Sustainability Language

Human Rights & Social Sustainability

Community protocol

A community-authored statement of its values, customary laws and rights, used to assert terms of engagement over lands and traditional knowledge.

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Definition

A community (biocultural) protocol is a document developed by an Indigenous or local community setting out its identity, customary rules, stewardship practices and the terms on which outsiders may access its resources and traditional knowledge. Protocols gained prominence with the Nagoya Protocol (adopted 2010), which references them as a means of supporting access and benefit-sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

References

Overview

What it means

It lets communities define themselves and their terms of engagement proactively, rather than reacting to external projects.

How it is used

Organisations such as Natural Justice have supported protocols worldwide; a well-known application is the Khoikhoi community protocol underpinning benefit-sharing over rooibos in South Africa.

Why it matters

Protocols operationalise collective rights and FPIC in negotiations with companies, researchers and conservation agencies.

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