Exposing The Invisible: Biocultural relationships in environmental law and policy

The report details a meeting in Bangalore where partners discussed using Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) to empower communities in South Asia, specifically analyzing their utility under India's Biodiversity Act, 2002 and Forest Rights Act, 2006.

• Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) are defined as community-led instruments designed to help communities secure recognition of their customary rights over resources and their way of life by utilizing domestic and international law.
• Under the Biodiversity Act, 2002, BCPs can serve several functions: negotiating access and benefit sharing agreements, documenting traditional knowledge through peoples biodiversity registers, assisting in the formation of biodiversity management committees, structuring community-based producer companies, and developing biodiversity conservation management plans.
• In the context of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, BCPs are identified as tools for gathering and providing legal evidence for forest rights claims, facilitating the recognition of habitat rights by highlighting biocultural relationships to landscapes, and creating conservation management plans after rights are recognized.
• Participants cautioned that BCPs are not a universal solution for rights recognition and warned that formal legal recognition might reduce their flexibility. Furthermore, they should not be made a mandatory prerequisite for claiming rights.
• The Law, Environment and Design (LED) Lab is employing design methodologies to support legal empowerment, including the creation of a board game and a graphic novel to help communities understand the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
• The meeting established a forward-looking strategy for 2013, which includes forming a BCP working group in India, conducting legal analyses, piloting BCPs in diverse Indian contexts (such as mining areas), and increasing legal capacity in lower courts through paralegals.

APA

Natural Justice (2013). Exposing The Invisible: Biocultural relationships in environmental law and policy. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Exposing-the-Invisible.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. Exposing The Invisible: Biocultural relationships in environmental law and policy. 2013. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Exposing-the-Invisible.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Exposing The Invisible: Biocultural relationships in environmental law and policy |date=2013 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Exposing-the-Invisible.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2013exposing, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Exposing The Invisible: Biocultural relationships in environmental law and policy}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2013}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Exposing-the-Invisible.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }