Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs)

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Context (DTE): The importance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in conservation and the need to share benefits from biodiversity with them has been earmarked repeatedly.
Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) refer to distinct groups of people with deep historical connections to specific territories or regions.
These groups possess distinct cultural, social, economic, and political systems intricately linked to their ancestral lands.

Importance of IPLCs in Conservation

They deeply understand the local ecosystems and the intricate web of life that supports them.
They possess a wealth of traditional knowledge about sustainable resource management, passed down through generations.
They act as natural guardians of biodiversity by protecting against deforestation, poaching, etc.

Historical marginalisation and distrust: IPLCs, marginalised and dispossessed by governments and conservation groups, harbour deep distrust of outsiders.
Top-down conservation approaches: In this approach, governments and organisations set the agenda and tell IPLCs what to do. This disempowers IPLCs, fostering resentment and resistance.
Lack of recognition of IPLCs’ rights and knowledge
Lack of funding and resources
Language barriers

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): It mandates that each country respects, preserves, and maintains the knowledge, innovations and practices of IPLCs.
Languages of IPLCs: A Working Group of CBD has emphasised the need to safeguard the languages of IPLCs for the intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF): KMGBF aims to safeguard biodiversity, promote sustainable use, and ensure equitable sharing of benefits with IPLC.
Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF): Global Environment Facility (GEF) allocates up to 20% of the new GBFF funds for IPLCs.

CBD, 1992 is a multilateral treaty adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
The treaty that entered into effect in 1993 is legally binding.
195 UN states and the European Union are parties to the convention; India is a party to it.
The Convention has three main goals:
1. Conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity)
2. Sustainable use of its components
3. Fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources
Under CBD, two protocols have been adopted:
1. Cartagena Protocol on biosafety (2003)
2. Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing (2014)

KMGBF was adopted in the 15^th COP to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
It set goals and targets for protecting biodiversity and halting its loss.
The framework, which is not legally binding, sets out 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.

GBFF is the world’s new biodiversity framework fund.
GBFF was established at the 7^th Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
It will help countries achieve targets set under the KMGBF.

The GEF was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
It is a family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and land and ocean health strains.