Patenting it would have meant misappropriating genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and losing an important source of nutritious food and medicine for communities which have traditionally used it. Without such a protocol, patents would grant companies - and other actors - full rights to certain genetic resources without the free, prior and informed consent of communities who traditionally use them (Forest Peoples Programme 2016), meaning that these resources become private property. In the case of Rooibos and Honeybush in South Africa in 2010, a big multinational corporation had five pending patent applications (Box 2.6.8) (Amusen 2014, ICSTD 2010). In an analysis of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and Community Forestry Programs in Nepal, Boyer-Rechlin (2010) highlighted the importance of taking account of pre-existing gender roles and cultural contexts, as well as investing in civic education and building women's skills.