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Scientists working in the Regional Medical Research Centre
(RMRC) of the ICMR, at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
have been testing various plants that the Onge tribe uses for medicinal
purposes. One of them had noticed that while the non-tribal settlers on
Little Andaman suffer from a high incidence of malaria, the Onges remained
remarkably unaffected. He found that the Onges used a special plant against
fever and gastro-intestinal disorders.
On testing, the scientist has found that it has anti-malaria
properties. Most exciting, it appears to be highly active against the
dreaded malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. If the active
ingredient of the plant could be isolated and used, the benefits would
reach the millions of humans who suffer this disease across the world.
Suspecting that unscrupulous elements might misuse the
information, the concerned scientist has very wisely decided not to release
the name of the plant. However, it is reported that his director at the
RMRC is keen to publish the findings in his own name, and subsequently
claim a patent.
Destruction and Tribal Deprivation
Little Andaman is one of the 300-odd islands of the Andaman
and Nicobar (A&N) Island group, a union territory of India strung
across the Bay of Bengal. The islands contain coral reefs, mangroves,
tropical forests, and coastal ecosystems of great value, diversity, and
beauty. Unfortunately, the current administration is totally insensitive
to the ecological and social fragility of the region, and imposes inappropriate
developmental projects and programmes. Deforestation and forest degradation
has affected a large proportion of the islands, though they are still
one of India's most heavily forested territories. Coral reefs have faced
serious damage, especially around the increasingly urbanised islands.
Considerable portions of the mangroves have also been destroyed. On the
other hand, indigenous peoples in the islands are also suffering the imposition
of the administration's views on development. Attempts go on to "befriend"
the hostile Jarawa and Sentinelese tribes, with the eventual aim being
to bring them to the "mainstream". The consequent loss of identity,
culture, and knowledge appears to be inconsequential to the islands' administrators.
The question is: how many species like the above plant
are we likely to lose, before we realise the enormous potential of the
island's biodiversity? And how many more elements of tribal knowledge
will be lost as 'primitive superstitions' before we realise the value
of their traditional systems?
International Commitments
The piracy of indigenous knowledge and of biological
resources, by governments, scientific establishments, and corporations,
has been going on all over the world. However, local communities and sensitive
governments have been increasingly raising their voice against this, and
demanding that the rights of the originators and conservers of resources
and knowledge be protected by both national and international law. The
most recent international expression of this is contained in the Convention
on Biological Diversity, which explicitly commits every country to respect
and maintain local knowledge, promote its aplication and encourage the
equitable sharing of the benefits arising from it (art. 8j).
At the most recent meeting of the Convention, the Second
Conference of Parties at Jakarta, Indonesia (November 6-17, 1995), the
Indian Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr. Rajesh Pilot, underscored
this point. He claimed that local community interests are not protected
by existing intellectual property rights regimes (including patents),
and that other steps were needed to ensure such protection.
Urgent Action Needed
If the Indian government truly means what it says at
international forums, then it must act immediately to protect the interests
of the Onges and of the country, before private corporations or some unscrupulous
scientists attempt to monopolise the 'discovery'. This danger is very
real, for if the plant does indeed lead to an anti- malaria product, the
resulting profits could be incalculable. Pharmaceutical corporations would
obviously make a beeline for such a plant and the related knowledge.
In order to prevent such dangers, the following measures
should be immediately adopted:
1. An embargo on the transfer of any plant and plant
material from the Little Andaman Island, until steps 3-5 below are taken.
2. Strict containment of the plants/extracts already
taken out, wherever they are currently housed, to ensure that they are
for the time being not accessible to anyone, until steps 3-5 below are
taken.
3. Publication of the names of all persons/agencies who
are given permits to visit Little Andaman Island, in the official newspaper
of the A&N Islands.
4. Provision of information to the Onges, regarding the
implications of the 'discovery', and their own opinions and attitudes
towards the wider use of the plant.
5. Steps to ensure that the rights of the Onges to the
plant and related knowledge are publicly acknowledged and respected, including
in any publication that may result from the scientific experiments going
on. A patent in the name of the scientists involved would be wholly immoral
and unacceptable, but the utility and acceptability of a patent in the
name of the Onges is also questionable. Some form of community right in
the name of the Onge would be more appropriate, but its precise nature,
and its legality, needs to be considered.
6. Steps to ensure that the Onges are the major recipients
of benefits arising from the use of the plant. In this connection, whether
or not monetary benefits would be appropriate to their situation is a
matter for serious consideration; what may be more appropriate is the
channelisation of the benefits into a fund meant for conservation and
protection of tribal rights and territory, as suggested in the steps below.
In the long run, the following measures are needed:
1. Reserving the majority of the Little Andaman Island
for the exclusive use of the Onges, and a reversal of the policy of making
them dependent on welfare doles. The nomadic hunting-gathering of the
Onge was probably the most sustainable way of living on the island, and
should be encouraged again. In a sense, this would be perhaps the greatest
form of "benefit-sharing" and respect for the knowledge and
practices of these tribal people.
2. A policy on the conservation, extraction, use, and
export of biodiversity elements found on the A&N Islands, especially
for those plants and animals which are endemic (found only there).
3. Urgent steps to conserve the remaining natural habitats
of the islands, and to secure the territorial integrity of the tribal
groups (especially the Jarawas, Sentinelese, and Shompens of Great Nicobar,
aside from the Onges).
4. Formulation of both a policy safeguarding the resource
and intellectual rights of tribal and other local communities, and legislation
requiring collectors to secure the consent of these communities, and obligating
them to enter into appropriate benefit- sharing arrangements. This should
also apply to scientific work.
Having ratified the Biodiversity Convention, India is
obliged to safeguard the resource and intellectual rights and interests
of its local communities. Bold statements at international meetings are
meaningful only if translated into actions back home. The current case
of the Onges will be a major test of the country's commitment to community
rights, and of its commitment to the Convention.
Ashish Kothari can be contacted at: Apartment
5, Shree Dutta Krupa; 908 Deccan Gymkhana; PUNE; MAHARASTRA 411004; INDIA;
Phone: (91-212) 35 43 29; Fax: (91-212) 35 43 29; E-mail: akothari@kv.unv.ernet.in
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