Under Article 8(j) of the Convention, Parties have undertaken to respect, preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities relevant for the conservation of biodiversity and to promote their wider application with the approval of knowledge holders and to encourage equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological diversity.

During the Third Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, parties agreed to organize a workshop in order to discuss how to implement Article 8(j). In the framework of that event, two proposals were raised: the creation of a Subsidiary Body of the Convention to advise on the implementation of Article 8J and its provisions and the creation of a Programme of Work on Article 8J and it provisions, as a guiding tool to achieve the commitments in Article 8 (j).

The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4) established the Working Group on Article 8(j) and related provisions in 1998. During the first meeting of this Working Group, the Programme of Work on Article 8 (j)) was revised. Finally, in 2000, the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP5) adopted the Programme of Work on the Implementation of Article 8 (j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity by decision V/16.

Since then, the Programme of Work on Article 8 (j)) (PoW) is the main instrument that Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have given themselves to achieve the commitments in Article 8(j) to respect, preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Its mandate is to promote just and wide application of Article 8 (J) with the full and effective participation of the right holders of the traditional knowledge. The internal IIFB Working Group on Article 8(J) was established to achieve positions and make recommendations to the CBD Working Group on Article 8J.

IIFB Statements on Article 8j