TEK and biopiracy

I just read another article about a team of scientists and explorers that went to the amazon basin in order to examine one of the most endangered environments in the world. They were lead by a woman named Dolores who is a native of the Amazon basin. She guided them through the thick forest, stopping by any significant plants and educating the scientists and explorers on the health benefits, or cures that each plant brought. Dolores demonstrated TEK, and it's importance to her community, and the world. This tour also brought up the issues of biopiracy and capitalism, where corporations are clawing their way into the amazon in order to gain cures for cash.

Dolores

-Posted by Hanna

Biodiversity, or the lack of it.

I was browsing through CNN, when I came across a very interesting article. The article brought up the issue of biodiversity. According to the article, mass amounts of extinction are occurring, and the world is not doing anything about it. Yes, there may be treaties that exist to "protect" nature, but it exists only for the politics of it.
Due to capitalism and mass expansion, many many species are dying out. Many leaders are discussing issues such as biopiracy and biosafety, but are not focusing on the real issue; which is the dying biodoversity.

Biodiversity

-Posted by Hanna Lee

Biopiracy in India

In response to Hanna Lee's post on what is being done about biopiracy, I found a great website that explains a recent triumph for the people of India. In 1994 a patent was placed the fungicidal properties of the plant called Neem. The natives of India used the Neem plant on their crops and thought of it as a form of TEK. In 1995 with the help of Dr. Vandana Shiva the opposition to this patent was filed stating that the use of this plants was public knowledge. The patent was finally revoked in 2005. While this isn't the only case of biopiracy in India, it is a major step in the right direction in curtailing this adverse way of manipulating the indigenous peoples knowledge of their ecosystem.
Kassie McCann

The website I found this on was:

http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/may/env-biopiracy.htm

Hog farms and the Meatrix

When Pena introduced the Meatrix I started looking around to find out what does it mean to be free-range or organic. This upset me to find that the requirements are minimal and are not very enforced. Recently we have heard a lot about the Acequia and the sustainability of their farming practices, which is really interesting but is being challenged like many other small farms by large corporations. I was at the library a couple of days ago and saw a book that caught my eye called Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities. I picked it up and read the introduction and it explained how small sustainable hog farms are being over run by large unsustainable producers. It also explained that these large corporations cause damage not just to the land and environment, but also to the social system and community. But how are these small farmers suppose to compete with the low prices of mass productions especially in a time when the economy is hurting so bad? Many people here in the U.S. can and do understand the consequences of not being sustainable but cannot afford it, or don't see the repercussions of not doing so. In this book they do research and use ethnography to understand the small farmers and the consumers percective on the industial farming industry.

Kassie McCann

What's being done about biopiracy today?

Recently we learned about biopiracy, and how it ties in with capitalism. Big corproations patenting life, and trying to make huge profit from it from small time farmers.
Something that I found myself contemplating is would corporations really test the DNA of every seed to make sure that farmers are not "illegally" planting it? or do they wait until the farmer is doing well before they decide to do a DNA check on the seeds the farmer is using?
In recent years, there has been legal action in biopiracy, but so many patents on so many species of plants exsist already; is legal action going to resolve the issue? Or will it put a temporary fix for the struggling farmers, and third world countries?

Here's an article I found relating to the issue.

Biopiracy


-Hanna Lee

Collaborative Research

Hello again,
Pena sent out an email on the applications of environmental anthropology today, I hope everyone got a chance to read it. The study was a collaborative study between him and Joe Gallegos who is a farmer and activist. This study focused on how (TEK) or traditional knowledge can in most cases be more accurate than that information from so called "experts" or scientist brought in to study something, such as the how mining was going to affect the watershed of acequia. This piece showed the importance of collaborative research between the researcher and the local people, and how it can benefit both parties when done right. When researchers come in and use the local knowledge wrong or in a way that upsets the native people this can cause conflict and reason for the native people to not want to share their knowledge with the outside world. The title of this study is called Local Knowlegde and Collaborative Environmental Action Research. Check it out!
Kassie McCann

SARE

Hello everyone,

I was looking for some applications of enviro. anthro. and came across a wonderful site called SARE. It stands for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. It's main goal through funding small farms and ranches is to educate people on how healthy and profitable it can be to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. This site reminded me a lot of the work that our Professor Pena does on his farm with the use of mixed crops of vegetation to reduce pests. This site along with the funding it offers has created new markets to these small business owners and farmers who were on the brink of losing it all to large monoculture producing companies. Its wonderful check it out www.sare.org

Kassie McCann