The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility is focused on securing land and forest rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We are the first financial mechanism to exclusively fund projects working towards this goal while reducing conflict, driving development, improving global human rights, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The vision of the Land Portal Foundation is to improve land governance to benefit those with the most insecure land rights and the greatest vulnerability to landlessness through information and knowledge sharing.
We believe in the inherent dignity of all people. But around the world, too many people are excluded from the political, economic, and social institutions that shape their lives.
The GATC's mission is to be a single voice to fight for the collective rights of our peoples and communities, for the legal recognition of our territories, for protecting Mother Earth and all human beings, and to combat the causes of climate change. In parallel, we increase the capacities of our member organizations to better protect our territories and ensure the full exercise of our cultures and livelihoods.
June 13 2024
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM EST
REGISTER HERE
Indigenous women’s knowledge is rooted in ancestral understanding of the natural world and the accumulation of observations of local phenomena. The most significant aspect of Indigenous women holding and preserving these traditional knowledge is their holistic approach, which encompasses a wide range of domains beyond mere specialization. They possess an intricate understanding of various species, considering their nutritional value, medicinal properties, and ecological roles. This knowledge, passed down through generations, not only enriches their communities but has been crucial for western science. Indigenous women's insights have often informed Western understandings, leading to the development of medicines and a deeper understanding of climate phenomena such as droughts, floods, and biodiversity migration.
However, despite their invaluable contributions, Indigenous women's roles continue to be marginalized, often relegated to the status of beneficiaries rather than recognized as partners and agents of change. They face intersecting challenges due to their gender and Indigenous identity, enduring various forms of discrimination.
As we look forward to COP16 and discussions surrounding the Global Biodiversity Framework, it becomes increasingly pertinent to amplify the voices of Indigenous women who uphold ancestral wisdom and play a vital role in preserving the world's biodiversity. Integrating their perspectives into global dialogues on benefit-sharing and biodiversity conservation is crucial for achieving more effective and inclusive outcomes.
The Land Dialogues webinar series promotes the centrality of Indigenous and community land rights in advancing global efforts to halt the climate crisis, achieving a healthy planet and forwarding the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It focuses on the importance of formally recognising and securing the customary lands of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as a crucial contribution to the overall climate health of the planet.
The Land Dialogues 2023 series shed light on a variety of important issues regarding the agency of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ land rights; from the power differentials that existed concerning Indigenous land data, to Indigenous Peoples and Local communities taking back control of the dialogues and discussions with donors regarding climate funds.
In 2022 we remain in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic, increasingly violent weather events connected to the changing climate, and global security tensions due to war and conflict. Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are among the most vulnerable and are both directly and indirectly hard-hit by these events.
The Land Portal Foundation, the Tenure Facility, the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Ford Foundation proposed a series of Land Dialogues promoting the centrality of Indigenous and community land rights in advancing global efforts to halt the climate crisis, achieving a healthy planet and forwarding the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Under the umbrella of the Land Dialogues series, the first webinar of this year’s series “Gender and Biodiversity : How Indigenous and Local Community Women Safeguard Nature” took place on June 13th, 2024. The webinar drew in a little over 300 participants and featured Indigenous and local community leaders from around the world. The series is organized by a consortium of organizations, including the Land Portal Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Tenure Facility and this particular webinar was organized in collaboration with the GATC.