The political declaration that emerged from WSSD reaffirms "the vital role of indigenous peoples in sustainable development". However, despite considerable progress achieved in the recognition of indigenous and traditional peoples' rights and their greater involvement in conservation and development initiatives, the places and ecosystems that they inhabit continue to be beset by poverty and environmental insecurity. At the same time, these indigenous and traditional societies also inhabit some of the Earth's most biodiverse regions and are the bearers of vital knowledge that is key to maintaining sustainable livelihoods and conserving biodiversity.

Nations, indigenous and local communities, and specialized agencies all recognize the importance of traditional knowledge, intellectual property rights and benefit-sharing arrangements existing within indigenous and local communities, in negotiations on trade, biodiversity, forests, climate change and water. This knowledge and rights are some of the yardsticks against which the implementation of existing Multilateral Environmental Agreements is measured.

Thus, a coherent, participatory and harmonized policy on indigenous peoples, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management is vital to the success of environmental governance both at the international and national levels.

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IUCN's Response

IUCN has responded to the challenge of truly integrating the rights and roles of indigenous peoples in the conservation and sustainable development agenda at the programmatic and policy levels both within the IUCN constituency and in the Union's work in the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements and environmental decision making processes regarding indigenous peoples and conservation. In accordance to its niche, mandate and the resolutions from its World Conservation Congress IUCN has established priority actions on key issues including Indigenous/traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights as they relate to biodiversity; access to genetic resources and equitable benefit sharing arrangements for indigenous peoples and local communities and the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to climate change.

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Convention on Biological Diversity