Indigenous communities and the protection of their livelihoods were the topics that took centrestage on Day Three of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Hyderabad, India.
Shifting the focus from complex draft decisions on marine and coastal biodiversity and resource mobilization discussed yesterday, the foremost on the agenda for a working group on Day Three at COP11 was indigenous communities.
The debate on the best practices to promote conservation and sustainable development without causing damage to indigenous and native populations is a necessary one. Parties discussed ways of protecting traditional knowledge systems, raising awareness on biodiversity, integrating and involving communities in decision making and capacity building, and means to adopt these measures in national frameworks.
Preserving the status of indigenous groups, innovations and practices of traditional knowledge also occupies importance in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2001-2010, as a vital component of the Aichi Targets. But like most discussions in COP meetings, will this too become a tug-of-war between developing and developed countries?
The CBD Secretariat doesn’t think so. The issue (preserving the rights of indigenous communities) is not specific to certain countries but is relevant to the international community as a whole. Even countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand face the same dilemmas as Namibia, India or any developing nations. So it is universally recognized, said CBD spokesperson David Ainsworth. He added that there is also a proposal to name July 13 as the International Day for Local Communities.
Other items on the agenda: Another working group will discuss the Nagoya Protocol. A number of side events are also underway, exploring subjects such as the South Asia regional vulture recovery programme, climate change, synthetic biology, among others.
Postnoon 2012