Community Engagement & FPIC Policy
Commitment
IsoGentiX operates in communities in Madagascar whose members are the custodians of the landscapes and traditional ecological knowledge that underpin our scientific activities. We are committed to engaging these communities as genuine partners — not as obstacles, data sources, or passive recipients of benefits determined elsewhere.
Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a substantive requirement for all IsoGentiX field activities in community-use areas, not an administrative formality. No collection or field activity will proceed in a community zone without genuine FPIC being obtained and documented.
What FPIC requires
Free — consent is given voluntarily, without coercion, pressure, or inducement. Communities have the right to say no without facing adverse consequences from IsoGentiX.
Prior — consent is sought before any field activity begins, with sufficient time for communities to consider the proposal, seek advice, and reach a decision through their own deliberative processes.
Informed — communities are provided with full, accurate, and accessible information about the nature of the proposed activities, who will benefit, what risks exist, and what benefit-sharing arrangements are proposed — in Malagasy or the relevant local language.
Who must consent
FPIC processes must be structured to enable meaningful participation beyond those with customary authority to speak on community matters. IsoGentiX will take specific steps to ensure that women, younger community members, and other groups who may be marginalised from traditional decision-making structures have an opportunity to participate and be heard. Consent obtained exclusively from community leaders without wider participation does not satisfy this policy.
Ongoing consent
FPIC is not a one-time event. Communities retain the right to withdraw consent for ongoing or future activities at any time. IsoGentiX will maintain active community liaison throughout the period of field operations and will re-engage communities whenever there is a material change in the nature, scope, or benefit-sharing arrangements of the activities they have consented to.
Documentation
FPIC processes and outcomes are documented in writing — in both English and Malagasy — and signed or thumb-marked by community representatives. Documentation includes the date, location, participants, information provided, questions raised, and the decision reached. Copies are provided to community representatives.
Traditional knowledge
Where community members share traditional ecological knowledge in the course of engagement, this is recorded with attribution and treated as the intellectual contribution of the community. IsoGentiX does not incorporate traditional knowledge into commercial products or datasets without specific consent and benefit-sharing arrangements in respect of that knowledge.
Grievance mechanism
Community members who have concerns about IsoGentiX's conduct — including concerns that FPIC processes have not been genuine — may raise these through the Grievance Policy process via local community liaison contacts. IsoGentiX will investigate all such concerns promptly.