For the annual Global Landscapes Forum event the focus will be on Indigenous Peoples and local communities in relation to land tenure and sustainable land use. International experts from a range of sectors and backgrounds will discuss a rights-based approach to sustainability and how to establish a roadmap to address current challenges. Discussions will center on the five GLF main themes detailed below. Keep checking back for more details.
Restoration
Indigenous and local communities have used in-depth knowledge of the land to protect and restore landscapes around the world. Traditional knowledge plays a critical role in landscape stewardship and have the potential to inform and inspire sound policies and strategies at national and local levels of government.
Finance
Community-based solutions must be based on more than good ideas to work; they require funding. Indigenous Peoples and local communities need direct access to finance, as well as stronger local partnerships for support. Innovations in finance and business models to craft local solutions carry great potential for replication and scaling-up.
Rights
The spotlight will shine on the main challenges local communities and indigenous people face in securing rights. These will include land tenure and reform, land recognition, violence, women’s inclusion and empowerment; stakeholders will also explore current work and solutions for securing rights around the world.
Food and livelihoods
Uncertainty over land and resource tenure leaves communities vulnerable to food insecurity. If communities have power over their rightful lands they will be better able to achieve food security and sovereignty. Local land management practices can inspire science and policy at all levels.
Monitoring progress
As the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals are grounded in human rights, meeting the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda involves opening the door to local communities and indigenous people to gain access to rights to land and to participate through knowledge and experiences to find solutions for humanity’s challenges.