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Indigenous peoples

Across the globe, Indigenous peoples manage significant areas of Earth’s most biodiverse regions as a core expression and part of their cultural identity and spiritual practices. The profound relationships they have with the whole of the natural world are a hallmark of their worldviews, values and way of life – and contribute to their effective sustainable conservation of lands, territories, seas and natural resources.

This close relationship to their environments means that Indigenous peoples are often the first and most severely affected by environmental degradation. Furthermore, insecure tenure rights over their lands and territories, as well as exclusion from environmental decision making, often constrain the contributions of Indigenous peoples to conservation and exacerbate their socio-economic vulnerabilities and marginalisation.

Indigenous peoples and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ has a long history of working with Indigenous peoples both to promote recognition of their rights at policy level and to support their conservation activities on the ground. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2008 and regularly monitors and reports on its contributions to the implementation of the Declaration. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Resolutions and field-based work emphasise Indigenous peoples' rights to the lands, territories and natural resources they have traditionally owned, occupied and used, and the need to ensure the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples in all conservation initiatives and policy developments that affect them.

Together, the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Human Rights in Conservation Team (HRCT) and the Commission on Environmental, Social and Economic Policy (CEESP) support Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ in advancing Indigenous peoples self-determined priorities throughout policy fora, programmes and projects.

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Description

Indigenous peoples and local community members engaged in a direct conservation finance initiative by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which is currently being co-implemented by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ and Conservation International (CI)

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Description

people received messages from twelve indigenous leaders from nine countries during Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥â€™s campaign on Indigenous Insights – Stewarding the Earth, which presented the conservation priorities of indigenous women and men.

Who are indigenous peoples

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ recognises Indigenous Peoples as those set out in the  (1989) and the Ìý(±«±·¶Ù¸é±õ±Ê):

  1. tribal peoples in independent countries whose social, cultural and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of the national community, and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations;
  2. peoples in independent countries who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonisation or the establishment of present state boundaries and who, irrespective of their legal status, retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions.


Self-identification as indigenous or tribal shall be regarded as a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the provisions of this Convention apply.

ILO Convention 169, 1989

Policy Positions
Statement at UNPFII 17th Session (2018)

Statement by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Indigenous Peoples Member Organisation representative Yeshing Juliana Upún Yos to the Seventeenth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)

Statement at UNPFII 18th Session (2019)

An indigenous-led strategy for conservation, presented by Jenny Springer, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ at the 18th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues

Statement at UNPFII 20th Session (2021)

Statement by Anita F. Tzec, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥, delivered at the 20th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues

An Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Indigenous Peoples’ organisation strategy

As a distinct and mobilised constituency within Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥, IPO Members have also developed a self-determined strategy identifying joint priorities for advancing their rights and issues in conservation and engaging with each other and within Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ moving forward. These priorities focus particularly on leveraging Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥â€™s convening power, knowledge generation, standard setting and policy engagement in regard to indigenous issues.  The strategy outlines actions to:

  • Increase indigenous participation in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥â€™s governance;
  • Participate in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥â€™s global policy engagement processes;
  • Promote the recognition of rights in relation to lands and territories, natural and cultural resources;
  • Promote the creation of a system of indigenous protected areas that strengthens the use, management and conservation of natural resources by indigenous peoples;
  • Address issues related to cultural heritage;
  • Address the rights and participation of indigenous women; and
  • Support indigenous organisation institutional strengthening.
Strengthening indigenous voices and action

Championing indigenous conservation governance at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥

At the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ World Conservation Congress in 2016, the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Members Assembly adopted a landmark decision for Indigenous peoples and conservation. Members voted to create a new category of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ membership for Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations (IPO), strengthening the recognition of their rights, participation, voice and role in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥.  This was the first time Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ reformed its membership structure in its 70-year history and it did so specifically to recognise the specific situation and role of IPOs. This change in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥â€™s governance structure now allows Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ to play an important convening and facilitating role for indigenous participation in environmental decision-making. Today, Indigenous members and leaders play important governance roles at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ through its Council and Commissions.

At the 2021 Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ World Conservation Congress, IPOs participated for the first time as Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation Members of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ and - along with the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ Secretariat and CEESP, led the organising of the first ever - where they launched their , which calls on  the wider conservation community, including States, to recognise, respect and protect the collective rights and governance of Indigenous peoples to their lands, territories, waters, coastal seas and natural resources.

    Supporting indigenous conservation leadership 

    In 2021, to amplify indigenous voices and priorities, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ collaborated with the Forest Farm Facility and IFNOTUSTHENWHO? in producing a communications campaign called . The campaign published a series of video messages from IPOs and partners and published news and events to help inform and advance indigenous rights in a key year of environmental policymaking.

    In 2022, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ and Conservation International launched the , a project that will support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) to secure and enhance their stewardship over an estimated area of at least 7.5 million hectares of landscapes, seascapes and/or territories with high biodiversity and irreplaceable ecosystems.

    ICI
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