Legal Protection of Traditional Knowledge for Environmental Sustainability– A Study in India vis-à-vis International Context

Traditional knowledge (TK) is a key component of a nation’s knowledge bank reflecting on the traditional culture, norms and customs. The protection of traditional knowledge is an important component of conservation and preservation directly contributing to the sustainable development of the environment. The protection of traditional knowledge world over is indicative of the rich civilization and heritage and is directly proportional to the national biodiversity index. The robust intellectual property regime, the laws and the regulations therein at the various national and international platforms are deliberating on a system for the protection of the traditional knowledge developed and practiced for environmental sustainability by the vibrant tribal and indigenous communities.

In this research paper, the focus is on the legal regime under the intellectual property domain to identify the aspects with commonality for administering the traditional knowledge of the world’s indigenous peoples and tribals, CBD (Conservation of Biological Diversity)[i], the aspects of ABS (Access Benefit Sharing) [ii]and thereby draft a comprehensive legislation for the protection in India or incorporate the same to the Biodiversity Act 2002. The paper is an attempt to provide suggestive amendments or rather inclusions to the WIPOs (World Intellectual Property Organization) functionality with respect to the commercialization of the traditional knowledge pertaining to environmental sustainability for the benefit of the indigenous originators. The paper identifies the need to draft a framework for the insertion of a new Article under the Constitution of India for the protection of traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples as a Fundamental Right drawing a corollary with the protection of educational and cultural rights of the minorities as prescribed under Articles 29 and 20 of the Constitution of India, in view of the gross misuse and misappropriation of TKs locally, nationally and Internationally.