REVIVING OUR ROOTS: PROTECTING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BIOPIRACY

An often-forgotten value across African cultures is our inextricable link to the world around us.

- By Letlhokwa Mpedi

As scholars Ageh and Lall put it: "The relationship between plant resources and traditional communities in Africa is inseparable. For centuries, indigenous communities have been depending on their cultural innovations and practices for health and food. Plant resources are part of the traditional knowledge system of indigenous communities in Africa." Ecological considerations are seen as deeply spiritual and cultural. For many African communities, the environment is not seen as a separate entity to be exploited but rather as an extension of the self. Plants are viewed as ancestors, healers, teachers and even symbols of life and continuity. This is perhaps best explained through the words of former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who said: "I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land." While this call back to the environment is pervasive for our communities, it has come under threat through the extractive economic model of biopiracy. Biopiracy, simply, is the illegal exploitation and commercialization of plant resources.