Working with indigenous and local knowledge in national ecosystem assessments within the BES-Net initiative
- News
This article was written by BES-Net ILK Support Unit team, UNESCO LINKS (links@unesco.org).
Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is increasingly being featured across different assessments on biodiversity and ecosystem services around the world. The engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities in ecosystem assessments can contribute to the available knowledge and help ensure that conservation and sustainable use policies and practices are compatible with their livelihoods, cultures, practices, worldviews, and lifestyles. The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) ILK Support Unit led by UNESCO is supporting countries around the world to ensure the participation of indigenous peoples and local communities and their knowledge in national ecosystem assessments.
Supporting ILK: Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net)
BES-Net is an initiative managed by a consortium of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). BES-Net is a capacity-sharing “network of networks” that complements the capacity-building work of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) by promoting the uptake of the IPBES assessments and promoting and supporting national ecosystem assessments.
The BES-Net initiative recognizes the vital role of indigenous peoples and local communities and their knowledge in biodiversity conservation. In 2020, BES-Net established the ILK Support Unit led by UNESCO — through its Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Section. The Section also hosts the IPBES ILK technical support unit. Through the National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative (NEA Initiative) at UNEP-WCMC, the BES-Net ILK Support Unit provides ILK technical, capacity building and advisory support to country partners to effectively mobilize and synthesize ILK in the national ecosystem assessment process.
ILK is often woven into a national ecosystem assessment’s technical report and summary for policymakers, and can also be featured in the form of case studies and text boxes throughout assessment-related publications and written outputs.
UNESCO-LINKS is committed to strengthening ILK holders’ equitable and meaningful participation in the national ecosystem assessment process to provide the best available knowledge for the assessment and drive inclusive and locally appropriate conservation policies and actions for both nature and people.
Advantages of working with ILK in national ecosystem assessments
Indigenous peoples and local communities’ livelihoods, cultures, and lifestyles are strongly dependent on nature. As a result, they are likely to be disproportionately affected by global changes in climate and ecosystem functions. These challenges will likely threaten their survival and influence their ability to manage and conserve natural resources. Therefore, the engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities in a national ecosystem assessment can help ensure that conservation policies and practices are compatible with their livelihoods, cultures, practices, worldviews, and lifestyles, thereby upholding the rights of indigenous peoples as enshrined in the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP.).
“Indigenous peoples and local communities are one of the most eco-literate and adaptive human beings. Their historically acquired and tested knowledge, philosophies, and practices can help us to be more eco-friendly, conserve biodiversity and adapt to climate change. One of the first steps is to acknowledge and recognize ILK as an essential form of knowledge and mainstream it into national biodiversity policies and school curriculum”, says Joseph Karanja, BES-Net ILK project officer, UNESCO LINKS.
The BES-Net initiative recognizes ILK as a valid and legitimate form of knowledge that can contribute and enrich a national ecosystem assessment in different ways. Many indigenous peoples and local communities hold distinct philosophies, as well as ethical and spiritual systems that can interpret environmental phenomena in different ways from other knowledge systems, and conceptions of the future that can bring diverse perspectives to work on scenario building. This knowledge may stretch back over many generations, providing information on environmental trends beyond what is available to science.
For example, according to the report on ancestral voyaging knowledge published by UNESCO (2021), indigenous Pacific Islanders hold dynamic and complex ancestral voyaging knowledge that have enabled pacific communities to exist to date. Indigenous navigational concepts and rules are deeply connected to the ocean and culture where people, ocean, sky, and land are treated as ancestors. On other hand, fish, birds, and ground swells (surface gravity waves) are relatives, who embody knowledge of interactive relationships between themselves, and with people. Through their rich navigation knowledge and technology, indigenous navigators can inform on oceanic changes, marine and coastal biodiversity, and movement of marine species (i.e., sea mammals and seabirds).
In addition, ILK can inform and guide policies on biodiversity and ecosystem services. For instance, Colombia’s national ecosystem assessment discovered that forested areas largely coincide with territories where indigenous peoples, afro-descendant, campesino, raizal, and other local communities have developed their own governance and management systems. This highlights the role of community knowledge and governance systems in the sustainable use and conservation of natural resources. Therefore, policies that do not properly consider local conditions, cultures, and customary governance may lead to unforeseen or negative impacts on both people and nature.
As illustrated by the Colombian case, the national ecosystem assessment has been an important tool in this process by shedding light on how ILK can contribute to the knowledge-based supporting decision-making. The assessment also connects indigenous peoples and local communities with decision-makers and the scientific community, thereby promoting mutual learning and inter-cultural understanding. Also, the assessment is helping in integrating critical indigenous peoples’ issues into policy formulation to ensure sustainable and healthy ecosystems and societies.
Furthermore, the active participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in national ecosystem assessments is helping to build ownership of the assessment process and its findings, strengthening the base for co-management and co-implementation of biodiversity-related policies and projects.
The national ecosystem assessment process also provides an essential platform to connect different knowledge systems and disciplines through the Multiple Evidence Base (MEB) approach. Connecting different knowledge systems can be a challenging task, however, the value lies in the complementarity and co-production of the knowledge held by these systems that can generate new insights and innovations and produce the best available knowledge to address complex issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change. The MEB approach highlights that the evaluation and validation of knowledge should occur within the knowledge system – it is not recommended to subject ILK to scientific validation processes since it has its own logic and validation systems. The MEB approach has increased the legitimacy of ILK as a valid and useful source of knowledge.
ILK Support to Country Partners
UNESCO LINKS supports the NEA Initiative’s country partners through technical and advisory support, capacity building initiatives, and promoting on-the-ground participatory research. For instance, UNESCO LINKS has developed material guides to support countries undertaking national ecosystem assessments, including: Why Engage with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, ILK Practical Guidelines on Working with Indigenous peoples and Local Communities, and ILK Methods Guide. UNESCO LINKS, in collaboration with BES-Net consortium partners (UNDP and UNEP-WCMC), organizes capacity building workshops and webinars to introduce tools and approaches of working with ILK in a national ecosystem assessment. UNESCO LINKS also supports country partners in organizing and conducting ILK dialogue workshops and ILK research activities based on each country’s needs and priorities.
UNEP-WCMC’s National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative is part of BES-Net, and works in collaboration with, UNDP and UNESCO. This work is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Environment’s International Climate Initiative (IKI) and SwedBio.
