News | 26 April, New York.- The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) participated of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) XXIII Session, held in from 15th to 26th April, 2024 in UN Headquarters, New York. This year´s theme was “Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination in the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: emphasizing the voices of Indigenous youth”.
IIFB interventions, in charge of Joji Carino, Ibaloi-Igorot from the Philippines, highlighted the long-standing partnership between the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Indigenous Peoples and local communities and its achievements. Particularly, she stressed the importance of monitoring progress on the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets, which constitute milestones in IPLCs’ fight for systemic change:
- 8 out of the 23 targets of the GBF to be achieved by 2030, contain explicit mentions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (Targets 1 on spatial planning; 3 on conservation of 30% of lands and waters; 5 and 9, on sustainable use of wildlife; 13 on access and benefit-sharing arising from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge; 19 on financial resources; 21 on information for decision-making and 22 on human rights of IPs, women, youth and persons with disabilities, equitable participation , and access to justice).
- Section C, which provides cross-cutting guidance, specifically recognizes the role, rights and contributions of Ips and LCs, the global human rights standards contained in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the application of a human-rights based approach, diverse knowledge systems, and a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach towards full and effective participation in its implementation.
- The adoption of a new Programme of Work on Traditional Knowledge and related institutional arrangements, and its associated Joint Programme of Work on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity.
The IIFB specially underlined the importance of the CBD’s Joint Programme of Work on the links between biological and cultural diversity. “I have always been amazed and inspired by the thousands of collective actions by Indigenous Peoples across the world to find solutions to reverse the loss of biological and cultural diversity. Through an integrative approach of harnessing the breadth and creative richness of humanity’s cultural intelligence and working with nature’s abundance and intelligence, we are rebuilding the linkages between biological and cultural diversity and renewing the futures of nature and cultures. I propose that the UNPFII lends its fullest support for this all this work being undertaken by the CBD, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, including the IIFB”, concluded Joji Carino.
Check the IIFB full statement and IIFB Perspectives on the proposed new programme of work on Article 8(j) and other provisions here.