Protecting Nature, Respecting Rights: Putting Indigenous and community rights at the heart of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans 

Countries have less than one year remaining to update their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. One of the most effective strategies to conserve biodiversity is to protect the rights and land tenure of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and local communities (LCs). Yet, NBSAPs frequently neglect this proven solution and fail to protect rights.  

NBSAPs have historically excluded IPs and LCs, in spite of their crucial role in biodiversity conservation.  

Among the NBSAPs assessed: 

• None have adequate safeguards to protect IPs’ and LCs’ rights from exclusionary conservation practices.  
• Fewer than one third were developed in consultation with IPs or LCs. 
• Only one third included provisions to strengthen IPs’ and LCs’ rights and land tenure. 
• Less than half listed IPs and LCs as implementation partners.  
• Two thirds recognize Indigenous and traditional knowledge but focus on documenting knowledge over protecting rights.  

NBSAP updates provide a crucial opportunity to recognize IPs’ and LCs’ central role in biodiversity conservation.  

Some countries are involving IPs and LCs in NBSAP updates. Policymakers and donor organizations need to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to robust consultations for this round of NBSAP development. In NBSAPs, countries should commit to engaging IPs and LCs as equal partners, providing IPs’ and LCs’ access to finance, and monitoring to track progress on improving IPs’ and LCs’ rights as a conservation strategy.  

Through a comprehensive analysis of 27 NBSAPs, this Forest Declaration Assessment Special Report assesses the extent to which IPs’ and LCs’ rights have been integrated into past NBSAP development and implementation and provides initial insights into how they are being considered in the coming NBSAP updates. The report concludes with recommendations for policymakers, donor and partner organizations, and IP and LC groups to ensure IPs and LCs are better included in NBSAPs going forward.  

Read the full report below!