International Day for Biological Diversity

On this International Day for Biological Diversity, FSC-IF’s Managing Director, Minnie Degawan, highlights the vital role of Indigenous Peoples in protecting biodiversity and sustaining life for future generations.

“For us, biodiversity is life.” – Minnie Degawan

For Indigenous Peoples across the world, biodiversity is not only about protecting nature. It is a way of life rooted in responsibility, stewardship, and intergenerational knowledge.

For generations, Indigenous Peoples have worked at the local level to sustain ecosystems and protect biodiversity. Yet despite their contributions, policies affecting natural resources are too often developed without their meaningful participation. In many cases, Indigenous communities continue to face displacement from their lands due to extractive industries or conservation approaches that fail to respect their rights and knowledge systems.

As we mark Biodiversity Day, we must move beyond acknowledgement and take meaningful action to support Indigenous Peoples’ rights to lands, territories, self-determination, and resources.

Protect Indigenous rights, protect biodiversity.

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