Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) steward an estimated 50 per cent or more of the world’s land, including many of its most pristine ecosystems, according to biodiversity experts. 

Existing and emerging evidence shows that these lands often house more species and see lower rates of deforestation and degradation than lands managed by public or private entities, and can cost less to establish and maintain.

Moreover, they sustain the lives and livelihoods of at least 1.67 billion people worldwide.  

However, despite their vital contributions to nature, IPLCs are often overlooked in national policies. 

The Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) has launched its annual report for 2024 by celebrating the Indigenous Peoples and forest peoples, including Kenya’s Ogiek community, who are at the frontline of solutions to address interconnected human rights, climate and biodiversity crises.  

The report noted that success in this cause needs a whole community approach, and partner-led gender justice initiatives brought to the fore for Indigenous peoples’ and forest peoples’ movements for collective rights, from women’s exchanges, to food sovereignty initiatives, international advocacy and more.  

According to Tom Lomax, FPP director and senior lawyer, conflicts do not arise because people demand their rights, but because their rights are violated. 

Constructive engagement 

“Requests for FPP’s legal support from those demanding their rights resulted in notable wins in 2024, but judgments or reformed laws do not always resolve conflicts and uphold rights alone, and require implementation to be effective,” he noted, adding that this requires a multifaceted and longer-term strategy of constructive dialogue, changing narratives, community self-governance and territorial care.  

The effectiveness of this multi-layered strategy is exemplified by impact stories in the report, including those from the Ogiek of Mt Elgon in Kenya, the Bagyeli in Cameroon, the Kichwa in Peru, and the People of the Centre in Colombia.  

The Ogiek community has led the design of a novel scientific sampling system based on indigenous knowledge.

With the sampling system in place, the community now has the skills and structures in place to implement a biodiversity monitoring programme that will allow them to gather, record and show evidence of their stewardship of the land and resources to policymakers, conservation practitioners and academic researchers.  

The Ogiek people, who have long safeguarded Mt Elgon’s rich biodiversity, were, until recently, still subject to forceful evictions from their lands in the name of conservation.  

Having won a landmark ruling in 2022 stating that previous evictions from their land were unlawful, they want people to recognise that their traditional practices and ways of managing their land benefit Mt Elgon’s biodiversity.  

The monitoring programme includes mapping the terrain, managing data, using analysis tools, and designing rapid alert systems and protocols.

A team of 17 community volunteers, 6 women and 11 men, completed monitoring trials in 2024, at times facing impenetrable vegetation, poor GPS signal, heavy rain, and herds of elephants.  

Elephants are one of the key species, along with bamboo, African olive, Elgon teak, medicinal plants, bushbuck, dik-dik, and hyena.

The scientific methods of biodiversity monitoring complement the indigenous practices of oral reports to elders, forest walks and high-point surveys.  

FPP and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICCS) at Oxford University trained the team in scientific methods such as using quadrats, transect lines and camera traps; and collecting, storing and analysing data.  

They also provided the necessary equipment and accompanied the community in developing and trialling the programme. FPP and ICCS have learnt a lot from the skills and strategies of the Elgon Ogiek 

FPP is continuing to support Indigenous peoples’ and forest peoples’ voices at the forefront of global policy on climate, biodiversity, and business and human rights.  

“Securing agreement on a new indicator integrating land tenure into the monitoring framework of the Global Biodiversity Framework was an important step forward in 2024. The Zero Tolerance Initiative also made strides in committing companies to zero tolerance for attacks against human rights defenders via its new resource hub,” says Lomax.  

IPLCs hold or manage 54 per cent of the world’s remaining intact forests, the world’s last remaining unfragmented forests, large enough to retain native biodiversity without signs of degradation or deforestation.  

As of 2020, there were 1.13 billion hectares of intact forests in the world. Over half this area (610 million hectares) directly overlaps with lands that are held or managed by IPLCs. 

The FPP report states that, looking ahead, the impact of energy, minerals, and nature markets on indigenous peoples and forest peoples will continue to increase, requiring further investment in standard-setting and accountability.  

Judicial victories 

A key imperative will be for alternative climate and nature finance models that can deliver the support needed by Indigenous peoples and forest peoples to protect their forests from threats such as illegal mining and logging.  

“Territorial defence is a core priority for Indigenous peoples and forest peoples – their survival depends on it; yet the scale and nature of the threats such groups face will require sustainable and flexible sources of funding and allyship to ensure they can succeed and flourish,” says Lomax.  

Indigenous Peoples last November scored a major victory at the United Nations Biodiversity Convention (COP16), also known as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in Cali, Colombia, following the creation of a new permanent body for them. 

The gain grants IPLCs formal power to influence CBD decisions. Marking a potentially pivotal moment, over 300 delegates and negotiators convened in Montreal, Canada, in August 2024 to advance the historic 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement. 

Established in 1993, the CBD is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity, and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources. 

Experts aver that indigenous communities can offer a more sustainable solution to advancing conservation, and at a lower cost through the biodiversity protection roles that they play. 

“It is still painfully clear that there is still much to be done for IPLCs, state World Bank specialists Erwin De Nys and Asyl Undeland. “IPLCs around the world continue to struggle to preserve their unique cultures, customs, identity, and well-being.” 

At the meeting in Montreal in 2022, countries reached a historic agreement to halt biodiversity loss by conserving at least 30 per cent of land and water by 2030. This marked a critical step toward protecting the world’s precious remaining species and ecosystems.  

The Global Biodiversity Framework, as it’s known, also explicitly calls on countries to recognise and uphold IPLCs’ rights in their conservation strategies. Fulfilling this part of the pledge will be instrumental to its success. 

Yet despite IPLCs’ vital contributions to nature, they are often overlooked in national policies.

Many have yet to see their land rights recognised or protected by law, even as those lands face growing threats from industry and agriculture, experts explain. 

Countries are now developing and rolling out new national biodiversity strategies that will underpin the world’s ambitious goals. To succeed, these plans must factor in the essential role IPLCs play in safeguarding biodiversity.  

That means not only recognising their importance, but ensuring their rights to hold and manage their lands and natural resources are legally secure.