Inclusive conservation: Understanding the contributions, leadership and challenges of Indigenous people in Nepal

Organisers: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Nepal Indigenous Women Forum

About the workshop

Co-organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the National Indigenous Women’s Forum (NIWF), this national workshop aims to facilitate dialogue with Indigenous people (IP) on other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in Nepal and the use of this designation in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. In doing so, the workshop seeks to explore Indigenous people’s realities, roles, challenges, perspectives, and concerns regarding OECM implementation in Nepal, and to promote an inclusive, rights-based approach and strategy for their meaningful participation in achieving Action Target 3 of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as a whole. It aims to provide a platform to discuss the opportunities and challenges, foster mutual learning through expert presentations and thematic group discussions, and prepare a briefing paper to inform national policy and guideline development in alignment with the KMGBF.

Objectives

1. Understand Indigenous people’s perceptions, values, and roles in conservation, with a particular focus on the concept of OECMs in Nepal, including the challenges, opportunities, and concerns related to area-based conservation measures.
2. To raise awareness for promoting an inclusive, rights-based policy dialogue that integrates Indigenous knowledge, innovation, and practice, and recognises conservation on Indigenous and traditional lands, considering the principles of free, prior and informed consent.
3. To co-develop practical strategies for meaningful engagement and leadership of Indigenous people, women, girls, and youths and local communities in achieving CBD Target 3 of KMGBF and advancing inclusive community-based conservation and initiatives.

Background

Indigenous nationalities, categorised into six types: advantaged, disadvantaged, marginalised, highly marginalised, endangered, and minorities, account for 35.08 per cent (2021) of the population of Nepal and reside in different ecological regions of the country. Most of them belong to the 123 recognised Indigenous language groups, with their diverse customary laws and traditional offices/systems. These diversities demand recognition and promotion of specific biocultural community protocols, tangible and intangible values and knowledge systems.

The Indigenous people of Nepal have made great efforts in the past and present to conserve biodiversity. Historically, Nepal has had a diversity of communal land tenure and management systems, including areas recognised as Indigenous territories and managed by communities such as Kipat, Munthum, Khurba Dekh, Budghar, Guthi, Nawa, Ghapa, Choho, and Bheja, to name a few. Traditional institutions and governance systems played a vital role in biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of forests, water, land, and grazing areas. Over the years, many of these systems have broken down or ended with the transfer of land to the state and the codification of statutory laws governing land management. Today, in addition to community forests, Nepal has 20 protected areas (PAs) network that covers 23.39 per cent of the country’s land area.

In 2018, the Convention on Biological Diversity introduced the concept of OECMs to complement PAs for conservation while incorporating Indigenous rights and values. OECMs are areas outside the PA system that are effectively and sustainably managed, but with conservation not necessarily being a primary objective. OECMs offer an important opportunity to acknowledge and support Indigenous and community-managed areas that conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services outside of formal protected areas. The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 3 encourages countries to conserve 30% of their land and oceans by 2030. Nepal’s adoption of this target in the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) must centre on equity and justice for Indigenous people, women, girls, youth, and people with disabilities, ensuring the recognition and inclusion of Indigenous-managed territories as OECMs. This workshop provides an opportunity to discuss and clarify some of the issues related to this recognition so that IP can determine the potential benefits and constraints associated with OECMs.

Expected outputs

1. Position paper on Indigenous rights and OECMs: A position paper with key recommendations from Indigenous people that includes women, youth, girls, and people with disabilities to the Government of Nepal. This will inform the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), support recognition of OECMs, and emphasise the importance of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and Indigenous governance systems – Indigenous and traditional territories (ITT) in biodiversity conservation.
2. Strategic roadmap for Indigenous-led OECM engagement: A roadmap outlining how Indigenous Peoples will engage in OECM-related processes, including ITT in biodiversity conservation. It will identify capacity-building priorities, inclusive participation strategies, and pathways for the recognition and integration of customary governance systems, territories, and practices into local, provincial, national and international conservation frameworks.
3. Multi-stakeholder collaboration framework: A collaborative framework designed to strengthen partnerships among Indigenous people and local communities, government bodies, and conservation organisations.

Participants 

• Indigenous leaders, women, youth, Indigenous minorities, marginalised, endangered, and people with disabilities.

• Policy makers and representatives from government and community-based organisations relevant to the workshop: National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities, Inclusion Commission, IPs Commission, Tharu Commission.

• Environmental and Indigenous legal experts.