CBD COP12: Support for Indigenous Peoples’ Customary Practices and Biodiversity Monitoring

The 12th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP12) was held in Pyeongchang, South-Korea, from 6-18 October 2014. Indigenous peoples from all around the globe gathered at the meeting to share their perspectives and inputs on several biodiversity-related issues that are of great importance and/or concern to their communities and their territories, such as biodiversity and climate change, invasive species, gender and biodiversity, and traditional knowledge. COP12 represented a milestone moment as the CBD adopted a plan of action on customary sustainable use that commits to, and calls for, concrete support for community-based sustainable practices in relation to biodiversity. Moreover, the Parties to the Convention finally agreed to use the term ‘indigenous peoples and local communities’ in future decisions.

One of the main tasks of COP12 was to carry out a mid-term review of the CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2020). A flagship report, called the 4th Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO4), was launched that reviewed to what extent we are on track to meet the twenty global biodiversity targets in this plan. Indigenous peoples have consistently  stressed the importance  of their integrated biodiversity management systems to advance on multiple biodiversity targets, but also that (lack of) progress on most biodiversity targets can have major impacts on their communities, livelihoods, knowledge and practices. They also pointed at the importance of community-based monitoring, and conveyed clear messages that traditional knowledge should be acknowledged as expert knowledge, complementary to scientific knowledge. The CBD is starting to recognize this and has included several case studies on community monitoring in GBO4, and COP12 adopted various Decisions in which community-based initiatives , based on traditional knowledge, were acknowledged and encouraged.

To view photos, read indigenous peoples’ statements, and view the press conference by the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) on the terminology debate, visit the IIFB portal: iifb.indigenousportal.com

Access and download GBO4 and the related technical documents here: www.cbd.int/gbo4/

All the decisions are temporarily available as in-session documents here: www.cbd.int/cop12/insession until they are fully processes and posted as COP12 decisions on the CBD website.