Conserving biocultural diversity and respecting and promoting the rights and role of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women in nurturing biocultural diversity is of fundamental importance to reducing and reversing deforestation and biodiversity loss in general. Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) cover 12-22% of the earth’s territory. There is convincing evidence that ICCAs not only sustain many unique cultures and livelihoods, but that they are also far more effective at forest conservation and restoration than conventional protected areas. It is also broadly recognised that Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) play a central role in the implementation of ecosystem conservation and restoration strategies on the ground. Together with other members of the ICCA Consortium we promote the legal and political recognition of ICCAs and the autonomous governance structures and rights of the communities that manage them.
The Community Conservation Resilience Initiative
The aim of the Community Conservation Resilience Initiative (CCRI) was to contribute to the implementation of the CBD’s 2011-2020 Strategic Plan and Aichi Targets by providing policy advice on effective and appropriate forms of support for community conservation (see CCRI methodology). The project has documented and reviewed the findings of bottom-up, participatory assessments in 22 countries (see map below) of the resilience of community conservation initiatives and the support that should be provided to strengthen these initiatives. The results of the assessments are being widely disseminated and fed into the deliberations of the Convention on Biological Diversity and related international policy processes through an active outreach and advocacy campaign. You can view and download all of the CCRI publications to date here. The project ran until April 2019, and numerous CCRI projects led to inspiring results, teaching us a great deal about the best ways to design, develop and implement community conservation projects.
Photo: Biodiversity monitoring workshop with children in the Selva Alto Andina in Suratá, Santander, Colombia On the International Day of Forests, the Global Forest Coalition salutes the work of our member organizations who work tirelessly to protect our forests, and the rights of local communities, women and Indigenous Peoples. They are often on the front lines of the struggle to ensure gender-just, rights-based approaches and responses to threats to our forests and environment. The capitalist, corporate, patriarchal capture of climate …
Capacity-building projects in DRC and Kenya show the importance of women’s rights to protecting communities and ecosystems Despite the challenges that the pandemic has brought, over the past year GFC…
The tourism sector has been impacted more than most during the pandemic, with whole countries locked down and many people losing their jobs or having to work in more dangerous…
The Global Forest Coalition strongly condemns the violent attacks by the military junta in Myanmar against Indigenous Peoples and other innocent citizens, including in particular the recent military airstrikes on…
For an inclusive and just future in a COVID-19 world and beyond, we recognise that gender equality and addressing structural barriers of patriarchy, extractivism, racism and capitalism go hand in…
by Ramesh Timilsina, Program Officer, Federation Of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN) Like the rest of the world, Nepal is suffering from the wrath of COVID-19. Factories are shut down,…
Orignially published in ECOonline September 2020. By Souparna Lahiri, Global Forest Coalition The United Nations Biodiversity Summit is taking place at a time when the Covid 19 Pandemic has resulted…
CBD Alliance Press Release: Organizations from around the world, the majority from the global South, have published a “Peoples’ response to the High-Level Summit on Biodiversity”, which raises critical points…
September 21st marks International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations, a day to celebrate resistance against the establishment and expansion of harmful commercial monocultures. To commemorate the occasion and…
New briefing explains the basics of REDD+ and why it’s so contentious It’s 15 years since the United Nations climate convention unveiled REDD (and then REDD+) as its much-hyped solution…
We celebrate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples each August 9th, but the human cultures that have conserved biodiversity since time immemorial should be celebrated year-round. Indigenous Peoples and…
