Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and local communities by design

The ISBM was written by and for Indigenous and local peoples

The ISBM has been co-developed over one year with an on-site collaboration of biologists, conservationists, and Indigenous small farmers who live in the Putumayo Amazon, technologists, and direct involvement of representatives from five Indigenous nations (Kamëntsá, Cofán, Pasto, Emberá Chami, and Inga). Each of these groups represents an essential contribution to its relevance (See detailed description in Appendix H, (Zanjani et al., 2023).

To truly preserve biodiversity hotspots and functional rainforests requires a tremendous amount of work with both IP and LC, respecting cultural differences in perspectives of time and trust. But these groups have been excluded both by design, and ignorance — inclusion requires more than invitation and extends to investment, tools, and information (Cheikosman, 2023). Methodologies that are overly complex or structurally exclusive can be inadvertently harmful to IP and LC through financing corrupt behaviors or individuals (Indigenous Environmental Network n.d.). But more importantly, they are simply ineffective as the people who best know how to preserve these species are the ones least consulted in markets intended to have that effect (Estrada et al. 2022).

This methodology was written by, and for, IP and LCs, and its impact is directly related to that focus.