The terms traditional knowledge, indigenous knowledge and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge includes types of knowledge about traditional technologies of subsistence (e.g. tools and techniques for hunting or agriculture), midwifery, ethnobotany and ecological knowledge, traditional medicine, celestial navigation, ethnoastronomy, the climate, and others. These kinds of knowledge, crucial for subsistence and survival, are generally based on accumulations of empirical observation and on interaction with the environment.

In many cases, traditional knowledge has been orally passed for generations from person to person. Some forms of traditional knowledge find expression in stories, legends, folklore, rituals, songs, and laws. Other forms of traditional knowledge are expressed through different means.

Traditional and indigenous knowledge (TK) has been used for centuries by indigenous and local communities under local laws, customs and traditions. It has been transmitted and evolved from generation to generation.[ii] TK has played, and still plays, an important role in vital areas such as food security, the development of agriculture and medical treatment. However, Western societies have not, in general, recognised any significant value in TK nor any obligations associated to its use, and have passively consented to or accelerated its loss through the destruction of the communities’ living environment and cultural values.

Recently, Western science has become more interested in TK and realised that TK may help to find useful solutions to current problems, sometimes in combination with “modern” scientific and technological knowledge. Despite the growing recognition of TK as a valuable source of knowledge, it has generally been regarded under Western intellectual property laws as information in the “public domain”, freely available for use by anybody. Moreover, in some cases, diverse forms of TK have been appropriated under intellectual property rights by researchers and commercial enterprises, without any compensation to the knowledge’s creators or possessors. TK is a central component for the daily life of millions of people in developing countries. Traditional Medicine (TM) serves the health needs of a vast majority of people in developing countries, where access to “modern” health care services and medicine is limited by economic and cultural reasons.

Similarly, the use and continuous improvement of farmers’ varieties (landraces) is essential in many agricultural systems.[iii] In many countries, seed supply fundamentally relies on the “informal” system of seed production which operates on the basis