Issue 6 of the Endogenous Development Magazine contains two articles on biocultural protocols relating to livestock.
A biocultural protocol is a document that records a community’s role in ecosystem management, and states its rights to benefit from the ecosystem. Several groups of livestock keepers have created biocultural protocols describing their animal breeds and their indigenous knowledge about their breeds.
The articles in the magazine are:

How Bio-cultural Community Protocols can empower local communities by Kabir Bavikatte and Harry Jonas of Natural Justice, a South African NGO specializing on social and environmental law

Bio-cultural Community Protocols, starting point for endogenous livestock development? by Ilse Köhler-Rollefson of the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development.

Bio-cultural Community Protocols enforce Biodiversity Benefits: A selection of cases and experiences. Endogenous Development Magazine 6, July 2010. COMPAS, Leusden, Netherlands

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The biocultural protocol of the Lingayat community, who live in the Bargur forest in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, details the Bargur breed of cattle and Mala erumai (Hill buffalo) breeds.

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“The Maasai are suffering, and no one hears their cries”
A radio segment was broadcast on the Deutschlandfunk (a international German radio station) on 18 June 2010. It describes how pastoralists in Africa are being driven from their traditional grazing lands so farming concerns can plant crops for biodiesel, or to create wildlife reserves that attract tourists.
The segment (in German) features Tanzanian activist and member of the LIFE Network Eliamani Lalteika and LPP’s Ilse Köhler-Rollefson.

Listen to the programme

Read the transcript