Indigenous Peoples

In 2017, FAO established the Indigenous Peoples' knowledge and climate change pillar of work in response to demand from Indigenous Youth, who expressed serious concerns about the loss and weakening of their knowledge systems.

Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge is the cumulative body of knowledge, practices and manifestations maintained and developed by Indigenous Peoples with long histories of interaction with their natural environment. Indigenous Peoples refine their knowledge systems through accumulated constant observation of the environment, adjusting their responses over time. This has enabled Indigenous Peoples not only to understand natural cycles, weather patterns and wildlife behaviour but also to develop a day-to-day practical de facto experimentation based on this observation. The accumulated knowledge created during the constant observation is passed on orally through the inter- and intra-generational transmission of knowledge.

Accounting for over 476 million worldwide, Indigenous Peoples live across over 90 countries and seven socio-cultural regions. They often reside in sites of rich biodiversity and possess rich biocultural diversity and knowledge that has been preserved for generations. Their participation in the drafting and implementation of food and climate action policy is crucial to the future continuation of their livelihoods.

Indigenous Peoples' biocentric restoration

This initiative responds to a need for new models of conservation and sustainable food systems that can strengthen global efforts to conserve biodiversity, address food security and reduce carbon emissions, while at the same time empowering Indigenous Peoples in a way that preserves their traditional knowledge, socio-cultural systems, cosmogony and governance systems as well as the key ecological functions on which their livelihoods and territorial management systems rely.

 

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High-Level Expert Seminar on climate change impacts: Expanding situations of vulnerability on Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant populations and Latin American migrants. 

This initiative is part of the joint effort led by Costa Rica, Spain and the Holy See in support of the people most affected by climate change, complementing the efforts of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that will be presented prior to the Pre-COP Milan, Italy in September 2021.

Indigenous Peoples and the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture: 

The Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA) is a landmark decision that was reached at the UN Climate Conference (COP23) in November 2017 on the next steps for agriculture within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).The objective of this brief is to provide recommendations on how the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA) can support the adequate integration of Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge and practices in international, national and local governance systems.

Indigenous Youth as agents of change, Actions of Indigenous Youth in local food systems during times of adversity 

"Indigenous Youth as agents of change - Actions of Indigenous Youth in local food systems during times of adversity" highlights six initiatives from Indigenous Youth in regions around the world who are leading innovative solutions and collaborations in the face of adversity brought about by climate change and exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Indigenous Peoples´ food systems and climate change in the Polar Oceans | COP26 Glasgow

Climate change is affecting fisheries and food systems worldwide, and the Polar Oceans are no exception. Ocean warming and acidification are expected to disrupt current practices, from resource distribution and abundance, to timing and locations of fishing, landing sites, fish preservation, marketing and consumption, and even to allocation of fishing quotas among countries. Responses to climate change and its impacts are urgently needed to build sustainability into the fisheries sector, which is contributing significantly to food, nutrition and livelihood security for local communities especially in developing countries, with a relatively low carbon footprint compared with land-based meat production.