Target 1: Awareness of biodiversity increased

Many IPLCs live by principles and values related to the concept of living well (for example, in Ecuador sumak kawsay⁴, or buen vivir, refers to living well in harmony with nature). Typically, such holistic approaches emphasise local sources of food and livelihoods; community solidarity; intergenerational governance; resilient ecosystems; spiritual, economic and social connection to lands and territories; the protection of systems of knowledge transfer; customary sustainable use of resources; and collective benefit-sharing. Nature is more likely to be protected and maintained on IPLC lands and territories where these principles are enabled and upheld. 

IPLCs, in not seeing nature (or biodiversity) as a separate external entity, provide an important counterpoint to the dominant western paradigm. It will be critical for peoples and societies to embrace more holistic, relational value frameworks that emphasise living in harmony with nature if we are to address the current environmental crisis.⁵

IPLCs have been active in revitalising, restoring and protecting their knowledge and values through creating spaces for intergenerational learning and knowledge-sharing, mostly within communities and conducted in local languages. Specific activities include creating intergenerational learning programmes; creating culturally sensitive learning spaces; organising community-based nature and cultural events; running community-based training, and information and legal centres; and co-producing educational resources with the government. Initiatives may be enhanced through the use of modern technologies to, for example, record elders and store knowledge in secure databases.

Creating culturally sensitive learning spaces and cultural events

Culturally sensitive learning spaces and activities provide opportunities to share culture and identity, including values and knowledge. They are chances to renew pride and are also occasions for others to increase their awareness and understanding.

• In Malaysia, PACOS Trust (Partners of Community Organizations in Sabah (PACOS) Trust) worked with 22 village partners to set up community learning centres and community kindergartens where the teachers and students are themselves villagers. Today, many of the centres also serve as libraries and spaces for community engagement and activities such as talks, village meetings, workshops, and relief centres. 
• International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated annually on 9 August. Cultural and food festivals have been organised in Suriname, Cambodia and northeast India, while Vietnam and Timor-Leste have held workshops on mother-tongue and intergenerational learning. In Bangladesh and Nepal, roundtable discussions and meetings with government officials were organised. In the US, there is a rise in the appreciation of the significance of celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of Columbus Day. Eleven states (Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin) observe some version of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, along with more than 100 cities, including Washington DC.⁶
• In Russia, the first nomadic kindergarten was established by reindeer herders and their communities in Yakutia in 1992. It was designed so that the teachers moved with the herders as they travelled across the tundra. At that time, Yakutia was autonomous from the federal government and the communities did what they considered necessary for their children (Yakutia is now an autonomous district, or okrug, of Russia). Local authorities supported the initiative and allocated money for teachers’ salaries but all other expenses (e.g. transportation, gas, accommodation, winterised yurts, special books, training consumables) were covered by the communities. By the end of the 1990s, there were seven nomadic schools in Yakutia. At the beginning of the 21st century, the initiative was gradually replicated in other Arctic regions of Russia i.e. the Yamal-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi autonomous districts; the Komi and Sakha republics; and the Arkhangelsk region. Since 2003, these schools have been receiving a small amount of support from UNESCO and foreign foundations, thus popularising and raising the status of these schools, resulting in increased funding from within the regions and official authorities. The schools have shown excellent results and raised awareness of the significance of reindeer herders leading a nomadic lifestyle.⁷⁸

IPLCs have undertaken wide-ranging activities to share their values and worldviews, both within their own communities and through engagement with the wider public, including through policy advocacy; public communication and information campaigns; and educational programmes, including in mainstream school curricula. They are also working to ensure that their diverse values are passed down to future generations, and that young people develop the skills needed to continue to raise awareness on these issues.

• IPLCs should revitalise the intergenerational transmission of their values, cultures and languages, celebrating the distinctive contributions of elders, youth and children, men and women, and their spiritual relationships with nature.
• Governments, conservation organisations and educational agencies should promote intercultural learning and education, and the transmission of traditional knowledge, building on IPLC initiatives, including those led by women and youth. 
• Governments and intergovernmental institutions should strengthen and upscale inclusion of IPLC values and knowledge in mainstream education systems, including the active promotion of indigenous languages, through meaningful participation and partnerships with IPLCs.

• Convention on Biological Diversity (2018) The Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration on Nature and Culture. CBD/COP/14/INF/46. Montreal: Convention on Biological Diversity. 
• Pope Francis (2015) Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Francis on Care for our Common Home. Vatican: The Holy See. Available at: http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
• UNESCO Strategic Outcome Document of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages. Available at: http://en.iyil2019.org