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Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration: How Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and food systems inform cosmogonic restoration processes


28/04/2022 - 

New York City / Online – How can Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems inform global debates related to biocentric restoration, biodiversity conservation, climate change, and sustainable food systems? This was the central question discussed at a side event to the Twenty-First Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), organized by FAO, IMPECT, the Indigenous Partnership on Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP) and NESFAS, the Ărramăt project and the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems.

Indigenous Peoples’ territories cover 28% of the world’s land surface and harbour 80% of the planet’s biodiversity. These territories intersect with 40% of all terrestrial protected areas, water ecosystems and ecologically intact landscapes (for example, boreal and tropical primary forests, savannahs, montane forests and marshes), in which Indigenous Peoples have developed diverse and complex food systems. Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are rooted in traditional knowledge and rely on territorial management practices established over centuries to generate food while protecting the environment. It is estimated that 60 million people, who pertain to different Indigenous Peoples, rely on various forest ecosystems, which are part of their food systems.

 

 

Indigenous Food Systems as a truly game-changing opportunity

“Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are able to provide nourishment and healthy diets, while at the same time preserving ecosystems, and present a truly game-changing opportunity to modify current trends of environmental degradation. So the question is not only why we are not taking into account Indigenous Peoples’ food systems as a viable alternative, but we continue to subject them and threaten the very existence of millions of Indigenous Peoples, their food systems and the health of ecosystems”, urged H.E. Miguel García Winder, Permanent Representative of Mexico to Rome-Based agencies in his opening remarks. “The Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems Coalition is a unique opportunity to move the compass into the right direction, to change perceptions and to include centuries of knowledge, acknowledge different ways of learning, and multiculturalism” he added.

The time is now

“We are facing the worst climate crisis in history, and we are running out of time. Climate change is a threat multiplier that worsens hunger, food production, poverty, and other challenges”,  underscored René Castro, Advisor to the FAO Director-General. “At the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, there was one issue in particular that change the world's perspective: Indigenous Peoples’ food systems. FAO calls of governments, the private sector, international organizations and climate funds to ensure that Indigenous Peoples knowledge, food systems and rights are respected, preserved and taking into account in any climate project and policy. The time is now. No initiative will succeed if Indigenous Peoples knowledge, food systems and rights are not included”, he concluded.

 

How are Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems interconnected?

“Indigenous Peoples have a sacred relationship with nature and the values of caring, sharing and reciprocity, that guide the governance of the sacred relationship and must be the basis of any biocentric restoration initiative,” explained Phrang Roy, Khasi people, Coordinator of the Indigenous Partnership on Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP). “In a way, FAO reminded us that Indigenous Peoples’ biocentric restoration, even on historically degraded land, is something that we must consider as we meet the challenge of climate change. We, FAO and NESFAS, are already working with shifting cultivators and hunter gatherers to show the world that they are game changers with Indigenous Peoples’ food systems for the restoration of land, that has been degraded for reasons beyond their control.”

Indigenous Peoples’ practices, values, and knowledge of root causes are key

“The knowledge, values and relation with Mother Earth that Indigenous Peoples have, play an essential role, not only to address climate change, but to help guide the global community to reorient the way in which it interacts with nature,” Chad Tudenggongbu, Programme Officer, Local Communities & Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), UNFCCC said. “Indigenous Peoples have a more nuanced and the more complex understanding of biocentrism, as they often see themselves as part of nature, so therefore there isn't a clear demarcation between a human and the nature. This really can help to guide the global efforts to address climate change, and we need to highlight their practices. At the UNFCC we have a Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples platform to create an inclusive space.” He concluded that Indigenous Peoples’ practices, values, and knowledge of the root causes of climate change and biodiversity loss needs to be integrated into current debates and initiatives.

No forest-based climate action without Indigenous Peoples’ rights

“As international organizations, we should never talk about forest-based climate action without putting secure rights and livelihoods for Indigenous Peoples at the core of that,” Amy Duchelle, Team Leader of Climate Change and Resilience in FAO’s Forestry Division underlined.  “We really need to be protecting and building carbon sinks and a lot of that depends on the forest sink. Indigenous Peoples are responsible for maintaining and building many sinks, yet only a fraction of the climate finance is going to Indigenous Peoples on the ground. We need to find innovative finance that really gets to the guardians of the world’s forests. The Indigenous Peoples’ biocentric restoration initiative fills a gap in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, as the acknowledgement and incorporation of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems in restoration practices helps to create a shared vision for ecosystem restoration.”

Bringing Indigenous and non-indigenous scientists together

“The Ărramăt project brings together indigenous and non-indigenous academics, and aims to preserve the health and wellbeing of the environment, living beings and thus biodiversity by elevating traditional knowledge from Indigenous Peoples and their cosmovision” explained Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Kel Tamasheq people, chair of the Ărramăt project, and member of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems. “The project will help Indigenous Peoples to document their knowledge with meaningful data, to be included in policy processes at all levels.  We call members states to support this initiative,” she concluded.

Indigenous Peoples in Thailand

“In Thailand, there are more than 60 distinct groups of Indigenous Peoples, whose territories include 80% of forest area with high biodiversity. Indigenous women play a key role in food production, seed collection and domestic duties. Access to land and natural resources, climate change and shifts to cash-crop production are major challenges,” explained Nittaya Earkanna-Mee, Director of the Inter Mountain Peoples Education and Culture in Thailand (IMPECT).

Co-creating Knowledge to understand complexities

“The magnitude of challenges and speed of changes we face is accelerating. We need to work collectively, across concepts and cultures in processes of co-creation of knowledge. This is what Indigenous Peoples have been doing for centuries, and we have to learn from them. We need to challenge many of the narratives that scientists, policy makers and practitioners are using. If we work together, scientists and policy makers do listen,” urged Yon Fernández de Larrinoa, Head of the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit.

 

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