The Forests & Indigenous Voices Newsletter brings you monthly stories and news on Indigenous leadership and knowledge, global advocacy, nature-based solutions, and opportunities to connect and engage.

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GLOBAL NEWS

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Finland

From Collaboration to Action: Advancing Motion 37

The workshop on Motion 37 was held in Helsinki on September 7, where FSC Indigenous Foundation’s Fredy Duque and Dian Intarini joined representatives from FSC International as facilitators.

The workshop provided an opportunity to explore how existing tools and capacities within FSC can be better connected to respond to the needs of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, while identifying recommendations for the next phases of Motion 37.

The conversation in Helsinki was one step in that process, moving towards practical pathways for action.

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Ireland

Healthy forests sustain life

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Germany

Annual FSC Certification Bodies Meeting

Certification Bodies, commonly referred to as CBs, play an important role in the FSC certification system, and within the FSC system, the rights of Indigenous Peoples are addressed through Principle 3 of the FSC Principles and Criteria for Forest Stewardship, including requirements related to FPIC.

During the CBs Meeting, we joined fellow panelists to discuss the importance of FPIC during the session Understanding FPIC: Aligning Intent with Certification Reality.

Minnie Degawan, FSC-IF Managing Director, shared that FPIC at its core is about relationship building and not so much about legalities.

Niila Inga, FSC-IF Council member, also commented on how mutual respect and understanding are a good basis for working together.

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Philippines

Fourth Conservation and Human Rights Forum

From September 14–17, we participated in the Fourth Conservation and Human Rights Forum in the Philippines, co-organized by the Pawanka Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Tebtebba Foundation. The gathering brought together Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, local communities, conservation organizations, and donors to look at an important question: how can commitments on rights, land tenure, direct funding, and governance translate into concrete action?

Kalea Aquino, FSC-IF’s Regional Focal Point for Asia and the Pacific, moderated the session Perspectives from the Philippines, which examined rights, conservation, and nature in the country through the experience of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and the Philippines’ 30×30 commitments.

The discussion covered the state of Indigenous Peoples’ engagement with the Philippine government on biodiversity strategy and planning, the role of Indigenous knowledge, and the challenges and opportunities of the national guidelines on other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) and Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs). She guided participants toward the common issues facing Indigenous Peoples and local communities at the site level, how OECMs and ICCAs can advance a shared agenda, and recommendations for concrete action.

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Panama

Connecting Generations, Culture and Forests

Bringing Indigenous leaders, women, and youth together creates space for communities to shape economic opportunities on their own terms. In Panama, representatives from the Emberá-Wounaan Comarca, Emberá-Wounaan Collective Lands, and the National Wounaan Congress came together to explore how community-based tourism can grow while respecting traditional authorities, cultural identity, community organization, and the decisions of Indigenous Peoples themselves. The participation of women and youth is especially important, bringing new perspectives while helping ensure that knowledge, leadership, and community priorities continue across generations.

What stands out in these conversations is the deep relationship between Indigenous Peoples and forests. Forests are not simply resources or places to visit. They are connected to culture, knowledge, livelihoods, biodiversity, and ways of life. At a time when healthy forests are increasingly recognized globally to addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, Indigenous leadership and knowledge are essential to conversations about their future. By developing tourism around the territory, culture, and biodiversity of the Emberá-Wounaan Peoples, communities are exploring opportunities to generate income while keeping the forest, cultural heritage, and community priorities at the heart of development.

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New York, USA

For us, forests are home and relatives

For Indigenous Peoples, “forests are more than carbon sinks or resources.” They are home and relatives, and our relationships with them are shaped by generations of knowledge, culture, livelihoods and ways of life.

During Climate Week NYC, we brought this perspective to several engagements. Across these spaces, Minnie shared messages on the value of forests beyond carbon and the connection between thriving forests and healthy communities.

A particularly relevant engagement was the Forest Tenure Funders Group meeting, where the results of the five-year Forest Tenure Pledge were shared. The pledge reached $2.35 billion between 2021 and 2025, exceeding the original commitment.  

This conversation goes beyond the amount of funding. It is also about how funding reaches Indigenous Peoples and their territories, whether it responds to their priorities and decision-making, and how it contributes to advancing collective land rights.

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Global opportunity for youth

WIPO Video Prize for Indigenous Youth 2026

The WIPO Video Prize for Indigenous Youth 2026 invites Indigenous youth aged 18–35 to showcase their knowledge, culture, and creativity through video under the theme Indigenous Peoples’ Know-How and Creativity in Action.

Entries are open until November 6. The application is in English, Spanish and French. For any questions, please contact tkvideoprize@wipo.int.

Register

To mark the International Day of Indigenous Women, the FSC Indigenous Foundation collaborated with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) on a special story celebrating the knowledge, leadership, and experiences that Indigenous women carry across generations.

On 5 September 1782, an Aymara leader and weaver named Bartolina Sisa was executed for defending her people. Two hundred years later, Indigenous women of the Americas chose her day as the International Day of Indigenous Women: a day about leadership, resilience, rights and about what women hand to the women who come after them.

Today there are an estimated 238 million Indigenous women in the world (ILO, 2019). Much of what humanity knows about living with forests survives because women like them carried it – from mother to daughter, elder to student, hand to hand – a role that has largely gone unseen. We asked seven Indigenous women leaders from five continents what they were given by the women before them and what they pass on. This is the chain, in their words.

Minnie Degawan (Kankanaey-Igorot, Philippines), Managing Director of the FSC Indigenous Foundation · Tolita Davis-Angeles (Cobble Cobble, Barunggam Nation, Australia), Chair of the FSC First Nations Committee and founder of Gandan Yarnings · Sara Omi Casamá (Emberá, Panamá), lawyer and president of the Territorial Women Leaders of Mesoamerica · Peggy Smith (Miskwaanakwadook, Red Cloud Woman; Cree ancestry, Canada), member of the FSC Canada Indigenous Chamber · Cindy Kobei (Ogiek, Kenya), lawyer and advocate for Indigenous Peoples’ rights · Yu-An Chen (Iupi’i ’akuyayana; Tsou Tribe, Chinese Taipei), Chairperson, Chiayi County Alishan Indigenous Tfuya Community Cooperative · Gely Rojas (Shipibo-Konibo, Peru), Indigenous Business Development, Nii Biri.

What they received from the women before them

Sara Omi Casamá believes that Indigenous women have long been the bridge between generations, transferring traditional knowledge, often without recognition.

Omi Casamá: “This knowledge is always kept alive in the thoughts and hearts of Indigenous women… What we are trying to do now is to make their role visible.”

Across their experiences, the forest is a refuge, a teacher, a family member, and a home.

Smith: “An Anishinaabe elder, a very wise woman, said to me, ‘If you’re looking for guidance, go to the forest and sit. Just be there, and the answers will come to you.’

Rojas: “Our mothers and grandmothers taught us that we must take care of the forest, because it’s not just a resource, it’s part of our family, it’s part of our home.”

Kobei: “As an Ogiek woman, I was raised to understand that the forest not only provides food, medicine, and water, but it is also part of our culture and our identity.”

For others, knowledge is listening and understanding our place and role in the wider world.

Davis-Angeles: “I’ve always been told that we’ve got two ears and only one mouth, so we should be listening twice as much as we’re speaking.”

Degawan: “Inayan is a value that we are constantly reminded of in my community and basically means that whatever we have has to be shared, and that whatever we do has consequences.”

What they give to the next generation

These seven leaders understand that knowledge survives when it is shared. This is what they will leave to those who follow.

Degawan: “I strive to teach my daughter that even if you think you are a big dot, you are still just a dot… and if our dot can connect with the other dots, together we can become a beautiful rainbow.”

Smith: “It is usually women who step up to act as role models for their own children. We are going to bring our communities out of poverty and discrimination. And, become equal members of society. Women naturally feel that they have a responsibility to be that role model for their kids.”

Knowledge can be transferred through experience, creating spaces where youth can learn from elders.

Yu-An: “We invite tribal elders and interested youth to spend a day or two together in the mountains. Along the way, elders lead the group through our traditional territories, sharing the names and stories of these landscapes, as well as how our ancestors once lived and worked the land. To me, what matters most is not dictating what young people should do, but helping them rediscover their culture and land. Through this journey, they can gradually find their own connection to the tribe and reflect on how they wish to build meaningful lives here.”

Many share messages of courage for the next generation.

Kobei: “Listen to the women who have gone before you – they have walked the journey, they know the challenges, and they have lessons they want to share… do not be afraid to be a leader.”

Davis-Angeles: “Every day when I drop my daughter off at school I tell her, ‘You’re strong, you’re smart, and you’re resilient’.”

Rojas: “The message I want to give to Indigenous girls and women is that we must never be silent, that our voices must be heard, that our culture must be shared respecting all our ancestral knowledge. That we should never, ever be afraid to say, ‘I can’t’ because we can, because if one of us climbs, we all climb.”

Seven women, seven inheritances, and seven gifts already moving toward the next generation. The knowledge was always carried – from her, to her.

Meet each of these women in full in The Knowledge Keepers, a series within FSC’s Where Women Took the Forest.

Originally published by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

On the first day of #UNCCDCOP17, Pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, and other groups from various regions of the world marched together to deliver the “Global Pastoralist and Indigenous Pastoralists’ Call For Action: Ulaanbaatar Declaration” to the COP17 Presidency.

At the heart of the Declaration is a powerful reminder:

“Pastoralists are custodians of nature, biodiversity and ecosystems, with an experience-based and systematic knowledge base.”

The Declaration calls for recognition of and support for pastoralists’ vital contributions to maintaining and restoring pastoral landscapes, conserving biodiversity, strengthening ecosystem health, and sustainably managing natural resources.

We invite you to read and share the Declaration:

The Forests & Indigenous Voices Newsletter brings you monthly stories and news on Indigenous leadership and knowledge, global advocacy, nature-based solutions, and opportunities to connect and engage.

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Global news:

In this edition, we follow Indigenous voices across territories and global spaces, from communities exchanging knowledge on Indigenous nature-based economies, to a powerful call for Indigenous worldviews to guide global action on climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation.

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Currently in Mongolia

“Beyond Fragmentation: Advancing Coherence, Equity, and Indigenous Leadership Across the Rio Conventions”

At COP17 UNCCD, Nia Tero officially launched the report “Beyond Fragmentation: Advancing Coherence, Equity, and Indigenous Leadership Across the Rio Conventions;” authored by Minnie Degawan, Indigenous rights expert and Kankanaey-Igorot from the Philippines.

“The report examines Indigenous Peoples’ recognition and participation in the Rio Conventions. Climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation are all interconnected, Minnie, source Inter Press Service.

During the launch, Minnie recalled with vivid memories, one of the biggest gatherings of Indigenous Peoples in the world in the UNCED and how in that time (33 years ago), Indigenous Peoples travelled, not as representatives of organizations, but as representatives of their Peoples. “We went to Kari-Oca with a message: Nature is one,” she shared.

Now, in this current climate, we need to make sure this worldview stands.

Solutions to climate change cannot be separated from solutions to biodiversity loss, just as land degradation cannot be disconnected from deforestation. All of these are interconnected and that is an important thing that Indigenous Peoples need to reclaim, reassert and push for, she said.

For the youth who are starting to participate in the conventions, Minnie offered words of encouragement: “be grounded in your community – always return to your origin.”

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The Indigenous Peoples’s Caucus at the COP17 UNCCD

Stronger together – for a resilient planet.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus aims to facilitate the meaningful, effective, and coordinated participation of Indigenous Peoples in the processes of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In doing so, it strengthens dialogue, coordination, and engagement between Indigenous Peoples and Parties to the Convention in matters related to policy development, negotiations, implementation, monitoring, and review.

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Global Pastoralist and Indigenous Pastoralists’ Call For Action: Ulaanbaatar Declaration 2026

During the first day at COP17, Pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, and other groups from various regions of the world marched to deliver the “Global Pastoralist and Indigenous Pastoralists’ Call For Action: Ulaanbaatar Declaration 2026” to the COP 17 Presidency.

Read the declaration

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The Role of Forests in Meeting the Objectives of the UNCCD

Discover key outcomes from the FSC Indigenous Foundation side event, where Indigenous leadership and cross-sector cooperation highlighted the vital role of forests in advancing UNCCD objectives.

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Panama

Knowledge exchange between Embera-Wounaan & Kichwa Peoples

Indigenous communities and organizations from Panama and Ecuador came together in Darién from August 8 to 11 for a technical exchange centered on strengthening Indigenous nature-based economies. As part of the FSC’F’s project “Boosting Indigenous Nature-Based Business Models,” with support from BID Lab, the exchange created a space for peer-to-peer learning, knowledge and cultural sharing and regional collaboration.

For me, the arrival of the Kichwa brothers and sisters was important for the exchange of knowledge. They shared with us how they succeeded with their products and organizations, how they marketed wayusa leaves, chocolate, and plantains, and how that provides a livelihood for their communities. I thank them for sharing their ideas with us. This is important to us because we’ve already been planting this seed in our community for two years, hoping it will grow into a tree that bears fruit, improving the economy for our future generations.

Luviana Chamapuro, Wounaan People, Oropéndolas Indigenous Organization

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Indigenous and Community Economy Exchange

After engaging in the knowledge exchange in Darien, on August 12, the Embera-Wounaan communities travelled with the Kichwa brothers and sisters to Panama City to join the event “Indigenous and Community Economy Exchange: Regional economic models that strengthen forest governance, biodiversity, and livelihoods” hosted by AMPB.

They had an open dialogue about strengthening a shared vision of the indigenous and community-based economy as a model of territorial development that contributes to territorial governance, the conservation of forests and biodiversity, and the well-being of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

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Türkiye

Respect – Connection – Collective reflection

Indigenous leaders from across the world gathered in Istanbul for three days to exchange perspectives and shape a shared vision for the future of forests. Through meaningful dialogue and collective reflection, they strengthened connections and brought Indigenous voices, knowledge and experiences to the heart of conversations on forest governance.

Together, they explored how the FSC certification system can more fully respect FPIC, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and governance, while recognizing their knowledge, values and ways of caring for their lands.

Forests are sacred homes for Indigenous Peoples. Rooted in this profound connection, their leadership will continue to shape and safeguard the future of the world’s forests.

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Worldwide

The knowledge keepers: Indigenous women leading forest governance on five continents

A river that purifies. A community whose very name means ‘‘caretakers of the forest.’’ A word – inayan – that teaches that whatever we do has consequences. Around the world, Indigenous women are leading forest governance in courtrooms, committees, and communities, carrying knowledge passed down through generations.

In collaboration with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), we shared 6 inspiring stories of women whose leadership and knowledge are creating lasting impact.