Podong Indigenous Peoples Initiative

The project supports Indigenous-led conservation in Guatemala Panama Tanzania and Nepal. It is co-designed and co-led by the International Union on Conservation (IUCN) Indigenous leaders and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. Project activities include: (1) building capacity for Indigenous leaders on biodiversity conservation; (2) contributing to National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs); (3) supporting Indigenous Peoples’ particularly women and girls participation in global biodiversity fora; (4) organizing events to raise awareness on Indigenous rights natural resource management and biodiversity conservation; (5) training on the use of cooking stoves and grazing plans; (6) organizing learning exchanges; and (7) establishing a working group to guide the design of an Indigenous direct financing mechanism. The initiative supports the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Article 8(j) via the integration of Indigenous knowledge. Indigenous partners executing the project include: Asociacion Sotz’il (Guatemala) Ujamaa Community Resource Team (Tanzania) and Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nepal). Additional partners include: (1) IUCN Indigenous Peoples Organization Members (2) International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (3) Inclusive Conservation Initiative (4) IUCN Protected and Conserved Areas Team-Act 30 initiative; and (5) IUCN National Offices.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced biodiversity outcomes via scaled-up conservation action led by Indigenous Peoples on the ground by 2050; (2) increased impact of Indigenous leaders especially women and youth in global biodiversity fora by 2030; and (3) increased access to finance for biodiversity conservation that is Indigenous Peoples-led and gender-sensitive.