Who we are

The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) is a collection of representatives of indigenous governments, indigenous non- governmental organizations and indigenous academics and activists who organize around the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other major international environmental meetings to help coordinate indigenous strategies at the global, regional and national levels.

The main objective of the IIFB is to facilitate and support the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the CBD to ensure that the rights of Indigenous Peoples and their contribution to nature are recognized and respected during the negotiation, adoption of the decisions of the CBD and its protocols, and its implementation.

Indigenous Peoples and local communities have been ancestral guardians of Mother Earth. Most of the existing biodiversity in the planet is in Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories. Despite their important role and contributions to biodiversity conservation and restoration, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have been largely excluded from decision making processes of biodiversity governance, conservation mechanisms and financing. The IIFB works to shift this paradigm.