“Indigenous Biocultural Heritage (IBCH)”
“Indigenous Biocultural Heritage (IBCH)” is a complex system of interdependent parts centered on the reciprocal relationship between indigenous people and their natural environment. Its various components include biological resources, ranging from the micro (genetic) to the macro (landscape) scales, and long-standing traditions and practices — also known as “indigenous knowledge” — including those related to how to adapt to complex ecosystems and sustainably use biodiversity (See Box 1 for a breakdown of IBCH into its parts). Some goods — such as foods, water, and seeds — belong to all people and/or are essential for human beings and their world. IBCH refers to the contribution of indigenous peoples to this global commons. It also refers to established patterns of behavior in traditional societies that are accepted as law by local residents, also called “customary law.”
Why “indigenous”?
For thousands of years in most indigenous communities, people have saved, traded, and exchanged basic resources such as seeds. They have also conserved biodiversity-rich landscapes and preserved important ecosystem services, such as water.
Today, grain and other companies are patenting and owning seeds, developers are eroding landscapes, and water and other resources are being privatized. The IBCH concept stresses that these resources originated in indigenous communities all over the world and are available today largely due to the past and present efforts of indigenous peoples.
Why “biocultural”?
The strong links between human society and the environment suggest that biological and cultural resources should be studied and protected together as distinct but often interdependent manifestations of the diversity of life on Earth. Most indigenous and local communities recognize this interdependency and seldom distinguish between biological and cultural resources. The natural environment is considered an essential part of human society just as biological resources — such as diverse crops and healthy ecosystems — depend on time-honored practices of breeding and stewardship.
Why “heritage”?
The value systems of indigenous peoples are usually collective and based on trusteeship and stewardship, instead of ownership. Unlike the concept of “property” in intellectual property rights, most property of indigenous peoples and local communities is inalienable and can belong to no human being. Rather, it is passed on from generation to generation as common heritage. In communicating continuity with the past, “heritage” also reflects the way indigenous peoples think about the Earth. In contrast to most participants in the industrial economy, indigenous peoples know the histories of their resources. They recognize the strong connection between the goods and services they consume and their source — the land. All too often, this connection is forgotten or ignored when biocultural resources are traded as property on the international market. “Heritage” reminds us that these resources must not be taken for granted. Their availability depends on promoting and protecting the complex socio-ecological interactions characteristic of indigenous societies, past and present.
THE COMPONENTS OF INDIGENOUS BIOCULTURAL HERITAGE
The IBCHT concept encompasses a broad array of other concepts from various disciplines of study and policy fora. Many of these concepts have overlapping meanings (For example, the concept of “ecosystem services” may include “food” and “spiritual services”.) This list is not exhaustive, and should include all the essential and interdependent parts that make up the complex socio-ecological reality of indigenous peoples.
It is important to group the many components of indigenous biocultural heritage together under one term because this communicates their interdependency. Most components are greatly threatened by dominant trends in economic globalization, which has elicited a myriad of responses from governments and civil society to protect them. Nevertheless, efforts to defend IBCH tend to treat its various components individually and in isolation. Effective protection depends on a holistic approach that recognizes that none of these resources can be adequately protected unless they are all protected.