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Biocultural Heritage Landscape and Territories

Biocultural heritage includes the traditional knowledge, biodiversity, landscapes, cultural and spiritual values and customary laws of indigenous peoples and local communities, which are all inter-connected and interdependent. The vision for Biocultural Heritage Territories is captured in the following definition: ‘Land use mosaics encompassing indigenous and traditional land tenure, production and exchange systems, cultural identity, community organisation and simultaneous goals of endogenous development and biodiversity conservation.’

Biocultural Heritage Landscape and Territories

There are already a number of biocultural heritage territories in the INMIP network – the Potato Park Peru; Stone Village in China, which is establishing a Seed Park; the Jafr community, which has established a Food Park; the Hin-lad-nai community in Thailand, which has established a Cultural Zone; and the Philippines community, which has an ancestral domain title. Biocultural heritage territories such as these are fully owned and managed by indigenous communities – the conservation models are endogenous and belong to their culture. In this way, the INMIP network already has knowledge of how to establish and manage such territories. Recognition of the network at international level, for example by the FAO Treaty, could promote recognition of biocultural territories by national governments.

The vision for BCHTs has grown from the experience of the Potato Park in Peru. Mariano, a farmer from the Potato Park, explained that the Potato Park has three main components: food and livelihoods, agrobiodiversity conservation, and land rights. There are six communities in the Potato Park, and the community presidents have formed a legally recognized association. There is a management group that meets every two months to evaluate progress and to make decisions on next steps. The Potato Park also contains areas of experimentation and innovation for climate adaptation. Their revenues from eco-tourism are growing. The microenterprise groups bring the different communities together to share knowledge, and income is invested in a communal fund. All the rules for the Potato Park are based on customary laws, and has a collective land title, and rights to all natural resources above the soil. The concept of the Potato Park reflects the holistic worldview of the Quechua peoples in the Andes, as well as of other communities.