Outlooks on biodiversity: indigenous peoples and local communities’ contributions to the implementation of the strategic plan for biodiversity 2011-2020 a complement to the fourth edition of the global biodiversity outlook

Overview of key messages for each of the Strategic Goals (A-E) under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity

Strategic Goal A:

Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society
The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development presents a unique opportunity to mainstream biodiversity and cultural values into national economic planning and poverty reduction strategies and to address the underlying causes for the losses of biological and cultural diversity. Recognition of alternative economic models of indigenous peoples and local communities can play an important role towards this goal. Continued incentives for unsustainable patterns of consumption and production are imposing harmful impacts and heightening vulnerabilities of indigenous peoples and local communities, whereas directly rewarding them for their conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through increased security of tenure and respect for their rights will bring multiple benefits for peoples and planet.  Supporting communication, education and public awareness programmes for and by indigenous peoples and local communities will be critical for giving impetus to and enhancing the national and local implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity in the coming years.

Strategic Goal B:

Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use
Global efforts to address the direct drivers of biodiversity loss are failing. Forests are being cleared faster than ever for agribusiness, timber and other land development schemes. Indigenous peoples and local communities are actively addressing these direct pressures by confronting threats to their lands, territories and resources, whilst protecting and restoring the natural world by practising customary sustainable agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and fishing. These actions have proven to be effective but continue to be marginalised and sometimes criminalised. Furthermore, where direct drivers of biodiversity loss have caused harm to indigenous peoples and local communities, there is often little recognition or implementation of compensation measures. A change in policy is needed to put rights and justice at the centre of efforts to address the drivers of biodiversity loss and to provide essential support for indigenous peoples and local communities to continue to practise their customary sustainable resource governance and management.

Strategic Goal C:

Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity
Customary governance systems of indigenous peoples and local communities encompass knowledge, laws, mechanisms and practices that have been safeguarding ecosystems, species and in many cases have been improving genetic diversity, especially of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives. Women have been playing a particularly important role as collectors, savers and managers of seeds. Global and national targets and efforts should recognise and promote indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ roles towards this goal by securing their rights to land and resources, stopping land grabbing and supporting traditional agricultural and livestock practices, the appropriate the recognition of territories and areas conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities (ICCAs), and community on-the-ground monitoring of species. Equity and justice in protected areas should be urgently addressed to ensure that indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights and wellbeing go hand in hand with conservation.

Strategic Goal D:

Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
Customary lands, territories and resources serve the multiple needs of indigenous peoples and local communities in relation to livelihoods and food supply, health, spirituality, identity and culture. Indigenous peoples and local communities significantly contribute to the identification, restoration, safeguarding and monitoring of those lands, territories and resources that are particularly important in providing essential benefits. Policy-level action is needed to ensure that indigenous peoples and local communities fully benefit from their lands, territories and resources, in particular by securing land tenure, and the application of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). Consistent with the CBD ecosystem approach, which integrates social and ecological systems, biodiversity should not be separated from people and their institutions, as working together they underpin socio-ecological resilience. Implementation of the CBD Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use should be prioritized as a key practical action to enhance progress towards Goal D.
Strategic Goal E:

Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building
Participatory approaches are key enabling factors for achieving the Strategic Plan across government and society. The full and effective participation and engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities need to be enhanced in the implementation of the Convention, including in NBSAPs and national reporting processes. Traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use are cross-cutting dimensions for the implementation of all the Aichi Biodiversity Targets at national and local levels, and further efforts are needed to ensure their implementation throughout the Targets.  Community-based monitoring, data and information provide important contributions to monitoring progress under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, related environmental conventions and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.  Successful implementation of these global commitments will require effective knowledge-policy-society interfaces and partnerships across knowledge systems to address priority issues at appropriate scales. Institutional and financial support for collective actions of indigenous peoples and local communities aimed at the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets should be an integral part of the resource mobilisation strategies for implementing the Strategic Plan.

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