Indigenous peoples and local communities on Tuesday called on the world to recognise their contribution and rights in conserving nature, and work to together to reach a successful agreement to protect this. They made this plea as global biodiversity talks in Geneva wrapped up after two weeks of minimal progress.

International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (https://iifb-fiib.org/) co-chair Ramiro Batzin said: “If we don’t have a framework to protect nature that truly recognises and respects the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities — those who are actually conserving biodiversity — we are all going to be in danger.”

Indigenous peoples protect 85% of global biodiversity (https://www.forestpeoples.org/en/press-release/2022/press-briefing-international-indigenous-forum-biodiversity), with 91% of indigenous lands remaining in good to moderate ecological condition, according to researchers...