The Guardian

November 1, 2021
At least $1.7bn of funding will be given directly to indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in recognition of their key role in protecting the planet’s lands and forests, it will be announced at Cop26 today.

The governments of the UK, US, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands are leading the $1.7bn (£1.25bn) funding pledge, which is being announced as part of ambitious global efforts to reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, with campaigners cautiously hopeful that this conference of the parties (Cop) could be the first to properly champion indigenous peoples’ rights.

Tuntiak Katan, a leader of Ecuador’s indigenous Shuar people who serves as general coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, said: “We are happy with the financing announcement, but we will be watching for concrete measures that will reveal whether the intent is to transform a system that has directed less than 1% of climate funding to indigenous and local communities. What matters is what happens next.

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EurekAlert

May 21, 2021
An international study led by the ICTA-UAB states that recognizing indigenous peoples' and local communities' rights and agency is critical to addressing the current biodiversity crisis

Policies established by the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) could be ineffective if the rights and agency of indigenous peoples and local communities are not recognized and fully incorporated into biodiversity management. This is supported by an international study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) and recently published in the journal Ambio.

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Dame

May 18, 2021
For the first time in history, with the appointment of Deb Haaland as the Secretary of the Interior, the protection of natural lands in the United States falls under the leadership of an Indigenous woman native to the lands she is called to defend. While this momentous selection had been supported by diverse groups from across the country, it begged the question: What took so long for Americans to recognize the importance of Native perspectives in protecting the land?

Indigenous people make up less than 5 percent of our world’s population, yet they serve as the frontline defenders of the Earth’s biodiversity. These communities manage and/or sit on roughly 80 percent of the ecosystems necessary to maintain and protect balance on our planet. Despite colonization, discrimination, and displacement, Indigenous people around the world have remained deeply tied to their native lands. They are the first to notice and experience the ecology chaos that occurs when forests are cleared, pipelines are installed, or waterways are contaminated, and they’ve served steady warnings of what will happen if we do not protect Earth’s natural resources.

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Mongabay

May 4, 2021
A week since the Climate Leaders Summit, where Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to work with Indigenous peoples to protect the Amazon, his government is being accused of acting to intimidate them.

At least two prominent Indigenous leaders in the country have recently been summoned for police questioning for criticizing the government, raising concerns from human rights organizations, politicians, celebrities and academics about Bolsonaro’s abuse of power and the undermining of freedom of expression.

Sônia Guajajara, one of the top Brazilian Indigenous activists and head of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) — the country’s main Indigenous association — was called on April 26 to appear before the federal police to testify in a probe for allegedly “slandering” Bolsonaro’s government.

“The persecution by this government is unacceptable and absurd. They will not silence us,” Guajajara said on an April 30 Twitter post.

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African Arguments

July 22, 2020
When it comes to biodiversity, South Africa offers some cautionary tales. The country is the world’s third most biodiverse – containing, fully or partially, three of the earth’s 36 biodiversity hotspots – yet it has lost more than 18% of its natural habit and nearly half its terrestrial ecosystems are threatened.

However, South Africa also offers some invaluable lessons in how biodiversity can be protected. For that tale, we should look to the Gumbi, a small clan of Zulu-speaking people in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Their story underscores the wisdom of conserving large areas of biodiversity and, in the words of the Gumbi leadership, finding ways to “share life with nature”. Here’s what they did.

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Business Ghana

July 15, 2020
Indigenous Peoples and their unique knowledge are essential to address the COVID-19 outbreak and to build a more sustainable, resilient world as we recover from the pandemic, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said today.

“The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that we need to rethink the way we interact with nature, as well as how we produce and consume food.

The continuous use of unsustainable agricultural practices, and the devastation of forests and wildlife, are part of what has brought us into closer contact with the virus that causes COVID-19,” said IFAD President, Gilbert F. Houngbo.

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CBC

July 11, 2020
As various levels of government become more serious about climate change, there has been heightened interest in incorporating Indigenous knowledge in that effort.

Last year, the federal government passed new environmental assessment legislation, the Impact Assessment Act, which requires Indigenous knowledge to be used alongside scientific information in any decisions about the environment, including natural resource projects.

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