Be! skill: documentation and intellectual property

Madhur lives in a village surrounded by big green forests. Every morning, his grandfather takes him on walks among the giant trees and teaches him about the magical plants and trees that can be used to create natural medicines. Madhur loves these early morning lessons but as he grows older, the forests start to disappear and so does his sense of wonder. He longs for a different kind of life in the city.

After he finishes school, he moves to a nearby town but city life is not at all like he had imagined. Madhur sees that people have lots of health problems because of poor sanitation, nutrition and housing in the city. Healthcare is expensive and hard to access. At the same time, he sees that people who have moved to the city have lost touch with traditional knowledge and ways of healing. Although he knows that tribal medicine is not the cure to everything, he sees worth in his grandfather’s lessons. He wonders what will happen once his grandfather’s memories fade. Who will remember to cure using the plants and trees from the forest? And if no one remembers, who will care about the ever-decreasing forests?

Madhur realizes that documenting knowledge is the first step to building a trade around tribal medicine–one that will provide economic opportunities for young people in his village and help save the forests.

But his grandfather believes that knowledge cannot be owned or sold. Will Madhur be able to convince his grandfather and other village elders to support him?

Will he be able to create a trade—and opportunities for people in his village?

And who will own the knowledge he collects?