Taking a Community Biodiversity Management Approach to ABS in Local Communities: The Nepal Experience

Although the International Regime on Access and Benefit-Sharing (IRABS) is a global legal instrument, the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Bonn Guidelines shows implementation of the international regime should start at the local community. While an international instrument for regulating ABS is required to generate the incentive for conservation of rapidly depleting biodiversity, the execution should effectively guarantee the recognition of the local communities and indigenous people as the true custodian of the genetic resources, and their right to make decisions on documentation, conservation, development and sustainable use and access to and benefit sharing.