FAO and ILC join forces to enhance forest monitoring and land mapping in support to Indigenous Peoples

Achieving the biodiversity goals of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement relies on the full and effective participation of people whose lives are deeply intertwined and dependent on nature.

Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendent Peoples, Pastoralists and countless other traditional rural communities collectively own, hold and manage over half of the world’s lands, including critical natural forest ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots. 

Their deep-rooted knowledge and long-standing relationship with nature make them key actors in managing and safeguarding our planet’s biodiversity and natural ecosystems. However, they face significant climatic and anthropogenic pressures that require both technical and financial support at scale.

Empowering local actors 

Through the UK-funded AIM4Forests programme, FAO has partnered with the International Land Coalition (ILC) and members of the LandMark, which includes Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and civil society actors, to enhance technical capacities in forest monitoring and land mapping, supporting local efforts to further recognise, manage and protect forests, biodiversity, and territories.

LandMark's enhanced geospatial platform (https://www.landmarkmap.org/), recently launched with new data and analytical tools, plays a vital role in mapping and monitoring Indigenous Peoples’ and local community lands globally. It provides critical data for land rights monitoring and advocacy, and tracking land tenure and land use change.

"It's difficult to monitor what you cannot see, and LandMark is helping us do exactly that; visualise and substantiate what is happening on the ground. Thanks to LandMark, communities can get the evidence to back up their land rights claims.” Mike Taylor, ILC Secretariat Director, stated.

FAO-ILC partnership focus areas

Training & capacity development: The initiative supports locally led forest monitoring and participatory mapping efforts to bolster land rights recognition, improved natural resource management, access to finance, and the promotion of conservation and restoration activities, such as the FAO’s-support to Indigenous Peoples on biocentric restoration. An introductory e-learning course developed by UNDP and FAO through the AIM4Forests programme, provides local users with foundational knowledge of forest monitoring and mapping tools, forming an important starting point for further hands-on training envisaged under this programme. 

Regional Hubs and Communities of Practice: Regional hubs in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, established and led by Indigenous Peoples and community-based organisations, will be supported by this partnership. These hubs will serve as communities of practice, fostering peer-to-peer learning, knowledge exchanges, and capacity development on forest monitoring and land mapping. These spaces will enable Indigenous Peoples and community rights holders to actively engage in collecting and managing data on land and forests, supporting them to pursue and advocate for secure land tenure rights. 

Knowledge generation and showcasing: The initiative will gather and produce evidence to highlight the essential contributions of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities towards climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation, underscoring the need to secure their land rights and access to financial and technical support.  

“Territorial mapping is an important tool to effectively monitor and manage the forest in our struggle for land rights. It helps us to strongly advocate for our land rights. Furthermore, it is critical in understanding different impacts and activities within our territories. In advocating for our rights, the mapping and monitoring helps us speak with more confidence about our undisturbed forest, while understanding the locations of environmental impacts. Also, we use forest monitoring data to influence forest and land policies. Finally, we apply mapping and monitoring to build national, regional, and international awareness on the threats to the forests within our territory,” said Hugo Jabini, a Saamaka land rights defender and 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize winner.

Aligning with the Global Biodiversity Framework 

The FAO-ILC collaboration under the AIM4Forests programme supports key targets of the  Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF),including the proposed headline indicator for Target 22 focused on Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ land use and land tenure, which in turn is a key contribution for achieving ecosystem restoration and conservation objectives under Targets 2 and 3.

The technical support envisaged through this partnership will bolster global monitoring efforts, advancing biodiversity goals and recognizing the vital role of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities in global policy agendas.