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International processes

International processes play a crucial role in shaping policies and practices at all levels related to biodiversity conservation and the rights of indigenous peoples. A key international process for this initiative is the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 

This project will focus on embedding recognition and support for indigenous peoples and local community actions into every level of the implementation and monitoring of global the CBD process and commitments, and in participation in national planning and monitoring.

people standing in a group looking at the camera
Members of the Transformative Pathways project travelled to Thailand for the annual meeting. Photo by FPP.

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Conservation and Human Rights: An Introduction

This guidance is intended as a resource for conservation professionals who are interested to learn more about the relationship between conservation and human rights, especially the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. A huge amount has been written on this topic over the past…
29.10.24
Blog

Training resources on the Convention on Biological Diversity

This booklet series provides Indigenous Peoples and local communities with key insights into the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and its Target 3, focusing on their rights and participation in global conservation efforts. It offers guidance on engaging…
28.10.24
Article
Group of transformative pathways project members in Kenya

Transformative Pathways partners prepare for COP16

The 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) begins on 21 October in Cali, Colombia. Transformative Pathways project partners will be attending to advocate for their rights in biodiversity conservation. At COP15 in 2022, Parties agreed upon and signed the…
30.09.24
Video
Sungai ethnic men explaining on the types of animal traps using materials from their forest. Tony/PACOS, 2015

PACOS Trust joins the Transformative Pathways

As of August 2024, we are honoured to welcome PACOS Trust, an Indigenous community-based organisation in Sabah, Malaysia to the Transformative Pathways Project.  PACOS Trust (short for Partners of Community Organisations in Sabah) is dedicated to improving the quality of life in Indigenous communities in…
29.08.24
Blog

‘Remarkable’ progress made towards incorporating traditional knowledge into the Biodiversity Plan

This article was originally published on the UNEP-WCMC website.   Countries must respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to achieve the world’s major international commitment on biodiversity, the Biodiversity Plan. This includes acknowledging Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights to nature and their…
05.07.24
Article

Now is the time for conservationists to stand up for social justice

This article was originally published in PLOS Biology by © 2024 E. J. Milner-Gulland.  Existing power imbalances and injustices could be exacerbated by large flows of international funding for nature recovery. Conservationists are still grappling with what social justice means in practice; a major shift…
04.07.24

Further info

To complement this work, the project also engages with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a group of government and civil society organizations that work to advance the conservation of nature.

Other key collaborations are with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which functions as a policy platform into the CBD, as well as the Centrers of Distinction on Indigenous and Local Knowledge (COD-ILK). This last organization is a network of indigenous leaders, experts, professionals, and allies that promote the value of the knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in science and policy.

The project also provides networking and technical support for the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), who are the representative forum for indigenous peoples within the CBD processes and who manage to insert the recognition of indigenous peoples and local communities’ rights in the recently established Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

At a global level, the GBF provides strong foundations for the work of this project, but the way the framework is translated onto a national, regional, and local level needs further support. Effective implementation of these frameworks requires the active involvement of indigenous peoples and strong commitments from governments and other stakeholders to ensure that their rights and contributions are acknowledged and upheld.

This project supports international engagement by indigenous peoples’ representatives. This complements the ongoing work at the international level required to complete and support the monitoring, reporting, and verification of the GBF framework.

woman looking at camera with fist up
Ogiek community member, Teresa Chemosop celebrates during community assemblies at Laboot, Mt. Elgon, Kenya. Photo by Shadrak Mutai/CIPDP