Traditional resource rights : international instruments for protection and compensation for indigenous peoples and local communities

Today, there is increasing recognition that traditional and indigenous knowledge systems can provide alternative strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, a realisation that is strongly reflected in the Convention on biological diversity. However, there is a fear that this interest in traditional knowledge systems will lead to the basic human, cultural and scientific rights of indigenous people being sidelined, something the CBD fails to address adequately. This had given rise to the concept of Traditional Resources Rights (TRR). This publication, therefore, explores TRRs and indigenous peoples and local communities' rights to their knowledge systems and explores the ways and means in which these can be adquately protected by international legislation.