Nature and Culture Summit 2024

DATE: 26 -27 October 2024

VENUE: Cali, Colombia

Provisional Agenda and registration: Access here.

The Nature and Culture Summit 2024 is one of the major parallel events that will be held during the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16). Celebrating its fifth edition and taking place almost a year after the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Framework) at COP 15 in December 2022, the Summit will provide a unique opportunity to develop key messages on the intrinsic relationship of biocultural diversity in the context of the implementation of the Framework.

Culture shapes heritage, identity, creativity, and linguistic diversity and influences how people perceive, experience, and use nature. Similarly, nature provides the conditions for economic, social, and cultural development. The relationship between nature and culture is dynamic and deeply intertwined.

Indigenous peoples and local communities are champions of biodiversity protection through their cultural practices. Their extensive knowledge systems, values, and worldviews are central to their cultural identity. Their traditional ways of life are closely intertwined with their lands, flora and fauna, and their values and practices emerge from these intimate connections.

People of African descent, particular their communities, also play a vital role in conservation, drawing on rich traditions and a profound understanding of the relationship between biodiversity and culture.