International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB)

WGRI 5- II. Implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020

Honorable Chair

This is a statement on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), a network of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

The IIFB would like to take this opportunity to thank the Indigenous Peoples from this territory

for having us here for this meeting. We also would to express our gratitude to the Japanese

 Government, the Spain Government and other donors for contributing funds that allowed the

 Secretariat to organize the Biodiversity workshops on NBSAPs.

The IIFB would like to make the following recommendations:

We are happy that Indigenous Peoples and local communities were invited to attend different

 workshops. We have seen a lot of progress, however the ILCs need to have full and effective

 participation in all discussions and in the process of writing the national reports to include

 the Indigenous Peoples and local communities perspectives and views. In this regard the IIFB

 would like to recall our recommendation made in WGRI 4 meeting that reads as follows:

16. Requests the Executive Secretary to mainstream Target 18 in further capacity-building and knowledge-sharing activities with Parties and the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in NBSAP planning, implementation and monitoring activities.

The IIFB would like to recommend the states to kindly increase the funding for ILCs to ensure

the participation from developed countries such as Russia, New Zealand, Canada,

etc. and to have the necessary translation.

Concerning to resource mobilization the IIFB would like to thank the Secretariat and the organizers for allowing the participation of one Indigenous sister from South America in the Second dialogue of Scaling- up biodiversity financing that was held in Quito-Ecuador in April 2014.

 For ILCS the Mother Earth is alive and is sacred and since ancestral time we had been taken care and preserving the resources for all generations that are coming behind us. In our understanding the mobilization of financial resources should be used to improve the quality of life and to attend the basic needs of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to overcome the poverty and extreme poverty in which the majority of our people is immersed. Furthermore it should be taken in consideration that the destruction of biodiversity makes the ILCs poor due to the lack of resources from land and sea such as the lack of water, the lack of food, and the lack of necessary elements to carry out our ceremonies. Therefore we recommend the states to get the prior and informed consent from ILCs and to respect the human rights of non- contacted Indigenous Peoples before developing projects that will destroy the Mother Earth. States will make sure the continuation of ILCs to have access to our resources and to our sacred places.

States should invest in sustainable capacity building in different areas such as Clearing House Mechanism with the goal to empower the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities who should be treated in equal bases in all meeting and discussions.

Related to the GEF financial mechanism the IIFB appreciate the GEF’s decision in having Indigenous Peoples as part of its Advisory Group that will support and ensure the participation of ILCs in GEF’s activities and grants at national level. The IIFB would like to recommend GEF the inclusion of ILCs participation in the GEF meetings with the correspondent funding and translation and the friendly reception of ILCs request for funding

Moreover the IIFB would like to continue the process of capacity building for ILCs with necessary funding and with the inclusion of Indigenous women, youth and elders. For the IIFB the creation of scholarships for undergraduate and graduate ILCs students is critical in areas such as biology, environmental lawyers, and scientists with an intercultural frame.

And finally we would like to contribute in the implementation of the CBD Gender Plan.

Mr. Chair the IIFB will provide more comments during the sessions.

We thank you for your kind attention