Journal of Ethnopharmacology 278 (2021) 114295 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnopharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm Documenting and protecting traditional knowledge in the era of open science: Insights from two Spanish initiatives Victoria Reyes-García a, b, c, *, Petra Benyei b, Laura Aceituno-Mata d, Airy Gras e, María Molina d, Javier Tardío d, Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana f, g a Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain b Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain c Departament d’Antropologia Social i Cultural, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellatera, Barcelona, Spain d Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario, Finca El Encín, Apdo. 127, 28800, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain e Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB, CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona), Passeig del Migdia s.n., Parc de Montjuïc, 08038, Barcelona, Spain f Departamento de Biología (Botánica), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Darwin 2, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain g Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Keywords: Ethnopharmacological relevance: The documentation and protection of traditional knowledge face new challenges Citizen science in the era of open science. Focusing on medicinal and food uses, we discuss two innovative initiatives in Spain to Data sovereignty document, protect and return to the society traditional knowledge. Inventories Materials and methods: The Spanish Inventory of Traditional Knowledge related to Biodiversity has compiled and Knowledge commons Medicinal plants published information on the traditional use and management of flora, fauna, fungi, geodiversity, and ecosys­ tems. CONECT-e (www.conecte.es) is an online platform where citizens can document knowledge and uses of wild and domesticated species. We describe the extent of these initiatives in terms of participation and accomplishment, and discuss their complementarities and challenges. Results: The initiatives described have fostered the establishment of a common standard for organizing traditional knowledge in databases that facilitate knowledge documentation: 131,066 uses and 152,246 local names have been documented so far. Using open data and copyleft licenses, these initiatives also contribute to the mainte­ nance of traditional knowledge in the commons domain, guaranteeing the free exchange and reproduction of knowledge. However, the extensive focus of these initiatives on data sharing does not necessarily guarantee knowledge holders’ data sovereignty. Conclusion: To protect TEK in a context of open science more efforts should be done to operationalize traditional knowledge holders’ rights to data sovereignty. 1. Introduction health care (Robinson and Zhang, 2011). Given its relevance, there are numerous initiatives aiming at TEK Researchers and policy makers increasingly recognize that tradi­ documentation and preservation (Benyei et al., 2020b). For instance, tional ecological knowledge (TEK), i.e., the knowledge, practices, and Panama and Peru have national public TEK registers, and China, India beliefs about the relations between people and the environment (Berkes and Venezuela have institutional databases for TEK documentation et al., 2000), not only can guide the sustainable use and management of (Alexander et al., 2004). In several countries, TEK documentation efforts species, habitats, and ecosystems, but is also essential for many aspects privilege medicinal over other uses, so patent examiners can use them as of human wellbeing (Pardo-de-Santayana and Macía, 2015). For evidence of prior art (WIPO, 2012). Since 2014, access to genetic re­ example, in many places, traditional medicinal knowledge, a basic sources and associated knowledge is regulated by the Nagoya Protocol, component of TEK systems, continues to be a first choice for primary an international agreement aiming at the fair and equitable sharing of * Corresponding author. ICREA Research Professor, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès-Barcelona. E-mail addresses: Victoria.reyes@uab.cat (V. Reyes-García), petra.benyei@gmail.com (P. Benyei), aceitunomata@yahoo.es (L. Aceituno-Mata), airy.gras@ibb. csic.es (A. Gras), maria.molina.simon@madrid.org (M. Molina), javier.tardio@madrid.org (J. Tardío), manuel.pardo@uam.es (M. Pardo-de-Santayana). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2021.114295 Received 26 April 2021; Received in revised form 1 June 2021; Accepted 2 June 2021 Available online 16 June 2021 0378-8741/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). V. Reyes-García et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 278 (2021) 114295 benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated Table 1 knowledge (CBD, 2021). Medicinal use reports and number of plant species in the database of the Spanish A major concern in relation to current efforts to document TEK is that inventory of traditional knowledge related to biodiversity. they are not in line with new approaches to knowledge. Thus, current Medicinal uses related to the treatment of: Use reports Plant efforts to document TEK focus on storing, not on spreading knowledge species by making it findable, accessible, interoperable and/or reusable (FAIR) Digestive system 5232 684 using digital and collaborative technologies, or what is known as open Respiratory system 3986 512 science (Allen and Mehler, 2019). Similarly, current efforts to document Skin and subcutaneous tissues 3947 661 Circulatory system 2548 484 TEK are not in line with concerns to secure data sovereignty by guar­ Symptoms of undefined origin 2498 445 anteeing the protection of knowledge holder rights to data, tool Musculature and skeleton 1909 403 ownership, and determining usage protocols around sensitive data, as Genitourinary system 1811 426 proposed in the CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Re­ Nervous system (includes mental illnesses) 1001 255 sponsibility, and Ethics) principles (Carroll et al., 2020). Other infectious and parasitic diseases 789 252 Endocrine-metabolic system 571 206 In this commentary, we present two ongoing initiatives in Spain Sense organs 506 152 aiming to document, protect and return TEK to society. We outline the Conception, pregnancy, childbirth and the 285 104 main contributions of these initiatives to TEK documentation and then puerperium discuss their potential to ensure that TEK is as accessible as possible Poisoning 275 126 Other medicinal uses 202 127 (FAIR principles) while preserving knowledge holders’ data sovereignty Cultural diseases 108 49 (CARE principles). Tumor diseases 57 46 Immune system 45 36 2. Spanish inventory of traditional knowledge related to biodiversity ecosystems. Even with this effort, the Inventory would still fail to provide Since 1994, with the ratification of the Convention on Biological a complete picture of Spanish TEK, as it only includes published infor­ Diversity, Spain has committed to the conservation of biodiversity and mation, which is geographically and thematically biased. For example, associated traditional knowledge. Consequently, Spain has ratified the the representation of the number of publications in the Inventory data­ international protocols that regulate the documentation and protection base suggests a geographical bias, some areas (e.g., Canary and Balearic of traditional knowledge, including the Cartagena Protocol (2003), the Islands, Catalonia) having received more scholarly attention than others Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (2014) and the Nagoya – (e.g., the northwest and the southwest of Spain and northern plateau) Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress (2018) (Fig. 1). (CBD, 2021). Following the legislation derived from these protocols (i.e., 42/2007 3. Conect-e online platform Law of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity; 30/2006 Law of Seeds, Nursery Plants and Plant Genetic Resources), since 2011, an interdisci­ Following international calls to increase traditional knowledge holders’ plinary team of more than 100 researchers from 29 institutions working participation in knowledge conservation efforts (Benyei et al., 2020b), in in collaboration with civil society organizations are elaborating the 2017 the same team launched CONECT-e (www.conecte.es). CONECT-e is Spanish inventory of traditional knowledge related to biodiversity (hence­ a Wiki-like online platform that plays a double role in the documentation forth Inventory), which includes wild and cultivated biodiversity. and sharing of TEK in Spain. CONECT-e includes the raw data contained in Drawing on the systematic review of 286 published documents (i.e., 90 the Inventory database. A feature in CONECT-e is that it allows users to peer-reviewed articles, 96 books, 36 doctoral and master theses, and 64 perform searches regarding specific areas, plant species and uses (Fig. 2). other documents such as booklets, catalogues, or reports), the team has By sharing the disaggregated information collected in the Inventory data­ created a database compiling information on the traditional use and base in a user-friendly interface, CONECT-e improves the accessibility to management of flora, fauna, fungi, geodiversity, and ecosystems in information already published but of difficult access, such as reports, Spain. Plant uses, and specifically medicinal uses, are the most abundant master thesis, or local ethnographies. Moreover, given that many scientific entries in the database, with 40,390 use reports related to 1808 vascular publications are in English, by making information available in local lan­ plant species (Table 1). Other plant-use entries include human food - guages (to date Spanish and Catalan), CONECT-e overcomes language often related to medicinal uses - (16,351 use reports/1089 species), barriers to the dissemination of documented TEK. fodder (7113 use reports/1347 species), ritual uses (5423 use reports/ CONECT-e also contributes to TEK documentation by allowing citi­ 1015 species), and ornament (3805 use reports/937 species). zens’ to report their knowledge of wild and domesticated species To make the information accessible, the team has systematized the (Benyei et al., 2020c; Calvet-Mir et al., 2018). Registered users can information by species and partially published it. At present, five pub­ contribute text (e.g., local names, uses, and management techniques), lished volumes, which are also freely available online, compile infor­ photos, and other materials (e.g., references). Users can also comment mation on 801 species, mainly vascular plants (Pardo-de-Santayana on information already published in the platform. To maintain the et al., 2014, 2018; Tardío et al., 2018). The Inventory represents the place-based nature of TEK, all information is geo-referenced. A team of collective effort of the Spanish scientific community to compile and experts validates information entered in the platform. Given that, in analyze already published data creating a standard for future research Spain, traditional. knowledge holders are typically aged people with (Pardo-de-Santayana et al., 2014). The Inventory also aims to return limited skills in the use of information and communication technologies, knowledge to society. Indeed, the publication of Inventory books has CONECT-e developed a school program to train students in documenting been an important milestone for sharing Spanish TEK, raising a wide information provided by their elders and recording it in the platform. public interest. For instance, the 1400 printed books of the first volume This dissemination strategy helps bridge the gap between the platform’s were sold out upon release and the different volumes online have been digital environment and traditional knowledge holders and promotes downloaded more than 1250 times. intergenerational transmission. Despite the extent and breath of the initiative, a complete inventory By March 2021, 902 people had registered in CONECT-e. CONECT-e of the Spanish TEK would require additional funding for enlarging the users include 43.9% female, highly educated (65.5% had a university database and the publication of about seven more volumes for wild and degree), young (avg. 35 years), and active ICT users (85.2% used ICT cultivated plants and several others for fauna, fungi, geodiversity, and daily). About half of CONECT-e users live in rural or semi-rural areas and 2 V. Reyes-García et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 278 (2021) 114295 Fig. 1. Number of documents and plant species included in the Inventory database, by province. Note: Global administrative boundaries (country level). GDAM. http://www.gadm.org/. Administrative province boundaries (level 2) and autonomous communities’ boundaries (level 1) of Spain. CC-BY 4.0. IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional). http://www.ign.es. 37.8% work on the primary sector (Benyei et al., 2020c). At the time of 4. Protecting TEK in the era of open science writing, CONECT-e included information on 2930 wild plant species and 634 crop landraces; it also contained 36,227 local names and 3323 Together, the two initiatives described here promote access to TEK images, facilitating species’ identification. In relation to medicinal uses, through the systematic compilation, publication, and improved acces­ CONECT-e contained 19,757 medicinal plant use reports registered in sibility to previously published, but scattered information. The approach 730 municipalities. All together, CONECT-e included 178,719 entries, to spreading knowledge potentially increases the availability, usability from which 97% came from the Inventory’s database. and dynamism of TEK. However, the focus on data sharing does not CONECT-e has the potential to fill the geographical gap of infor­ necessarily match traditional knowledge holders’ rights and interests, mation documented in the Inventory. CONECT-e also reinforces the value and it does not guarantee knowledge holders’ data sovereignty. that citizens give to traditional knowledge (Benyei et al., 2020a) and To protect the rights of knowledge holders, the Inventory and promotes public participation in TEK documentation, a strategy that CONECT-e use licenses that maintain knowledge in the common improves the amount and quality of information documented (Calvet-­ domain. The Inventory books are published under an Open Data license, Mir et al., 2018). Finally, CONECT-e is in line with open science prin­ which allows reuse with citation of the source. Similarly, CONECT-e ciples of spreading knowledge by making it FAIR using digital and content is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike collaborative technologies. 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), which requires that any 3 V. Reyes-García et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 278 (2021) 114295 Fig. 2. Screenshot of CONECT-e output map displaying 100 locations (out of 332) where traditional medicinal uses of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) had been reported. product developed using its contents is protected under the same license knowledge; c) prioritizing collective over individual benefits; d) recog­ (Reyes-García et al., 2018). In line with the Nagoya protocol, these nition of context-specificity; and f) considering uses by future genera­ measures aim to prevent misappropriation and to enforce tions (Kukutai and Taylor, 2016). Overall, these principles should benefit-sharing agreements. The measures are in line with measures inform TEK protection in a context of open science. adopted in other initiatives, such as the program of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBR) (Gadgil et al., 2000) and the India’s Traditional 5. Conclusion Knowledge Digital Library (Poorna et al., 2014). The measures adopted, however, do not suffice to protect the rights The Spanish Inventory of Traditional Knowledge related to Biodiversity of the primary knowledge holder, as the open dissemination of TEK and CONECT-e are two innovative initiatives that create synergies to removes owner’s control over the use of knowledge (Carroll et al., document TEK in Spain. In line with open science approaches, the two 2020). Following standard practices, the approach used in the Inventory initiatives help to free TEK from its territorial boundaries and make it and in CONECT-e focused on consultation, requesting knowledge widely accessible, which in turn might contribute to TEK maintenance. holders’ permission to share knowledge. This, however, does not guar­ However, the continuation and potential replicability of these projects antee knowledge holders’ rights to data, tool ownership, and deter­ face important challenges. Both initiatives depend on public funding and mining usage protocols around sensitive data, or data sovereignty CONECT-e also requires maintaining citizens’ interest and participation. (Kukutai and Taylor, 2016; Carroll et al., 2020). Importantly, the focus on data sharing does not necessarily guarantee While guaranteeing traditional knowledge holders’ rights to data knowledge holders’ data sovereignty. To protect TEK in a context of sovereignty in the era of open science is challenging, several initiatives open science more efforts should be done to operationalize traditional exist aiming to operationalize traditional knowledge holders’ data sov­ knowledge holders’ rights to data sovereignty. ereignty. For example, the CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to con­ trol, Responsibility and Ethics) principles for data management and Author’s contributions stewardship aim for Indigenous data to be more within traditional knowledge holder’s control and for collective benefit (Kukutai and VRG, JT, and MPS designed the outline of this manuscript. VRG, PB, Taylor, 2016). Similarly, the principles of the First Nations Information LAM, AG, MM, JT, MPS wrote the article and approved the submission. Governance Centre reflect on the importance of knowledge holders’ Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession of data (OCAP Principles, https://fnigc.ca/ocap-training/). Finally, the Traditional Knowledge Acknowledgments and Bio Cultural labels allow to embed local rules or conditions to certain knowledge through developing labels reflecting local world­ We thank the IECTB, IECTBA and CONECT-e teams for their work views (e.g., only for woman; Kukutai and Taylor, 2016). Although these and L. 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