WICHF Establishes Dual Public Records

for Chinese Natural Lacquer Knowledge under CBD

— Advancing the International Communication, Public Education, and Multilateral Linkages of Chinese Traditional Knowledge

Release Date: April 15, 2026 Issuing Body: World Intangible Cultural Heritage Federation (WICHF)

Recently, the World Intangible Cultural Heritage Federation (WICHF) has formed, under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)-related information mechanism—the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH)—one public Virtual Library Resource (VLR) record and one Capacity-Building Initiative (CDI) project record centered on traditional knowledge associated with natural lacquer sap in China. These publicly accessible outcomes focus on the botanical origin of natural lacquer, material practices, traditional knowledge, biocultural heritage, public education, and capacity-building, and mark a further step by WICHF in establishing an open, searchable, and sustainably maintainable international information foundation for issues relating to traditional knowledge, capacity-building, and public communication within a United Nations-related multilateral rules-based framework.

The formation of these dual public records demonstrates that traditional knowledge associated with natural lacquer sap in China is entering the sphere of international public communication in a more standardized, professional, and sustainable manner. It also shows that WICHF’s work in digital organization, standardized expression, and international coordination relating to Chinese fine traditional culture, traditional material knowledge, and public issues connected to intangible cultural heritage is gaining clearer public visibility and stronger project-based articulation within the CBD-related information mechanism.

I. WICHF establishes dual public records under the Convention on Biological Diversity-related information mechanism

The Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH) is an information-sharing mechanism established under Article 14 of the Nagoya Protocol and one of the core information platforms for work relating to access and benefit-sharing, traditional knowledge, capacity-building, public education, and the international disclosure of information. The two outcomes now publicly recorded by WICHF are the VLR resource titled “Traditional Knowledge Associated with Natural Lacquer Sap, Material Practices and Biocultural Heritage in China” and the CDI project titled “Capacity-Building Initiative on Traditional Knowledge Associated with Natural Lacquer Sap in China.”

The VLR resource focuses on the botanical source of natural lacquer sap, knowledge concerning tapping and processing, material characteristics, related craft practices, and their biocultural heritage significance. It provides public-interest, non-commercial introductory knowledge and learning materials for the general public, researchers, and cultural practitioners. Building on that foundation, the CDI project further develops a dedicated project page, a project brief, and learning-oriented content for youth and the public, using public education, knowledge interpretation, and capacity-building as its main line so as to strengthen the explanatory power, visibility, and sustained communication capacity of traditional knowledge associated with natural lacquer sap in China within an international rules-based context.

II. Using traditional knowledge associated with natural lacquer as an entry point to bring Chinese traditional material knowledge into multilateral discourse

Natural lacquer is not only a key material in Chinese traditional craft practice; it is also closely connected with plant resources, ecological environments, local experience, workshop traditions, lineages of apprenticeship, and community practice. A systematic organization and standardized communication of natural lacquer-related knowledge helps present, more accurately in an international context, the historical information, ecological dimensions, technical logic, and cultural value embedded in China’s traditional material systems, thereby enabling an integrated expression of the relationship among material, knowledge, technique, and culture.

In terms of multilateral issue alignment, the project does not follow a general exhibition-oriented cultural presentation logic. Rather, it forms a relatively clear connection with issues under the United Nations biodiversity governance framework, including traditional knowledge, information disclosure, capacity-building, public education, and fair and equitable benefit-sharing. For the Chinese market, this not only strengthens the international public communication foundation of intangible cultural heritage-related traditional knowledge resources, but also helps enhance the recognizability and connective capacity of Chinese traditional culture in scenarios of international cooperation, public communication, and knowledge sharing.

III. Strengthening the international communication foundation for Chinese intangible cultural heritage through public records

WICHF stated that, going forward, it will continue, on a lawful, compliant, community-respecting, and public-value-oriented basis, to advance digital archiving, bilingual translation, public education, international communication, capacity-building, and knowledge exchange in relation to Chinese intangible cultural heritage and associated traditional knowledge.

In terms of working methodology, WICHF will further strengthen the continuous chain of “research–standards–translation–disclosure–application,” transforming dispersed intangible cultural heritage projects, products, craft processes, transmission lineages, and related explanatory materials into a structured, searchable, connectable, and cumulatively maintainable professional information system. Building on the public-record foundation already formed, it will promote more Chinese traditional knowledge resources with cultural, educational, and social value into more standardized, higher-quality settings for international communication and multilateral dialogue.

IV. Continuing to enhance China’s digital expression of intangible cultural heritage and its capacity for international coordination

The formation of these dual public records further strengthens WICHF’s public foundation for international communication and mechanism linkages around biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and access and benefit-sharing issues. For Chinese enterprises, local project entities, and cultural communication institutions, such public records are verifiable, internationally searchable, and sustainably maintainable, and also provide a clear internationalized interface for carrying out more systematic work in relation to the digitalization of intangible cultural heritage, project expression, international communication, and public-issue linkages.

Taking these public records as a new starting point, WICHF will continue to serve the contemporary communication and international dialogue of China’s fine traditional culture, steadily advancing the development of standards systems for intangible cultural heritage, product and inheritor traceability information, digital archiving of inheritors, and bilingual international expression, so that Chinese intangible cultural heritage-related resources can form sustained accumulation in broader settings of international public communication and multilateral cooperation.

Public Information

For ease of reference, verification, and republication, this press release presents the relevant platform information in the formal format of “full platform name + record number.” The information may be retrieved through the public records of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH) under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

 

Category

Full Platform Name

Record No. / Project No.

Public Status

VLR Resource Record

Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH) under the Convention on Biological Diversity

ABSCH-VLR-SCBD-293718-1

Public record

CDI Project Record

Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH) under the Convention on Biological Diversity

ABSCH-CDI-SCBD-293759-1WICHF-CDI-NL-2026-01

Project record

 

About the World Intangible Cultural Heritage Federation (WICHF)

The World Intangible Cultural Heritage Federation (WICHF) is an international cultural organization engaged in the digital organization of intangible cultural heritage, the development of integrated standards systems, the construction of product and inheritor traceability information, digital archives and transmission-chain documentation for inheritors, bilingual translation and international expression, contemporary design collaboration, and international coordination linkages. The organization focuses on the organization, presentation, explanation, and application of traditional crafts, inheritor systems, intangible cultural heritage products, and related cultural information in a modern context, and is committed to enhancing the intelligibility and applicability of Chinese intangible cultural heritage in public communication, international exchange, market communication, and sustained cooperation.

WICHF emphasizes a continuous working chain of “research–standards–translation–disclosure–application,” transforming dispersed intangible cultural heritage projects, products, craft processes, transmission lineages, and related explanatory materials into a structured, searchable, connectable, and cumulatively maintainable professional information system. At the same time, around subjects including cultural communication, media and information literacy, biodiversity, and sustainable development, it continues to participate in documentation, information submission, project communication, and mechanism linkage work on United Nations-related platforms and within international cooperation systems, thereby steadily enhancing the recognizability, expressiveness, and connective capacity of Chinese intangible cultural heritage issues in the contexts of international public communication and multilateral cooperation.

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