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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Aug 23

A NOVEL Kerala model on benefit-sharing between a research institute and a tribal community with respect to commercially tapping the health restorative properties of a rare medicinal plant will receive international attention when it is showcased at the UN-sponsored World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) beginning in Johannesburg later this month.

In what is being seen as a rare recognition for a trendsetting arrangement promoting community welfare programmes among the Kani tribe of the remote Agasthyar Hills in Thiruvananthapuram district, a two-member team comprising a Kani tribesman and a companion scientist has been invited to attend the WSSD and present the unique benefit-sharing model before a global audience.

Dr P. Pushpangadan, former Director of Tropical Botanic Gardens and Research Institute (TBGRI), and Mr Kuttimathan Kani, Secretary of the Kerala Kani Welfare Trust, have already left for Johannesburg.

Launched by TBGRI in 1995, the model provided for compensating the Kanis for revealing the secret of a rare plant, Trichopus zeylanicus, known in local parlance as aarogyappacha, endemic to Agasthyar Hills, a biological hotspot.

This arrangement led to the development of a commercially successful herbal drug called Jeevani in partnership with a well-known ayurveda house.

The initiative has since come to be recognised by the UN Environment Programme and the World Trade Organisation as a global model in benefit-sharing and recognising the intellectual property rights of indigenous people.

This model is one of the 25 short-listed from 10,000 nominations received from all over the world as part of the Equator Initiative launched by the UN agency.

A jury of 60 judges drawn from UN agencies and multilateral financial institutions will collect evidence from the two-member team on implementation of the model.

A presentation planned for the summit comprises an exhibition, workshop and an interactive session.

Product of serendipity: A team of scientists attached to the institute had stumbled on this plant during the course of a scientific expedition in Agasthyar Hills in 1987.

Mr Kuttimathan Kani was one of the tribal guides accompanying the scientists and who was instrumental in revealing the secret of the herb.

In a project spanning eight years, the institute headed by Dr Pushpangadan went on to refine and validate the medicine.

The scientists isolated compounds and developed the composite drug called Jeevani, which has been proved as possessing immuno-enhancing, anti-stress and anti-fatigue properties.

In September 1995, TBGRI entered into a technology transfer pact with Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Coimbatore for commercial production of Jeevani.

The pharmacy agreed to provide seed funding of Rs 10 lakh and royalty of two per cent on the ex-factory price in exchange for the technology transfer and the right to manufacture the drug for seven years.

On its part, the institute agreed to plough back 50 per cent of the licence fee and royalty into welfare programmes for the tribal community which had helped identify the plant in the first place.

The Kani Welfare Trust, which handles the compensation amount, has taken up commercial cultivation of the plant under a buy-back agreement with the pharmacy.

According to Dr Pushpangadan, currently Director of the National Botanic Research Centre, Lucknow the selection of the project for the WSSD is a unique honour.

As many as 60,000 delegates including heads of States, NGOs, scientists and researchers from all over the world will come together at the meet.

The Equator Initiative has been conceived by the UN to foster community partnerships for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the equatorial belt.

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