Krystyna Swiderska

Principal researcher (agriculture and biodiversity), Natural Resources

Krystyna Swiderska's areas of expertise are traditional resource rights and biodiversity governance. She is also researching the potential role of genetic resources and traditional knowledge in climate change adaptation.

Full biography

She currently working on the protection of the traditional knowledge, bi-cultural heritage and customary law of indigenous and local communities. She is also researching access to genetic resources and the equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources (as set out by the Nagoya Protocol). Her work has a particular focus on India, China, Peru, Kenya and Panama.

Expertise

Traditional resource rights and biodiversity governance

Current work

Research on the protection of traditional knowledge, bio-cultural heritage and customary law of indigenous and local communities; access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing and the Nagoya Protocol; biodiversity governance; and the role of genetic resources and traditional knowledge in climate change adaptation. Country focus: India, China, Peru, Kenya and Panama.

Interviews

IIED expert interviews: Krystyna Swiderska

Krystyna Swiderska's projects

A herbalist shares information on medicinal and food plants growing in Kaya Kinondo Sacred Coastal Forest in Kenya (Photo: Doris Mutta)

Smallholder innovation for resilience (SIFOR)

Project, Aug 2013

Drying medicinal plants, the knowledge of which is passed down through generations. In South Asia alone, there are more than 8,000 plant species with known medicinal value.Photo: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit

Sustaining local food systems and agricultural biodiversity

Project, Aug 2013

Extractive industries and indigenous and local communities

Project, Jun 2008

Policy that works for biodiversity and poverty reduction

Project, Jun 2008

Recent publications

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Ecosystem-based adaptation: a handbook for EbA in mountain, dryland and coastal ecosystems

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Biocultural innovation: the key to global food security?

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Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy. Research results from the Potato Park and the Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Climate Change Assessment, Peru

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Smallholder farming systems in the Indian Himalayas: Key trends and innovations for resilience

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International policies and biocultural innovation: SIFOR policy review

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SIFOR Mountain Agriculture Policy Dialogue in India

Krystyna Swiderska's blog posts

The Potato Park’s Craft micro-enterprise group. Biocultural heritage indicators that are a guarantee of origin and authenticity have increased incomes and improved social cohesion at the Potato Park (Photo: Asociacion ANDES (Peru))

Designing a biocultural heritage labelling system: survey results

Blog, Jan 2017

Sorting apricots in Tajikistan. The diverse and extreme climatic conditions of Central Asia helped farmers develop fruit varieties adaptable to drought and other environmental stresses (Photo: UNDP, Creative Commons via Flickr)

The Paris Agreement – a framework for local inclusion

Blog, Feb 2016

A farmer in the Potato Park, Peru (Photo: Adam Kerby)

A marriage to save the earth: Farmers and researchers innovate to conserve biodiversity

Blog, Oct 2014

Farmers in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces respond to climatic adversity by using their own innovations and biocultural heritage

China's farmers innovate to adapt to climate change

Blog, Dec 2013

Indigenous communities sharing potatoes in the Potato Park, near Cusco, Peru. Credit: Asociacion ANDES

Traditional innovation in farming is under threat

Blog, Oct 2013

A Raika man leading his sheep and goats to graze in the contested Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary.

How communities are protecting their biocultural resources with community protocols

Blog, Oct 2012

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