Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of Community Protocols and Procedures

The document outlines the role of community protocols as interfaces between customary laws and national ABS frameworks, drawing on case studies from Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Benin, Madagascar, and Cameroon to highlight best practices in community empowerment and legal recognition.

• Effective community protocols require a clear objective and focus from the start, such as protecting traditional knowledge or defining procedures for Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT), to maintain momentum and avoid unrealistic expectations.
• The process of developing a protocol is as significant as the final document; it should be community-led, reflecting local governance and values, and include a broad spectrum of perspectives, including women, youth, and the elderly.
• Community protocols serve as a critical interface between customary laws and national legal frameworks, increasing transparency for users of genetic resources and traditional knowledge while preventing 'elite capture' or intra-community conflict during PIC processes.
• While national ABS frameworks provide the strongest legal recognition, community protocols can gain official status through sub-national recognition, such as official letters from local authorities or registration as official by-laws.
• Case studies in South Africa demonstrate that community protocols can enable groups to successfully assert their status as knowledge holders, as seen with the National Khoi and San Council's agreements regarding Rooibos and Buchu.
• In Benin, the development of a pilot community protocol for the sacred forest Gbevozoun directly informed the creation of the National Guidelines for Access and Benefit Sharing (2016).
• The absence of a community protocol can lead to significant delays and internal conflict; in a Cameroon case involving Echinops, negotiations were nearly halted because a traditional chief of the first degree was not consulted, despite a prior agreement with a lower-level chief.

APA

Natural Justice (n.d.). Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of Community Protocols and Procedures. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-assessment-review-nagoya-protocol-cbd.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of Community Protocols and Procedures. n.d. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-assessment-review-nagoya-protocol-cbd.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of Community Protocols and Procedures |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-assessment-review-nagoya-protocol-cbd.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljusticendexperiences, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Experiences and Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of Community Protocols and Procedures}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-assessment-review-nagoya-protocol-cbd.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }