Towards a Better Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanism to Protect Traditional Knowledge in India: A Platter in the Offering

Traditional knowledge (TK) represents the know-how, technical skills and agricultural, medicinal, and ecological practices of the First Nations of the world. Irrespective of the struggles and vulnerability that centuries of colonization have imposed on their culture and customary laws TK remains till date, a continuous and integral part of their livelihoods. With the passing of years, we have seen an influence from non-Indigenous knowledge into these communities that gradually dilutes the connection with their land and promotes degeneration of their social fabric. This changing social construct has taken a toll on their communities and nature. There has been unprecedented destruction of the planet in the last century in almost all domains. Treaties, conventions, international agreements have created an international platform to bring awareness to non-Indigenous Peoples about this ancestral knowledge that protects the Earth. Along with major environmental implementations, the sharing of benefit mechanism invoked and adopted in various international instruments including the most popular Convention of Biological Diversity also needs a retrospection. India like many other countries has adopted Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism and passed the Biological Diversity Act with inadequate results.