Recognising and Supporting Stewardship for Conservation Outcomes

Recognising Indigenous peoples and local communities as primary stewards of conservation 

One of the highlights of this year was launching our new project COLOURS (COmmunities, Local OUtcomes, and Regional Science) with its component on Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, with a circle of global and regional partners, financed by the European Union. Our work has two objectives: advancing the recognition and realisation of rights and governance of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and enhancing duty-bearer capacity and accountability for upholding human rights-based approaches. The work focuses on direct support to Indigenous and local conservation in territories across Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and the Pacific, working with local organisations to support their leadership, learn from their conservation approaches, recognise their conservation contributions, and advance the recognition of their rights and governance. These locally driven actors will engage nationally with their governments and bring their learnings to regional and global levels. 

Our approach is grounded in the Nanyuki Roadmap, addressing action areas from supporting conservation actions, to building and sharing capacity, to reforming national laws, to a direct financing component. What matters most is how the work happens: led by Indigenous peoples and local communities themselves, with pathways toward recognition and support that translate commitments into tangible results on the ground.

New partnerships for advancing human rights-based approaches in area-based conservation 

This year, we are excited to announce a new partnership with the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law's Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program - Indigenous Rights and Protected Areas Initiative. Together with experts from the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), we are examining patterns of human rights violations in protected areas, and researching existing grievance mechanisms and accountability frameworks, in order to develop practical guidance for creating effective pathways to resolution. This project is funded by financial means of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This collaboration responds to Action 11 of the Nanyuki Roadmap, brings the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program's extensive documentation of rights violations in conservation contexts together with IUCN's expertise to advance rights-based approaches in protected area governance.

In May, we worked alongside the IUCN World Heritage Team at a workshop at UNESCO Paris, bringing together the International Indigenous Peoples Forum for World Heritage, IUCN, ICOMOS, ICCROM, and the World Heritage Centre. We worked with the objective of moving towrads embedding Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into World Heritage evaluation and monitoring frameworks. We heard firsthand accounts of the close cultural and spiritual relationships custodians hold to their heritage, in addition to how World Heritage can improve governance processes. We scrutinised opportunities along the World Heritage cycle for meaningful inclusion. There is clear commitment by all institutional actors to deliver on an action plan, and the vital subtext is the need to build trusted partnerships for long-term, properly resourced change.

A permanent home for Indigenous peoples and local communities in global decision-making: The new Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) (SB8j)

This year saw the first meeting of the new Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) at the Convention on Biological Diversity - a permanent body replacing the former ad hoc working group. SB8j-1 took place in Panama in October 2025.

This is a paradigm shift, not just a policy commitment. It gives Indigenous peoples and local communities a stronger, consistent voice in CBD processes, with an action-oriented programme of work and accountability. It creates space for knowledge, innovations, and practices to be integrated across all aspects of the Convention. It advances recognition of rights and vital contributions to biodiversity conservation.

IUCN warmly welcomed the establishment of SB8j and joined the statements of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), the Women's Caucus, and the Youth Caucus in a spirit of unity, solidarity, and respect for diversity. We support a rights-based approach across all goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework, shared and equitable governance, recognition of Indigenous and traditional territories, respect for knowledge systems and data sovereignty, and direct, flexible financing that supports the self-determined priorities of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.