Coastal and fisheries governance
Biodiversity and Social Justice
Photo: Rachel Wynberg
The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented surge of interest in the commercial use and trade of biodiversity, linking markets in virtually every corner of the globe. The EEU has developed specialist expertise on this topic, ranging from in-depth research on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing, fair trade in natural products and non-timber forest product value chains, through to the intricacies of protecting traditional knowledge and the impacts of intellectual property rights on livelihoods. Because of the complexity and multidisciplinary nature of these research topics, and the importance of developing a holistic and integrated understanding, we have developed a research strategy crossing many disciplinary boundaries, engaging colleagues across the humanities, arts and sciences.
We focus on all levels – international, national and local – and deliver research, consulting and training to a wide range of government, non-government, community and international bodies. Our work draws on empirical research with producer communities throughout southern Africa, and we use a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to deepen our understanding about the governance of natural products that are traded and the ways in which rights to use these resources are determined and benefits distributed. Our work is informed by an ethos that requires projects to relate directly to the attainment of social justice, appropriate economic development and ecological sustainability.
Projects
- Analysis of Benefits from Coastal Resources and Mechanisms for Equitable Benefit Sharing in Selected WIO Countries
- People, Plants, Equity and Knowledge in the Southern African Landscape: An Investigation of Bioprospecting, Biopiracy and Biotrade
- Developing Guidelines for South Africa’s Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations
- Bioscience and Biopolitics at a Crossroads: The Commercial Use of Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge
- Prior Informed Consent and Benefit Sharing
- Wild Product Governance: Finding Policies that Work for Non-Timber Forest Products
- Developing Access and Benefit-Sharing Legislation in Liberia
- Building African Capacity in Access and Benefit Sharing
