On the road to COP 15: Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ hopes at the resumed meeting in Nairobi
By International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) 
Illustration source: FAO
As negotiations resume in Nairobi, the IIFB reiterates that failure to adequately recognize human rights in the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is of great concern. While some progress was made during the negotiations in Geneva, a lot still needs to be done to ensure that the new GBF will follow a human rights-based approach, including the respect and recognition of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ rights to their land, territories, traditional knowledge, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
We underscore the importance to recognize IPLCs’ contribution to the One Health approach, traditional knowledge of species and treatments, respect for traditional knowledge, FPIC and benefit sharing in accessing our traditional knowledge and ancestral resources.
The “Science briefs on targets, goals and monitoring in support of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework negotiations” (CBD/WG2020/4/INF/2/REV2) state that: “it is clear that protecting at least 30% of the earth will not occur without the leadership, support and partnership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities” (pg. 13). This is true, not only for Target 3 but for the whole framework. In order to achieve a true partnership and thus the 2050 Vision of “Living in harmony with nature” a human rights-based approach in targets, goals, objectives and the monitoring framework will be vital for the survival of biodiversity.
The post 2020 GBF must mainstream a human rights-based approach and adopt mechanisms to address past wrongs and be guided to stop the continuing disregard of the rights of IPLCs. We must not continue to allow human rights abuses in the name of conservation. IIFB stands with our brothers and sisters from the Maasai Indigenous community in Loliondo, Tanzania which is being forcefully evicted from their ancestral lands to create a game reserve for hunting. The dire situation that they are facing is a reflection of the failure to implement a human rights-based approach.
IPLCs do not see nature as separate from people, and neither should the post 2020 GBF. IIFB would like to urge all Parties to the CBD to agree on a way forward that puts the rights of the stewards and guardians of the world’s most precious ecosystems at the centre of policy to conserve this Planet.
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