ABSTRACT
Indigenous peoples have long protested their sovereign rights over the natural resources found on their traditional territories and the traditional knowledge associated with them. In the context of in situ conservation, this reality makes Article 8(j) one of the most important provisions in the whole of the Convention on Biological Diversity and helps explain why it is the focus of considerable attention. It is widely considered that biological diversity cannot be conserved without cultural diversity. Fortunately, in its environmental treaties-such as the Convention on Biological Diversity-the world has formally recognised the critical role that Indigenous peoples and local communities and their traditional ecological knowledge have to play in sustainably managing critical components of biodiversity. One of the largest life industry corporations, it was an agrochemical and chemical giant before it started genetically engineering crops, such as Round-Up Ready Soya and Cotton, which are resistant to its own brand of herbicide, Round-Up, the world's top-selling herbicide.
