"Advocating livestock keepers' rights", a report of LPP's work at the International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources at Interlaken, Switzerland in September 2007, is now available.

The report details LPP's work in the build-up to the conference and during the conference itself, analyses the outcomes and outlines plans for future work.

LPP's preparatory work included organizing two workshops for livestock keepers and government delegates, in India and Ethiopia, and producing a film "Keepers of genes" and a book with the same title.

LPP enabled a delegation of Raika pastoralists to attend the Interlaken conference. Along with other members of the LIFE and Endogenous Livestock Development networks, LPP also facilitated representatives from Africa, Latin America and Asia to attend. LPP and its partners organized four side events at the conference, focusing on the livestock genetics industry, livestock keepers' rights, endogenous livestock development, and animal genetic resources in India. Media and advocacy work tied to the conference have resulted in numerous press articles and broadcasts.

Members of the LIFE Network were invited to participate in the regional government meetings to discuss technical issues and the wording of legal documents.

The global plan of action, adopted by the government delegates at the end of the conference, recognizes the important role of local and indigenous communities in upholding livestock diversity. However, it casts animal genetic resources as an issue to be controlled and managed by the state, and gives livestock keepers only a supporting role.

LPP's work on this topic has been possible because of support from numerous organizations, including Miseroer, GTZ, FAO, EED, Swedbio, the HIVOS-NOVIB-OXFAM Biodiversity Fund, DEZA, Bread for the World, Swissaid, and the Christensen Fund.

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Sanjeev Bhaskar, host of the BBC television programme The Kumars at No. 42, featured Rajasthan on his BBC2 travel documentary series "India with Sanjeev Bhaskar".

During his visit to the state, Mr Bhaskar met the Maharajah of Jodhpur, along with Lokhit Pashu Palak Sansthan director Hanwant Singh and LPP's Ilse Koehler-Rollefson. Part 4 of the film series is entitled "A camel called Sanjeev". The camel was born during Mr Bhaskar's visit to the herd of Adoji Raika, a respected Rajasthani camel pastoralist, and was named in Mr Bhaskar's honour.

The picture on the left shows Kotar, Ilse's camel, greeting Mr Bhaskar. Click on the picture for a closer view (photo courtesy of the BBC).

Hanwant, Ilse, Kotar and camel milk (a product promoted by Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan) all feature prominently in the documentary.

The programme has been broadcast in Britain and several times in India.

Keepers of Genes, a 28-minute documentary produced by award-winning filmmaker Moving Images, documents the role played by pastoralists in preserving animal biodiversity and the key issues confronting them today.

The film accompanies a 2007 book, Keepers of genes: The interdependence between pastoralists, breeds, access to the commons, and livelihoods, by Ilse Koehler-Rollefson and the LIFE Network.

Order copies of the film and book from LPP, or the film from Moving Images