Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
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ARTICLE: ‘New alliance with equal rights’ needed, say indigenous delegates at IUCN biodiversity conference. Indigenous voices on the environment are finally being heard as Marseille hosts a global biodiversity summit, with a call to protect 80% of the Amazon, as well as a “counter conference” highlighting the conservation movement’s historic violation of people’s rights….
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REPORT: This report presents the findings from a six-month research project that aimed to articulate key Indigenous aspirations regarding cultural burning and bushfire management in south-east Australia; identify current impediments to realising these aspirations; and develop recommendations on how to empower Indigenous leadership in fire management decision-making and activities, both in the short and longer term.
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ARTICLE: As the first part of COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity convenes, decision makers must recognise that free-flowing rivers are essential to Indigenous understanding of reality and the preservation of biodiversity.
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REPORT: The contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and to renewing nature and cultures.
“Local Biodiversity Outlooks presents the perspectives and experiences of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) on the current social-ecological crisis and their contributions to the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity.”
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ARTICLE: New research explores the work of Yolŋu Indigenous Rangers in North-East Arnhem Land to understand their crucial contribution of Indigenous cultural and natural resource management.
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AGENDA: This Global Indigenous Agenda presents the priority outcomes and actions that we have identified and will contribute towards as IPO Members of IUCN, working in collaboration with wider networks of Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and through engagement with the wider IUCN Membership (government and non-government) and other relevant actors.
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ARTICLE: Debate about what proportion of the Earth to protect often overshadows the question of how nature should be conserved and by whom. This article presents a systematic review and narrative synthesis of 169 publications investigating how different forms of governance influence conservation outcomes, paying particular attention to the role played by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
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REPORT: This report details five big ideas to bring forward nature as a climate solution with manifold benefits for Australia, including growing all Australians’ connection and reconnection with Country, protecting and enhancing Australia’s unique biodiversity and the ecosystems that underpin our very existence, and providing positive employment prospects for a new generation of environmental workers in all sectors from agriculture to infrastructure and energy. For inspiration, the authors document leading case studies where nature-based solutions are already improving our lives and reducing our carbon emissions.
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ARTICLE: In an age of dramatic environmental and ecological challenges, the dynamics of sovereignty associated with the conservation of natural resources in Oceania are in flux.
This article draws on the transformative work of Tongan anthropologistand political philosopher Epeli Hau‘ofa to articulate characteristics of an Oceanian Sovereignty that illuminate ongoing conceptual shifts around conservation in this region. In the wake of intensifying and accelerating environmental challenges from global warming and other hazard drivers, understanding Indigenous peoples and local communities’ deeply rooted and emerging perceptions and conceptions of rights over, responsibilities towards, and respect for, nature is a critical context for necessary transformations within conservation science, policy and practice.
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ARTICLE: Resource sustainability requires recognising and developing pathways to integrate local and Indigenous knowledges alongside conservation and sustainability sciences within management practices and governance. However, knowledge never occurs in a vacuum, and is always mediated by the beliefs, values, or stances towards its possession or use within particular contexts.
Focusing on the unprecedented renewal of a traditional practice of natural resource management in French Polynesia called ra¯hui, this article investigates the local conceptions, perceptions, and expectations (CPE) that mediate between community knowledges, plans, and actions, and inputs from conservation and sustainability sciences.
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Areas effectively owned and/or managed for biodiversity by indigenous peoples and local communities equal or exceed the number and extent of protected areas recognised in the World Database on Protected Areas. Recognising these areas, and supporting capacity of those who care for them, is a crucial element of our work.
Indigenous peoples and local community members may choose to make use of existing tools and approaches related to ‘professionalization’ and to consider themselves as professionals. But these groups often have additional and specific capacity development needs, and also possess distinct and vital capacities beyond those normally defined by technical and managerial analyses. Indigenous peoples and local community members who wish to be recognized as professionals should be able to do so, and pathways for this should take their unique needs and contributions into account. We also aim to support capacity development BY indigenous peoples and local communities FOR indigenous peoples and local communities.
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The Convention on Biological Diversity recognises the dependency of indigenous peoples and local communities on biological diversity and their unique role in conserving life on Earth. Under Article 8(j) of the Convention, Parties have undertaken to respect, preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities relevant for the conservation of biological diversity and to promote their wider application with the approval of knowledge holders and to encourage equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological diversity.
Guidelines adopted under Article 8(j) are intended to provide a collaborative framework ensuring the full involvement of indigenous peoples and local communities in the assessment of cultural, environmental and social concerns and interests of indigenous peoples and local communities of proposed developments.
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REPORT: A technical review of the state of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ lands, their contributions to global biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, the pressures they face, and recommendations for actions.
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REPORT: The overall aim of this study is to explore options for generating sufficient levels of finance over sustained periods of time so that IPLCs have the financial capacity to continue to effectively steward their natural resources. The objective is to identify sustainable financing models and examples employed in conservation projects associated with IPLCs around the world, and assess these examples to facilitate replication and adaptation. The study is also intended to share knowledge on successful sustainable financing models among IPLCs and provide guidance on the sources of both public and private investment in developing these models.
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REPORT: This report argues that to effectively and equitably mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss,new conservation modalities are needed to end exclusionary approaches, embrace human rights-based strategies, and advance the recognition of the land, forest, water, and territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities who customarily own over half of the hereworld’s lands.
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TOOLKIT: Local communities and indigenous peoples make substantial contributions to global conservation efforts and sustainable development. While these communities are often the primary ‘resource stewards’ who rely on ecosystems to meet food security, livelihood and health needs, their contribution to the achievement of global conservation targets have not yet been fully recognized.
This toolkit presents a selection of practical resources, developed by numerous organisations, making them readily accessible to community-based organisations who manage ICCAs. In addition to being a valuable resource to practitioners, the toolkit provides a reminder that the achievement of the emerging post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs) will need to be linked to a comprehensive valuation of ecosystem services, and be spearheaded by local civil society initiatives coming from the grassroots.
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REPORT: This strategy document aims to support the aspirations of Indigenous Australians to care for Country and to amplify the environmental, cultural, economic and social outcomes possible where Indigenous ranger projects are operating.