After the darkness that we collectively experienced in the last one and a half years, many of us now sense a new beginning with the determination to build back better. The question is not ‘’when will we get back to normal’’ but rather ‘’how can we create and adapt to a new normal.’’ For some of us, the pandemic was a profoundly thought-provoking experience – an invitation to reconsider the power of collective action supported by robust, evidence-based knowledge. Can we apply the same to pressures we have been putting on planet Earth for centuries? 

Biodiversity loss and climate change mutually reinforce each other, as stated by top scientists in the IPCC – IPBES co-sponsored workshop report released at the beginning of June. The decisions of policymakers should not be between nature protection or climate action; the importance of acting on interlinkages between systems has been reiterated in the scoping report of the nexus assessment approved during the eighth IPBES Plenary Session (IPBES-8) held virtually on 14–24 June. BES-Net also participated in the IPBES-8 Stakeholder Days through an e-poster illustrating the support provided to IPBES. Read a recap of the event here.

At a virtual meeting in July, BES-Net’s consortium  jointly presented the results of the first two quarters of 2021 to the Advisory Committee, highlighting key milestones and challenges in implementation. We were particularly thrilled to share Colombia’s National Ecosystem Assessment launch, which took place on 30 June 2021. The assessment provides a detailed analysis of the status, trend and future scenarios of the country’s biological and cultural diversity, aiming to bridge the gap between traditional and scientific knowledge.

Keen to join BES-Net’s coalition of partners? Please reach out to us at alexandra.postrigan@undp.org and prashanthi.subramaniam@undp.org!

Serious deterioration of national biodiversity puts life at risk in Colombia

This conclusion was reached by 105 thematic experts and indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) from all regions of Colombia. Over the course of 3+ years, these experts dedicated at least 93 thousand hours of voluntary work to prepare Colombia’s National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), gathering and analyzing more than 1,500 sources of secondary scientific and traditional knowledge associated with terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, marine and island ecosystems. This Assessment was launched on June 30, 2021, presenting strategic data on the status and trends of biological diversity linked to the well-being of Colombians, showing the trajectories of change and possible futures of the country and looking ahead to 2050. The experts of the Assessment highlighted that Colombia, as a megadiverse, multi-ethnic and multicultural country, has cemented the well-being of its people in nature, but at the same time has the highest number of environmental conflicts in the world. If the current trend of degradation continues, with the consequent increase in associated environmental conflicts and the repression and murder of environmental and social leaders, not only will increasing points of un-sustainability be reached, but local communities, already very vulnerable, will suffer the loss of well-being generated by the ecosystem services, as they are the most dependent on nature.

Therefore there is an urgent need to halt the loss and degradation of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to human well-being. This requires greater investment in research and management that is integral and participatory in nature to generate transformative changes, based on the dialogue of knowledge and quality information for effective decision-making at different levels.

Read the Summary for Policy Makers here and watch the launch here.

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples- and a warning?

On 23 December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided, in its resolution 49/214, that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People shall be observed on 9 August every year. The date commemorates the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations.  Ceremonial observance of the International Day will take place online on Monday, 9 August 2021, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am US Eastern Standard Time (EST).  This year’s theme is “Leaving No One Behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract”.  As part of the commemoration, the UN DESA Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch is organizing a virtual event. Indigenous Peoples, Member States, UN entities, civil society, and the general public are all invited.

Earlier this month, a group of indigenous scientists added a contribution to the growing “scientist’s warning to humanity” series, focusing particularly on the loss of indigenous and local (community) knowledge systems (ILK).  Whilst there is no doubt that ILK is being eroded rapidly, it is equally clear that these systems represent a proven path to long-term sustainability, albeit paths that modern societies may find hard to follow.

To get a flavour for the richness and dignity of indigenous cultures, here are two powerful “statements”. First, an excoriating indigenous warning to western, educated, industrialised, rich societies from Nemonte Nenquimo, a Waorani woman, a mother, and a leader of her people, in a scathing letter to world leaders. Second, Sebastiao Saldago’s remarkable new book “Amazonia” – a 6 year long, 528 pages, 4.28 kg, £100 B&W photo homage to the Amazon region and her peoples. Here is a link to the publisher website. You can get a preview of some of the amazing photos and the passion Saldago has for the region and people from here. (short article with more photos).

It is increasingly clear that we are moving out of our Holocene “comfort zone” and that the necessary transformative change options should be based on adequate recognition, and cross-fertilization of, scientific, indigenous and local knowledge systems.

BES-Net: A new social contract to combat marginalisation of Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems

Dialogue with Karen elders on knowledge of pollinators and biodiversity trends. From left: Nivet Siri and Siwakorn Odochao in Hin Lad Nai village, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Reflecting on the theme of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, “Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract”, how can BES-Net contribute to rethinking social contracts with indigenous peoples and local communities to ensure their rights are safeguarded through biodiversity conservation policies and practices? For many indigenous peoples, the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a foundation to build a just and equitable social contract, a written (or often unwritten) agreement to ensure the respect of the collective and individual rights of indigenous peoples.  

Due to their sustained connection with nature, many indigenous peoples and local communities hold detailed and complex knowledge of biodiversity and ecosystems. At least 25% of global land is owned and/or sustainably managed by indigenous peoples. Recognizing and respecting the value of indigenous and local knowledge in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, BES-Net ensures the inclusion of the indigenous and local knowledge holders as critical stakeholders in the national ecosystem assessments (NEAs) and trialogue processes. This social contract with indigenous and local knowledge holders has paved the way for the co-production of knowledge to ensure the best available evidence is utilised in the NEAs. Also, BES-Net’s trialogues have enhanced collaboration and learning among scientists and indigenous and local knowledge holders, policymakers and practitioners.

UNESCO, along with UNDP and UNEP-WCMC is working with country partners to strengthen just and equitable social contracts with indigenous and local knowledge holders in the national ecosystem assessments and post-assessment activities, including developing and implementing biodiversity and ecosystem policies. BES-Net also provides platforms for the protection, documentation and intergenerational transmission of indigenous and local knowledge while emphasizing the need for free, prior and informed consent and benefit-sharing.

Picture credit: Nigel Crawhall, 2019

In a virtual information event held on 23 June 2021, PANORAMA partners and supporters highlighted how the PANORAMA initiative can contribute to capacity development and knowledge management under the emerging post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Watch the event recording here. Read the related information document here. For more information, visit the event page here.

The new Thematic Community Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) has been officially launched! The solutions presented in this community describe the methodology to assess landscape restoration opportunities and related benefits, approaches for inclusive stakeholder engagement, concepts for participatory governance processes and community-based restoration activities, business models related to restoration value chains, FLR financing instruments and monitoring tools.

Explore the solutions and building blocks here.

The Conversation published an article about EVAMAB, a project created by the Capacities for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (CEBioS), which addressed the evaluation of the economic value of ecosystem services in UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserves. EVAMAB focused on four pilot sites in Africa (in Benin, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda). 

The article explains the project’s creation, its outcomes and its participatory approach to accommodate the specific demands of each region. This piece also discusses the EVAMAB guidance manual for assessing ecosystem services in African Biosphere reserves, which will be available soon.

Photo credit: Dr Luc Janssens de Bisthoven, Coordinator of the CEBioS programme at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

IPBES-8 Plenary Session

The eighth session of the IPBES Plenary (IPBES-8) reached its objectives and contributed to strengthening the Platform’s position. Specifically, the Plenary approved :

• The scoping report for a thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (nexus assessment);
• The scoping report for a thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (transformative change assessment)
• The interim work plans of the five IPBES task forces for the inter-sessional period 2021–2022.

For more information on IPBES-8, please check https://ipbes.net/ipbes8

Launch of the IPBES-IPCC co-sponsored workshop report on biodiversity and climate change

                                                      
In December 2020, 50 of the world’s leading biodiversity and climate experts gathered in a four-day virtual workshop to examine the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The result is the IPBES-IPCC co-sponsored workshop report on biodiversity and climate change launched on 10 June 2021 at a virtual media conference. The report is available on IPBES’ website. 

Participants also produced an associated Scientific Outcome consisting of seven scientific sections, a list of about 1,500 literature references, a glossary and appendices.