A global agreement reached this week to halt and reverse biodiversity loss could usher in a new era of Indigenous-led conservation as the world seeks to conserve 30 per cent of the globe鈥檚 land and oceans by 2030.
The agreement, adopted at the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal on 19 December, includes language recognising the role of Indigenous people as 鈥渃ustodians of biodiversity and partners in the conservation鈥� of nature, and says Indigenous rights and knowledge must be respected during the implementation of the agreement.
鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 a major shift 鈥� they are recognising this important role that was invisible,鈥� said from the Omaguaca-Kolla peoples in Argentina in a statement from the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), a group of representatives from Indigenous communities around the world.
Advertisement
Indigenous lands contain a disproportionate amount of the world鈥檚 biodiversity: a 2020 study found that around on land for biodiversity and carbon sequestration are on Indigenous lands. Going into COP15, Indigenous advocates were concerned that achieving the 鈥�30 by 30鈥� target would continue a history of conservation efforts leading to violence, dispossession and displacement for Indigenous communities.
A key line in the 30 by 30 target recognises the rights of Indigenous people and local communities, while also saying that Indigenous and traditional territories may be counted towards the goal 鈥渨here applicable鈥�, along with conventional protected areas and other types of conservation measures.
This was a shift from earlier language that had implied Indigenous territories would be included outright within conservation areas, 鈥渆ffectively incorporating our territory under state regulation and conservation controls鈥�, said at Nia Tero, a US non-governmental organisation, during negotiations on behalf of the IIFB. Corpuz said this issue was a 鈥渞ed line鈥� at COP15.
Conservationists at COP15 expressed concerns that a 30 by 30 target that counted Indigenous lands as preserved areas would be a 鈥渘othing burger鈥� because these areas already account for more than 30 per cent of land across the globe, says at One Earth, a conservation group pushing to protect 50 per cent of the planet. 鈥淓ffectively, the target has already been achieved.鈥�
Corpuz disagrees, pointing out that 30 by 30 is a floor and not a ceiling for conservation, and that nearly half of Indigenous lands overlap with protected areas. 鈥淭he rest will have to undergo a process by which Indigenous peoples and local communities identify areas within their territory that will be counted towards the 30 per cent target,鈥� she told 快猫短视频.
In the final COP15 agreement, countries aimed to balance a recognition of the importance of Indigenous peoples and territories for conserving biodiversity without imposing on Indigenous sovereignty over those lands, says , who co-chaired negotiations.
鈥淚ndigenous people didn鈥檛 want to be caught in a straitjacket of conservation,鈥� he says. The agreement leaves open that 鈥淚ndigenous land can be protected and be valuable for conservation 鈥� or not,鈥� depending on how Indigenous communities see fit to use it.
鈥淭hat can represent the start of a new era in conservation in which the rights of Indigenous people and leaders are centred,鈥� says at the Campaign for Nature, a conservation group advocating for the 30 by 30 goal. One signal of the change in thinking came from Canada, which used COP15 to announce CAD$800 million in new support for Indigenous-led conservation projects on 10 million hectares of land.
Putting the agreement鈥檚 vision for Indigenous-led conservation into practice will take difficult work with national and local governments, but 鈥淚ndigenous peoples and local communities are happy that finally we are here,鈥� said , the co-chair of the IIFB from Kenya, in the statement.
