We are inviting Indigenous Peoples and local communities from all over the world to contribute to three new biodiversity assessments being developed by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
About IPBES and Indigenous and local knowledge
IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body charged by its 139 member states and parties to provide policy makers with the best available knowledge on biodiversity, human well-being, and sustainable development (www.ipbes.net). In this work, IPBES recognizes the importance of Indigenous and local knowledge, including practices, values, and actions. IPBES has developed an approach to working with Indigenous and local knowledge, which facilitates the participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in IPBES activities.
More information on how Indigenous Peoples and local communities can participate in the work of IPBES is available here.
The assessments
One of the key functions of IPBES is to produce global-scale assessments of biodiversity, bringing together teams of authors to examine and assess the available information on different topics. To date, IPBES is the most ambitious intergovernmental platform to bring Indigenous and local knowledge to the core of large-scale assessments.
IPBES is currently working on three new assessments, which are the focus of this call for contributions:
- The nexus of biodiversity, food water and health (2021-2024, https://ipbes.net/nexus) – examining interactions between these elements and how they can be better managed as a holistic whole in the context of climate change
- Transformative change (2021-2024, https://ipbes.net/transformative-change) - exploring how large-scale societal change can be achieved in ways that support biodiversity and human wellbeing
- Business and biodiversity (2023-2025, https://ipbes.net/business-impact) – exploring how impacts of business can be measured and understood.
Why participate in this call?
Contributions from Indigenous Peoples and local communities will help to frame and develop the assessments in ways that recognize the role of Indigenous and local knowledge, practices, values and actions in biodiversity conservation, as well as current challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and ways forward. The assessments can bring these issues to the attention of policy-makers, and help to facilitate discussions between Indigenous Peoples and local communities and policy-makers and other actors.
Who can participate?
Members of Indigenous Peoples or local communities are encouraged to participate, including women, men, elders, youth, specialist knowledge holders, organisations or networks, as well as researchers and others working with Indigenous and local knowledge.
What are we hoping to receive?
We are hoping to receive:
- Materials that express community-based knowledge, practices, values, management, governance and needs related to biodiversity, food, water, health and climate;
- Materials that help to convey communities’ conceptualizations, visions or plans for the future; or
- Materials that describe interactions between business, Indigenous Peoples and local communities and nature.
Materials could be in national or local languages, and could include (but are not limited to):
- Reports developed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities
- Declarations, vision statements or planning documents by Indigenous Peoples and local communities
- Capacity building plans or education materials for or by Indigenous Peoples and local communities
- Songs, poems, artworks
- Books
- Case studies
- Maps
- Videos or documentaries
- Legal frameworks or policies
- Academic papers
- Any other materials that help to convey the knowledge, practices, values, challenges and visions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities
We also welcome recommendations of individuals, communities, organizations and networks that could collaborate in the development of the assessments.
How will the information you provide be used?
Materials contributed will be added to a library of materials related to Indigenous and local knowledge and Indigenous Peoples and local communities, which will be used by authors of IPBES assessments. If the materials are used as part of an assessment, they will be cited and acknowledged in the assessment report. The library is not publicly accessible and will only be used by authors of IPBES assessments.
The names and contact information of individuals and organisations that you recommend will be added to a database. This will allow us to contact these individual or organisations to invite them to participate in activities such as writing portions of text, participating in dialogue workshops, or reviewing parts of the assessment. Individuals and organisations can also be removed from this list whenever they wish.
Free, Prior and Informed Consent
This call for contributions will follow principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) as follows:
- Contributed materials will only be used by IPBES authors to develop IPBES assessments. Materials will not be used for any other purposes unless consent is given.
- Materials are contributed voluntarily, and can be withdrawn at a future date, before they are used in the final assessments, should contributors decide to do so.
- All rights to contributed materials continue to belong to the contributor or community, as before contribution.
- Information or materials contributed should already be publicly available and should not represent sensitive or private data or information. The contributor should consult with their community or relevant institutions if there is uncertainty over whether information can be shared.
- If you feel that information has been submitted without permission or used inappropriately please contact IPBES at: [email protected].
For further information on the IPBES approach to Free, Prior and Informed Consent see Decision IPBES-5/1. If more information on use of materials is required please contact IPBES at: [email protected].