Victoria Reyes-García1, Petra Benyei2, Laura Aceituno-Mata3, Airy Gras4, María Molina5, Javier Tardío6, Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana7. 1. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain; Departament d'Antropologia Social i Cultural, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Victoria.reyes@uab.cat. 2. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: petra.benyei@gmail.com. 3. Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario, Finca El Encín, Apdo. 127, 28800, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: aceitunomata@yahoo.es. 4. Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB, CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona), Passeig del Migdia s.n., Parc de Montjuïc, 08038, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: airy.gras@ibb.csic.es. 5. Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario, Finca El Encín, Apdo. 127, 28800, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: maria.molina.simon@madrid.org. 6. Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario, Finca El Encín, Apdo. 127, 28800, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: javier.tardio@madrid.org. 7. Departamento de Biología (Botánica), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Darwin 2, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: manuel.pardo@uam.es.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The documentation and protection of traditional knowledge face new challenges in the era of open science. Focusing on medicinal and food uses, we discuss two innovative initiatives in Spain to document, protect and return to the society traditional knowledge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Spanish Inventory of Traditional Knowledge related to Biodiversity has compiled and published information on the traditional use and management of flora, fauna, fungi, geodiversity, and ecosystems. CONECT-e (www.conecte.es) is an online platform where citizens can document knowledge and uses of wild and domesticated species. We describe the extent of these initiatives in terms of participation and accomplishment, and discuss their complementarities and challenges. RESULTS: The initiatives described have fostered the establishment of a common standard for organizing traditional knowledge in databases that facilitate knowledge documentation: 131,066 uses and 152,246 local names have been documented so far. Using open data and copyleft licenses, these initiatives also contribute to the maintenance of traditional knowledge in the commons domain, guaranteeing the free exchange and reproduction of knowledge. However, the extensive focus of these initiatives on data sharing does not necessarily guarantee knowledge holders' data sovereignty. CONCLUSION: To protect TEK in a context of open science more efforts should be done to operationalize traditional knowledge holders' rights to data sovereignty.
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The documentation and protection of traditional knowledge face new challenges in the era of open science. Focusing on medicinal and food uses, we discuss two innovative initiatives in Spain to document, protect and return to the society traditional knowledge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Spanish Inventory of Traditional Knowledge related to Biodiversity has compiled and published information on the traditional use and management of flora, fauna, fungi, geodiversity, and ecosystems. CONECT-e (www.conecte.es) is an online platform where citizens can document knowledge and uses of wild and domesticated species. We describe the extent of these initiatives in terms of participation and accomplishment, and discuss their complementarities and challenges. RESULTS: The initiatives described have fostered the establishment of a common standard for organizing traditional knowledge in databases that facilitate knowledge documentation: 131,066 uses and 152,246 local names have been documented so far. Using open data and copyleft licenses, these initiatives also contribute to the maintenance of traditional knowledge in the commons domain, guaranteeing the free exchange and reproduction of knowledge. However, the extensive focus of these initiatives on data sharing does not necessarily guarantee knowledge holders' data sovereignty. CONCLUSION: To protect TEK in a context of open science more efforts should be done to operationalize traditional knowledge holders' rights to data sovereignty.