In advance of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, on 1st of August 2025, UNEP-WCMC hosted a screening of documentary film “Mapping and Monitoring on Indigenous Territories” by LifeMosaic, followed by a knowledge exchange session on community-led biodiversity monitoring systems with contributions from indigenous representatives, researchers and policy experts.
LifeMosaic’s film depicts ancestral and technological approaches to mapping and monitoring in indigenous territories, the benefits and challenges involved, and ways to minimize these challenges. Experiences were gathered from indigenous people in Ecuador, Belize, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru, Suriname, and Tanzania.
Speakers included Phoebe Ndiema of the Ogiek people of Mount Elgon, Kenya, and the Chepkitale Indigenous Peoples Development Project (CIPDP), researcher Narumon Arunotai from Chulalongkorn University and member of the Thailand National Ecosystem Assessment Team, and Tero Mustonen from Snowchange Cooperative, Finland. The discussion highlighted how communities are integrating indigenous and local knowledge with modern technologies to map and monitor their territories in order to safeguard biodiversity and assert land rights, and how the information gathered can be used to link local knowledge to national level monitoring and global processes.
Phoebe Ndiema outlined how mapping in her community has evolved into a structured, community-led process combining elders’ traditional knowledge with youth’s technical skills, and shared her community’s experience of using participatory mapping and monitoring as advocacy tools. Phoebe emphasized the importance of sovereignty over data collection and storage, bylaws, community resource centres and the documentation of information through stories, videos to foster the intergenerational transmission of knowledge.
Tero Mustonen showcased Arctic and Boreal indigenous monitoring efforts, such as reconstructing caribou herd histories through oral accounts, and the Sámi-led identification of previously unknown endangered species. Tero outlined the restoration of 60,000 hectares of landscape through co-created initiatives that combine indigenous knowledge with science.
Narumon Arunotai shared how participatory mapping in coastal communities like Phuket has enabled rapid responses to ecosystem changes (e.g., seagrass die-offs) and built bridges between local knowledge, GIS systems, and government agencies.
The session concluded with reflections on how indigenous-led monitoring contributes to global frameworks like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, but is often not formally recognized. UNEP-WCMC deputy director Melissa de Kock emphasised the need for stronger connections between community action, national policy, and global platforms and processes.
The event underscored the work of Transformative Pathways in highlighting and advancing rights-based approaches to conservation through fostering local and global connections and collaboration.
