IPLCs have been carrying out a wide range of activities to raise awareness of and promote respect for traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use, and towards their incorporation into the implementation of the Convention at all levels. Below are some selected examples.
Promotion and revitalisation of culture, language and traditional practices
A revival of interest and enthusiasm for peoples’ cultural identity, particularly amongst youths, is notable in many regions. For example:
- In Thailand the Karen and Hmong organise youth camps to pass on indigenous culture and knowledge related to the environment, and have set up community cultural centres to provide spaces for the elders to teach cultural practices to the youth.
- In Suriname, indigenous and Maroon organisations, with the help of support groups, designed a bi-lingual method for indigenous and tribal children (Dutch and Kari’na; Dutch and Lokodyan; and Dutch and Saamaka) and are raising awareness and initiating discussions about intercultural and bilingual education (IBE) among parents, teachers and school boards.
- In Mexico, the Comcaac (Seri people) of Sonora entered into a long-term collaboration with a multi-disciplinary research team on linguistic expressions and traditional ecological knowledge. This project has enabled learning encompassing both Western and indigenous perspectives on perceiving and cataloguing biodiversity. Cataloguing indigenous species and place names has led to the discovery of new species, as well as to a deeper understanding of species’ habitats and requirements.
- In the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia in the Russian Arctic region, indigenous nomadic schools provide education for indigenous children in their native language. Children learn about their culture, traditions and customs, and practise skills related to traditional Arctic resource governance and management. The schools are supported by regional laws and long-term programmes and funding. The schools are created in the locations of the reindeer herding brigades in adapted wooden rooms or winterised yurts (chums) so that the children do not have to leave their homes to go to school. This initiative aims to support the continuation and restoration of the traditional nomadic way of life, which is the primary means of collective survival in the extreme environments of the North.
- Recent long-term community-based cooperation and research in the Eurasian North points to profound links between maintaining traditional livelihoods, such as reindeer herding and fisheries, and the survival of traditional culture, mindset and languages. Impacts to habitats therefore have very direct influences on these traditional societies, as both are key components of socio-ecological systems.
Community action research on customary sustainable use
Since 2004, numerous IPLC organisations and communities have developed resources and materials on the customary sustainable use (CSU) of biological diversity. By researching customary sustainable use, including customary rules and laws, the communities have deepened their insight into customary management systems and their maintenance and/or revitalisation (see for example case studies “Identifying impacts and threats to vulnerable ecosystems in Guna Yala, Panama”, “Wapichan people’s plan to secure and care for their lands, Guyana”, “Community-based vulnerability and resilience mapping and adaptation practices in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh” and “Community-based documentation of positive contributions of traditional rotational farming to carbon sequestration and ecosystem resilience, Thailand“). Community studies have identified concrete actions to promote respect and recognition for traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use and to take these into account in relevant national policies and programmes. As part of a bottom-up CEPA approach, this information has been shared with national and local governments as well as at various CBD meetings and through official submissions. Such input has contributed to the development of the Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use (adopted by the 12th Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP12) in 2014: see Target 7) and the communities involved are now determined to play an active role in the implementation of the Plan up to 2020 and beyond.
Community mapping to address land use change and security of land tenure
Participatory community mapping based on traditional knowledge and using both traditional and modern mapping technologies has emerged as a useful and powerful tool during the past two decades (see Target 19 for examples). Hundreds of communities have started to use this tool and efforts are under way to establish collaborative networks at various levels. In August 2013, 110 representatives of indigenous peoples, community mapping experts, members of support NGOs and academia from 17 countries gathered together in the traditional territory of the Batak at Lake Toba in Indonesia, to share and learn from their diverse experiences. Whilst acknowledging some potential risks, the participants agreed that community maps can be used as part of community-based monitoring and information systems for a wide range of purposes, including:
- The identification of diverse forms of land use, and monitoring of changes in land and resource use;
- Tracking the extent of use or decline of traditional knowledge, indigenous languages and customary governance;
- Monitoring of biodiversity, ecosystem integrity and climate change impacts;
- Development of territorial management plans, including innovative zoning that contributes directly to conservation and sustainable use (see for example Figure 18.5 and case study “Wapichan people’s plan to secure and care for their lands, Guyana”);
- As a tool for self-determined development and in advocacy for policy reforms.
One of the challenges being addressed in relation to monitoring of land-use change and secure land tenure is how better to manage complementarity and inter-operability between community-generated maps and larger scale maps produced by national or global agencies. Meanwhile, community participatory mapping is set to continue to evolve to serve community needs.
