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International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

9 August 2023, New York, United States of America

International Day of Plant Health

12 May 2023, Rome, Italy

Submission of views and information regarding the programme of work on Article 8(j) and related provisions

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/PBU/JL/QC/TM/90866 (2023-024)
To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, TK Focal Points, indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant organizations

Webinar to provide information on the process of developing a new programme of work and institutional arrangements on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention related to indigenous peoples and local communities

7 March 2023, Online

Invitation to attend a webinar to provide information on the process of developing a new programme of work and institutional arrangements on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention related to indigenous peoples and local communities

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/PBU/JL/QC/TM/90845 (2023-018)
To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, TK Focal Points, indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant organizations

Nomination of experts for the ad hoc technical expert group on the new programme of work and institutional arrangements on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention related to indigenous peoples and local communities

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/PBU/JL/QC/TM/90797 (2023-019)
To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, TK Focal Points, indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant organizations

46th session of the IFAD Governing Council

14 - 15 February 2023, Rome, Italy

Sixth Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD

9 - 13 February 2023, Paris, France

Peer Review of Annex II: Draft Possible Elements of the New Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and other Provisions of the Convention Related to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/JL/QC/TM/90645 (2022-070)
To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, TK Focal Points, UN Organizations and Specialized Agencies, IGOs, indigenous peoples and local communities, and other relevant organizations

Representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities selected to receive funding for their participation in the Fifth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, Part Two of the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and concurrent meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/JL/QC/TM/90575 (2022-066)
To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, TK Focal Points, indigenous peoples and local communities’ organizations, and other relevant organizations

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

9 August 2022, New York, United States of America

Statement by Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, 9 August 2022

Statement by Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, 9 August 2022

Three Yukon First Nations combine traditional knowledge and modern mapping in preparation for land use planning

How We Walk with the Land and the Water is an undertaking by three Yukon First Nations that uses modern technology to support traditional local knowledge of the land and wildlife by bringing it into a more recognizable form for those in a western scientific setting.

Indigenous Communities Protect 80% Of All Biodiversity

Despite the fact indigenous peoples make up around 15 percent of the world’s extreme poor and just five percent of the global population, they are protecting 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, according to data cited in Australia’s newly released 2021 State of the Environment report.

Australian environmental report finally recognizes Indigenous knowledge

In Australia, more than 100 animal species have gone extinct or been placed on endangered lists, ecosystems are plagued by invasive species, temperatures and sea levels rise, marine heatwaves have caused coral bleaching, while devastating floods and wildfires have ravaged the country.

‘Traditional knowledge should be integrated with scientific research’

In 1961, the foundation stone of the Navagam dam (now known as the Sardar Sarovar Project) was near the Narmada river in Gujarat, and the government began acquiring land, which belonged to the adivasi communities who had lived there for generations.

IPBES Values Assessment: integrating indigenous and local knowledge with scientific knowledge leads to more just and sustainable social and ecological outcomes

The assessment unveils important findings. It reveals that decision-making processes that support representation and consideration of diverse values and integrate indigenous and local knowledge with scientific knowledge have more just and sustainable social and ecological outcomes.

Africa is a treasure trove of medicinal plants: here are seven that are popular

Plants have directly contributed to the development of important drugs. The antimalarial treatment artemisinin, pain medication morphine, and cancer chemotherapy taxol are just three examples of drugs derived from plants.

First Nations' ancient fish bones may help us adapt to climate change

The study of 5,000-year-old fish bones on the West Coast is revealing how Indigenous people adapted to warming oceans — information that could shape present day adaptations and fisheries management as the climate crisis advances, University of Victoria researchers say.

Five risk-reduction strategies updated with age-old knowledge

Indigenous peoples' understanding of disaster risk uses an enormous dataset -- traditional knowledge and folklore reaching back many generations.

Indigenous knowledge vital in conservation of Nepal's tigers

Incidents of human-tiger conflict have increased in line with the growing populations of both the big cats and people, as more people venture into national parks and their buffer zones in search of firewood and food.

Jamaican Climate Leader Says Indigenous Knowledge Can Help Solve the Climate Crisis

Can agroforestry help mitigate climate change and remove CO₂ from our air permanently? In April 2021, Jamaica targeted an ambitious 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The upgraded new goal addressed land use change, forestry emissions, and committing to deeper emission reductions ...

Recognising Indigenous knowledges is not just culturally sound, it’s good science

Floods, fires and droughts in Australia devastate lives, destroy wildlife and damage property. These disasters also cost billions of dollars through loss of agricultural and economic productivity, environmental vitality and costs to mental health. People are looking for long-term solutions from ...

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Saving the Humboldt Marten

The Humboldt marten is about the size of a 4-month-old human baby and adorable, with small, round ears, a fluffy tail and a button nose.

Indigenous communities in Colombia’s Amazon move closer to self-governance

In this small Indigenous reserve, or resguardo, in the Colombian department of Guainía, people tend to their cassava, plantain and pineapple crops, raise ornamental fish, and weave objects from the chiqui chiqui palm.

Podcast: How marine conservation benefits from combining Indigenous knowledge and Western science

On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we take a look at two stories that show the effectiveness of combining traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science for conservation and restoration initiatives.

As Nepal’s tigers thrive, Indigenous knowledge may be key in preventing attacks

On June 6, a 41-year-old woman was attacked by a tiger while she was collecting firewood in a forest in Nepal’s Bardiya district, a key habitat for endangered Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris).

Kenyan hunter-gatherers forced to farm now face increased evictions from their forest

The Indigenous Sengwer people in Kenya’s Embobut Forest have gone through a drastic change in livelihood, from hunting-gathering to herding and commercial farming in the forest, leading to tensions with forestry officials.

Using Indigenous knowledge and Western science to address climate change impacts

Traditional Owners in Australia are the creators of millennia worth of traditional ecological knowledge—an understanding of how to live amid changing environmental conditions. Seasonal calendars are one of the forms of this knowledge best known by non-Indigenous Australians. But as the climate c ...

2 Trees, Not 1: Study Confirms What Indigenous People Knew All Along

Scientists have now confirmed that a certain well-known tree in Southeast Asia is actually two species, not one. Indigenous people in Borneo, however, have known this all along.

Podcast: Indigenous, ingenious and sustainable aquaculture from the distant past to today

On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we look at Indigenous peoples’ long relationship with, and stewardship of, marine environments through two stories of aquaculture practice and research.

Study of Indonesian protected marine areas suggests participation by Indigenous people more effective than penalties

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple entities in Indonesia and the U.S. has found that allowing Indigenous people to participate in management of protected marine areas is more effective than simply assessing penalties for violators. In their paper published in the journal Science Adva ...

Indigenous oyster fisheries were ‘fundamentally different’: Q&A with researcher Marco Hatch

About 85% of oyster reefs across the world have been lost since the 19th century due to overharvesting, pollution, introduction of invasive species and habitat loss.

A look at violence and conflict over Indigenous lands in nine Latin American countries

Indigenous people make up a third of the total number of environmental defenders killed across the globe, despite being a total of 4% of the world’s population, according to a report by Global Witness. The most critical situation is in Colombia, where 117 Indigenous people have been murdered bet ...

Amazon frog highlights appropriation of Indigenous knowledge for commercial gain

The Amazonian giant leaf frog, or kambô (Phyllomedusa bicolor) has bulging eyes and bright green skin, and despite its name, is actually quite small. It’s perhaps best known for its skin secretion, a mucous substance with medicinal properties that several Amazonian Indigenous groups have used fo ...

‘What’s lacking is respect for Mayan culture’: Q&A with Pedro Uc Be on Mexico’s Tren Maya

Pedro Uc Be is a poet and intellectual, but he is also a campesino. He is a teacher, a cultural ambassador and a priest. But, above all, for Pedro, he is Mayan and a defender of his territory.

Listen to the communities – Disaster displacement is on the increase, and the affected people must be heard

More than 30 million people were displaced as a result of disasters in 2020 alone, and this number is likely to rise with the mounting severity and number of climate-related extreme events. A panel at the 7th Session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR2022), moderated by Sar ...

Humanity’s Last Chance Saloon: Indigenous traditional knowledge & custodianship

The destruction of circular economies in pursuit of wealth and their replacement by extractive models of systemic exploitation have brought humanity to the brink of survival.

The new public artwork forcing Australians to think about the past

A massive red X sits in the centre of a new sculpture by artist Kent Morris, installed at Federation Square this week to mark the beginning of Reconciliation Week. The X is a significant part of south east Victorian Indigenous design and iconography, often used on shields, boomerangs and possum ...

Indigenous activists among Goldman environmental prize winners

Indigenous activists and lawyers who took on transnational corporations and their own governments to force climate action are among the 2022 winners of the world’s pre-eminent environmental award.

This Bogotá Market Comes Alive Only at Night, Full of Ancient Plant Lore and Astonishing Biodiversity

the plaza announces itself as an aroma. It’s near midnight in the Colombian capital of Bogotá, a city of 8 million, tucked in the Andes at an elevation of 8,660 feet. Downtown is deserted as we approach the neighborhood known as Los Mártires.

Aaranyak’s bid to preserve indigenous seed diversity to enrich biodiversity

Indigenous varieties of seeds which have been fast disappearing from the state’s croplands due to invasion of hybrid verities, are key components of the rich bio-diversity in the ethnic-mosaic called Assam.

Representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities selected to receive funding for their participation in the fourth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/JL/TMc/QC/TM/90306 (2022-029)
To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, TK Focal Points, indigenous peoples and local community organizations, and other relevant organizations

Prescribed burns: Indigenous knowledge

It is difficult to understand that this lengthy environmental article reprinted from The Spokesman-Review about controlled burnings on public land did not once mention it is an age-old practice of Indigenous people of this region and the United States to burn land to promote growth and suppress ...

Indigenous group and locals sign agreement to protect sustainable livelihoods and culture

Colombia – Walking all day through the jungle to visit the encampments of friends and relatives is what Tumni Abtukaru misses the most about life before his community, the Indigenous Nukak, were evicted from their ancestral homeland.

Village uses Indigenous seeds to slow down Cerrado deforestation

One muggy morning last December, eight women and their chief drove out of the Indigenous Xavante village of Ripá across a forested savanna in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. After a few miles, the road petered out. They walked on in single file through the knee-high grass.

To conserve the vibrant diversity of Central Africa’s forests, include Indigenous people (commentary)

Our footsteps intermingled with the sounds of rain dripping through the canopy as my eyes examined the surrounding green vegetation, which was usually so vibrant, but was now subdued as the dark skies above concealed the light and darkened our path.

Village uses Indigenous seeds to slow down Cerrado deforestation

One muggy morning last December, eight women and their chief drove out of the Indigenous Xavante village of Ripá across a forested savanna in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. After a few miles, the road petered out. They walked on in single file through the knee-high grass.

Zimbabwean designer mixes tradition, fashion

At a plot on the outskirts of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, two women were after a trio of Angora goats aiming to catch one of the adorable balls of wool.