declaration of 2001 states that the TRIPS Council should also look at the relationship between the TRIPS agreement and the UN Convention on biological diversity and at the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore.  

Although Sri Lanka has traditional knowledge in many areas including agriculture, an area which is known internationally more than others is indigenous medicine.To the credit of successive governments, indigenous medicine is well integrated in our health system and efforts have been taken to strengthen and preserve the system of traditional medicine.  Sri Lanka pioneered the introduction of ayurvedha to the world, when in 1950, she proposed to the World Health Organisation assembly, the application of Ayurvedha as a means of resolving health problems. In 2008, the first WHO congress on traditional medicine adopted a declaration endorsing traditional medicine as an efficient and effective system of sustainable health promotion and supported its integration in national health systems. While Sri Lanka has a number of government agencies to promote and preserve ayurvedha;  promotion of health tourism in Sri Lanka through ayurvedha has also become prominent and has popularised its use among the developed countries in particular.

The promotion and preservation of indigenous medicine are dependent on the protection and preservation of our biological diversity. Bio diversity can help alleviate the national costs of supplying medical provisions, particularly in the rural sector which relies more on natural medicine. The medical needs of the rural communities are met mostly through the locally harvested plant material.

Sri Lanka’s forests have the highest diversity of species in the world. Many of the native flora is used in traditional medicine. A number of valuable plants are found only in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka’s Sinharaja tropical forest (recognised as a heritage site) has one of the highest diversities in the world outside the Amazon basin. However, some species are now threatened with extinction due to climate change, deforestation, bio piracy and bio prospecting.

Sri Lanka needs to protect these valuable assets for future generations. Intellectual Property issues are two fold-defensive protection of the measures which ensure that IP rights on traditional knowledge are not given to parties other than the customary traditional knowledge holders –positive protection of traditional knowledge or the creation of positive rights empowers the traditional knowledge holder to protect the traditional knowledge.

Continuation of Sri Lanka’s active participation at WIPO and WTO TRIPS Council meetings is of utmost importance to ensure that these valuable national assets are protected for the benefit of future generations.

(Manel de Silva holds an Honours Degree in Political Science from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya and has engaged in professional training in Commercial Diplomacy at ITC and GATT. She has served as a trade diplomat in several Sri Lankan Missions overseas and was the first female Head of the Department of Commerce as Director General of Commerce.)