One-day Colloquium on the role of ICCAs in achieving the Aichi Targets

As you may know, Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ conserved territories and areas (ICCAs) provide multiple ecological, cultural and biodiversity values, contributing greatly to food and water security, other ecosystem services and towards reaching several Aichi Targets and implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. 

In its decision IX/18 paragraph 6 (a), the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) invited Parties to improve and, where necessary, diversify and strengthen protected-area governance types, including recognizing and taking into account, where appropriate, indigenous and local communities (ILCs).  In paragraph 6 (b) of the same decision, the COP invited Parties to recognize the contribution of, where appropriate, ICCAs within the national protected area system through acknowledgement in national legislation or other effective means.  Further, in paragraph 31 (b) of decision X/31, the COP invited Parties to recognize the role of ICCAs in biodiversity conservation, collaborative management and diversification of governance types.  Finally, in decision X/43, the COP initiated a component of work on customary sustainable use (CSU) of biodiversity.  ICCAs play a critical role in ensuring access and respecting rights to CSU and facilitating inter-generational communication of traditional environmental knowledge, innovations and practices.  It is increasingly recognised that ICCAs can be the living embodiment of both Articles 8(j) and 10(c) of the Convention.

In an effort to support implementation of these decisions and Articles, a one-day Colloquium on the role of ICCAs in achieving the Aichi Targets comprising a series of regional roundtable discussions will be co-hosted by the CBD Secretariat, the governments of Brazil, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Senegal and South Africa, the ICCA Consortium, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity and Conservation International.  The Colloquium will be held on the margins of the eleventh meeting of the COP on 13 October 2012, in rooms 1.03 and 1.04 of the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, with the following objectives:

•               to understand the extent of ICCAs and their potential values and benefits;

•               to discuss the contribution of ICCAs toward reaching multiple Aichi Targets and implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020; and

•               to foster discussion, and to share experiences, best practices and lessons learned of governments and ILCs in the recognition of ICCAs.