The project will inform global evidence-based policy supporting indigenous and community-led conservation initiatives. The broad scope of this study provides the opportunity to clarify and strengthen knowledge on the contribution IPLCs make to conservation, which in turn is vital for informing forest and conservation related policy, research and investment. Programmes which support this include:
Supporting conservation by indigenous peoples and local communities
It is widely accepted in global environmental policy that indigenous peoples play a significant role in conservation and climate change mitigation. Biodiversity and ecosystem services on lands governed by indigenous peoples and local communities are declining less rapidly than elsewhere (IPBES, 2019). These lands constitute at least a quarter of the total global land area (IPBES, 2019) and overlap significantly with biodiversity-rich areas.
However, support for indigenous and community-led conservation remains largely ad hoc, local in scale, and insecure. A window of opportunity exists to reform policy and upscale support for these systems, while the new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework – that sets the agenda for the next 30 years – is under development by the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (UN CBD). Yet, gaining strong support for indigenous-led conservation in the Framework requires evidence on the conditions that enable successful conservation outcomes, an analysis of effective kinds of support, and systematic information on the type and scale of support currently available, to highlight knowledge gaps.
The project will inform global evidence-based policy supporting indigenous and community-led conservation initiatives. We will:
- Produce a systematic map of the contextual factors and ecological outcomes that are measured or discussed in the literature on forested lands held by IPLCs, and identify gaps and biases in the current knowledge base.
- Develop a database of evidence that can be used to help inform and direct future research efforts.
The broad scope of this study provides the opportunity to clarify and strengthen knowledge on the contribution IPLCs make to conservation, which in turn is vital for informing forest and conservation related policy, research and investment.
The Nature Positive Universities Alliance is a global network of universities prioritising nature restoration.
Nature Positive Universities
University of Oxford in collaboration with UNEP have launched a global network in order to prompt prioritising nature restoration within the higher education sector; in their operations and supply chains, on campuses and within our cities. This network will form a major contribution to the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Universities have a substantial role to play in moving urgently from degrading nature to restoring it: our students are our future leaders, we create knowledge and thinkers, and directly impact the planet as land owners and consumers. Uniting universities for ecosystem restoration has impact into the wider community and beyond.
To date, approximately 360 universities have signed up to join the network, and we are now working together to set ambitious targets for nature, complete baseline assessments of biodiversity impacts, prioritise actions for nature using the Conservation Hierarchy 4Rs (Refrain, Reduce, Restore & Renew) and use our influence to promote nature recovery within our communities.
