“biopiracy” accusations. Guarino and Friis-Hansen
(1995) present a model for a participatory approach
to documenting associated knowledge and Engels
et all. (2011) discuss the ethical questions that must
be addressed. Argumedo et all. (2011) argue that
Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Territories (IBCHT),
such as the “Potato Park” in Cuzco, Peru, offer a
practical way of protecting plant genetic resources
and associated knowledge systems. Based on the
principle of Community Biodiversity Registers,
traditional knowledge is documented in multimedia
databases, helping to protect against any possible
future patent applications from commercial organ-
izations. More than 400 potato varieties have been
repatriated from the International Potato Centre
(CIP) to the Potato Park. Under the agreement, CIP
has a responsibility to “provide technical assistance
to the Park for the maintenance, monitoring and
multiplication of seed and management of the repa-
triated genetic materials”. The Potato Park could
provide a model for gene banks and local commu-
nities to work together on the conservation of tradi-
tional food plant diversity. Community seed banks
are often successful in conserving locally important
species and varieties, but support is needed from
extension services and national gene banks in order
to scale up and have greater impact (Development
Fund, 2011). The draft updated Global Plan of Action
for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(FAO, 2011b) includes several objectives and research
actions that could foster joint efforts to conserve
and sustainably use nutritionally important wild and
underutilized plant species.
6 .Conclusions
- Lesser known and underutilized food plants will
be needed to contribute to the sustainable diets of
the future. - The biocultural diversity of these food plants
(plant genetic material and cultural knowledge
associated with it) is required if the biocultural
advantage and optimal nutritional value are to be
gained from them.- A holistic approach to conservation, which
combinesin situandex situmethods, is required. - Combining these methods is difficult and requires
the collaborative efforts of farmers, field workers,
and scientists from the social and natural sciences.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank: TATRO Women’s
Group of Yala, Western Kenya and in particular their
Chairlady, Mrs Monica Ouma, and Mr Paul Okong’o.
We would also like to thank Tanis Gieselman for
compiling a working list of food plants, Patrick
Muthoka, Alice Kingori and Peris Kariuki at the Na-
tional Museums of Kenya for the ethnobotanical
methodology used in the MGU-UPP Kenya project,
Tiziana Ulian for additional information on the MGU-
UPP project, and Tim Pearce for data on MSB col-
lections. This work was supported by the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, an interdisciplinary research
grant from the UK MRC and ESRC (No. G0800123)
and the Scoppettuolo family.References
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