Terralingua Publishes Biocultural Diversiy Toolkit

With a view to making the concept and some of the applications of biocultural diversity more widely known to researchers, professionals, policy makers, and the general public, Terralingua has published the Biocultural Diversity Toolkit.

Since 1996, Terralingua has spearheaded research and applied work that have helped forge an integrated biocultural perspective on nature conservation and sustainable development: an approach that respects diversity in both nature and culture, and that recognizes the inextricable link between humans and the natural environment as vital to achieving human development in balance with nature. There are many hopeful signs of growing awareness of the critical importance of biocultural diversity for the vitality and resilience of our planet. Yet, stemming the continued erosion of life systems in both nature and culture requires a decisive effort to communicate, educate, share insights, and promote a new vision for human futures.

The Toolkit has 5  volumes:

1. Introduction to Biocultural Diversity;
2. Assessing the State of the World's Languages;
3. Assessing the Vitality of Traditional Environmental Knowledge;
4. Documenting and Revitalizing OralTraditions; and
5. Biocultural Approaches to Conservation and Development.

By bringing together several results of their work,  Terralingua  have assembled this publication, to help increase understanding of the complex changes that are weakening the biocultural fabric of life, and to foster action to counter this trend. They have drawn from collaborations with key partners, including Natural Justice, with a chapter on Community Protocols by Kabir Sanjay Bavikatte and Harry Jonas in the 5th volume.

ICCA Toolkit Now Available

The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) has recently released a new resource entitled "A Toolkit to Support Conservation by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Building capacity and sharing knowledge for Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs)". The toolkit documents sixteen case studies and a diverse set of innovative tools and approaches developed to help Indigenous peoples and local communities address critical challenges that affect their natural and cultural resources. The resources are organised around five key themes: documentation, management planning, monitoring and evaluation, communication, and finance and values. It also sets out tools to support the effectiveness and viability of ICCAs as governance structures for the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. Our review of international law and jurisprudence, the Convention on Biological Diversity's Technical Series No. 64 on recognising and supporting ICCAs, and the toolkit and website on biocultural community protocols are highlighted as tools for legal empowerment and securing legal recognition.

In addition to UNEP-WCMC, the toolkit was developed with the support of and in collaboration with the UN Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, the Government of Norway, the German Agency for International Cooperation, and the ICCA Consortium. It is available for download in English here.