Bio-prospecting the wealth of traditional knowledge

« Ornamental and medicinal:The Alevora plant is found in abundance in Dagana A mission to collect and derive local genetic material that can be used for profitable end products National Biodiversity Centre For a long time, the locals of Dagana used Alevora plant to cure burns. It was a practice, elders recall, which had been there for ages until ointments in tubes fast replaced the hunt for the herb.

Such traditional knowledge of local plants are on the decline since the inception of modern medicine; thus demanding protection of these traditional knowledge, which can form the basis of bio-prospecting to further develop them, according to officials of the national biodiversity centre (NBC) in Serbithang, which is carrying out a bio-prospecting project.

Bio-prospecting is the collection and derivation of genetic material from samples of biodiversity that can be used in commercialised pharmaceutical, agricultural, industrial, or chemical processing end products.

“We fear that, at some point, the traditional knowledge might disappear, because there are fewer people, who are willing to continue traditional practices,” Singye Dorji, deputy chief biodiversity officer from NBC, said.

Since this knowledge was passed down from one generation to another orally, bio-piracy is another fear. “This is a knowledge that we have built for centuries – the precious intellectual property, we never know some people from outside may come and take away the knowledge easily,” he said.

Local people are well aware of the diverse biological resources in their vicinity and usages, which NBC will document and do research, based on their knowledge. “We’re setting up the bio-prospecting lab, where we can do extraction of active components from the plants for preliminary studies that can help built our national capacity as well,” Chencho Dorji from bio-prospecting division of NBC said. “But since we don’t have an advanced lab, which is also expensive, we collaborate with foreign firms for further research after preliminary studies,” he said.

This way, the project will research the plant’s potential components, based on the knowledge collected from local people, to develop new products that will benefit the community, while it can also help conserve bio-resources, according to NBC officials.

A pilot documentation of traditional knowledge of bio-resources in Dagana collected information on 30 different local plants after interviewing seven local practitioners,.

The project, with USD 300,000 funding support from Bhutan Environment Trust Fund, will end its first phase by June next year.

Source: Kuenselonline