Nagoya Protocol and Participation of Indigenous People and Local Communities in Policy Making Process and Benefit Sharing

Prior to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing the genetic resources had been utilized commercially without giving benefits to the providers of bioresources. The Nagoya Protocol was adopted in 2010 as international legislation governing access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge and resulting benefit sharing arising out of utilization. In core of this international legislation is the rights given to Indigenous people and local communities (ILCs) in the form of their mandatory prior informed consent (PIC), essential sharing of accrued benefits to them, their involvement in process of mutually agreed terms (MAT), and their participation in policy implementation processes. The present paper explores the core issue of participation, involvement and representation of Indigenous people in international and domestic ABS law making or negotiation processes, and actual sharing of accrued benefits from the utilization of biological diversity. Findings and analysis indicate that issues of inadequate participation, involvement and engagement of ILCs in international and national ABS law making, implementation, decision-making for benefit sharing, bilateral negotiation processes are unaddressed both in processes led by Convention on Biological Diversity and the nation-States. With the repeated references to ‘domestic law’ and ‘sovereignty’ in Nagoya Protocol, the State control and legitimacy are further strengthened on bioresources, causing exclusion of Indigenous people from overall political space for decision making process, policy negotiations and equitable benefit sharing.