Will Indigenous territories be recognized as a form of conservation at COP15?

Dec 17

Joyce Cariño Nettleton, a representative for the Centers of Distinction on Indigenous and Local Knowledge.

By Matteo Cimellaro

As a push to recognize Indigenous sovereignty faces roadblocks at the United Nations biodiversity conference in Montreal, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada is not standing in the way of those efforts.

The federal government supports and embraces Indigenous rights, he said, pointing to recent funding announcements supporting Indigenous-led conservation projects. Since the COP15 conference began, Canada has announced $800 million in funding for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), where Indigenous nations take the lead on protecting and conserving ecosystems, and $5.8 million to build an Indigenous Guardian Network.

But naming Indigenous traditional territories as a category of their own in the COP15 global biodiversity plan remains an issue. A major focus of the conference’s final agreement is a pledge to protect 30 per cent of the world's lands and waters by 2030. According to a draft of the agreement, countries aim to achieve this by creating protected areas and using "other effective area-based conservation measures." Indigenous groups are calling for Indigenous traditional territories — and their sovereignty over those lands and waters — to be recognized as part of the plan. However, some western countries are reportedly blocking those efforts.

Peter Allan

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