Forests & Indigenous Voices | October 2026

News from around the world

FSC IF

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.

GLOBAL NEWS

Armenia

FSC Indigenous Foundation at CBD COP17: Advancing Indigenous Leadership in Biodiversity Conservation

The FSC Indigenous Foundation (FSC-IF) is participating in the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, alongside Indigenous representatives, FSC colleagues, and global partners.

Throughout the conference, the FSC-IF is advocating for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, leadership, and self-determination in forest governance, emphasizing the importance of recognizing Indigenous territories, respecting Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and customary governance, supporting Indigenous-led biodiversity stewardship, and highlighting the role of women and youth.

Engaging with Indigenous brothers and sisters in different spaces, from IIFB caucus meetings and side events to informal dialogues, one key message continues to resonate: at the heart of our discussions is our shared commitment to caring for nature, maintaining healthy forests, and sustaining biodiversity.

For Indigenous Peoples, nature is one, and we are one with nature.

It is important to remember why we are here and how we can engage with all actors through trust, mutual respect, and meaningful dialogue, recognizing that the future of nature concerns us all.

From discussions on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and their full and effective participation in decision-making spaces to powerful demonstrations at the conference venue, one message is clear: We must hold ourselves accountable and ensure that we are truly taking action for nature.

Cameroon

Strengthening Indigenous Participation in Forest Governance Across Africa

In collaboration with REPALEAC, we brought together Indigenous representatives, women, youth, and partners in Douala, Cameroon, to strengthen dialogue on Indigenous Peoples’ participation in forest governance and FSC certification.

Participants shared experiences, priorities, and perspectives on making FSC certification more accessible and inclusive, while emphasizing the importance of continued dialogue and collective Indigenous representation.

The discussions also provided opportunities to strengthen regional collaboration and explore ways to ensure that Indigenous Peoples’ voices and priorities are reflected in decisions affecting their forests and communities.

The FSC-IF extends its appreciation to REPALEAC for its collaboration and to FSC Eastern Africa and FSC Southern Africa for sharing insights into FSC standards.

Watch

Panama

Community Thriving Narratives

The Development Vision of Emberá Purú shares, through the voices of its leaders and community representatives, how the community is shaping its own path toward the future.

Featuring Deleuze Vacorizo from Caja Rural, Nisberia Ortega from IMBISU OBC, Solvio Córdoba from JAAR, and Edwin Bacorizo from the Parents’ Club, the documentary explores community-led initiatives related to the local economy, cultural preservation, access to clean water, tourism, and children’s education.

It is a story of self-determination and community autonomy, where decisions about the present and future of Emberá Purú are made by the community itself.

This video is part of Community Thriving Narratives, a component of the Boosting Indigenous Nature-Based Business Models project, which aims to highlight the experiences, knowledge, and aspirations of Indigenous communities through their own voices and perspectives.

Watch

Colombia

Strengthening Partnerships and Indigenous Collaboration in Latin America

October 7–9 | Bogotá, Colombia

Represented by Darwin Velásquez, the FSC Indigenous Foundation participated in the FSC Latin America Regional Meeting, strengthening relationships with FSC members, Indigenous representatives, and regional partners.

The FSC-IF engaged in formal discussions and dialogues and explored opportunities for collaboration, including technical exchanges and partnerships. With FSC Ecuador, potential joint initiatives supporting Indigenous organizations were highlighted.

Highlights

Upcoming Events

The State of the World’s Forests and Land

October 27 | 9:00–10:30 AM EDT

Are global efforts to care for forests and land moving fast enough?

Join Minnie Degawan, and global experts for a Systems Change Lab webinar exploring progress, challenges, and actions needed to address the climate and biodiversity crises.

Register

Powering Indigenous Communities: Co-ownership, Participation and Equitable Benefit-sharing

Join IRENA and the Coalition for Action on 27 October at 4 PM GST for the webinar exploring how renewable energy projects can support a just and inclusive energy transition by respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Register

Opportunities for Indigenous Youth

2027 Indigenous Youth Fellowship: Call for Proposals

Application deadline: Tomorrow, October 25, 2026

Cultural Survival is inviting applications for its 2027 Indigenous Youth Fellowship, supporting youth-led projects that strengthen cultural identity, leadership skills, and community participation.

Since its launch in 2018, the program has awarded more than 157 fellowships, reaching over 350 Indigenous youth worldwide.

Apply

Top 500 sustainability projects in Premios Verdes

Boosting Indigenous Nature-based Businesses Models

FSC IF

The pilot project “Boosting Indigenous Nature-Based Business Models” has been selected as one of the Top 500 sustainability projects in Latin America and the Caribbean by Premios Verdes. We celebrate this news together with our Emberá-Wounaan brothers and sisters from Darién, Panama.

The project is led by the FSC Indigenous Foundation and the IDB Lab (the Inter-American Development Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab), with support from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Health in Harmony (HiH).

Forest Health and Indigenous Peoples

The project focuses on a specific group of Indigenous communities, where, through a biodiversity monitoring system supported by artificial intelligence, 211 high-value species (9 of which are endangered) were identified, including 199 birds, five mammals, and seven amphibians, representing a significant advance in local knowledge of the biodiversity present in community forests.

This initiative supported the Emberá-Wounaan peoples in sharing their knowledge about forest health and the importance of the species that inhabit their territories. In this context, Muriche Cheucarama, leader of the Puerto Lara community, noted: “With this knowledge, the people must take further steps to meet their goals and achieve greater sustainability through the forest. Everything that is being done is for the benefit of the community.”

Co-creation of an innovative label

At the heart of the initiative is the creation of a distinctive label that recognizes the contributions of Indigenous Cultural Landscapes and helps connect Indigenous products and services with consumers and markets that value culture, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods. To support its development, FSC-IF has begun working with Indigenous focus groups to ensure that the label reflects Indigenous perspectives, priorities, and realities.

Community Thriving Narrative

In addition, the project incorporates the Community Well-being Narrative as a key component of the monitoring system, in partnership with HiH, If Not Us Then Who, and Ulu Films, with the aim of gathering and presenting a qualitative account of community well-being as told by Indigenous Peoples themselves.

As part of this initiative, the communities produced videos based on the topics of greatest local interest. In Puerto Lara, the video addressed the issue of access to drinking water; in Alto Playón, the narrative focused on the impact of migration on local livelihoods; and in Arimae and Embera Puru, the video documented the impacts experienced during the protests against Law 462 in 2025 in Panama.

This process also helped build local capacity in the use of audiovisual tools as a means of expression, documentation, and community outreach. As young Samuel Cheucarama from the community of Puerto Lara put it, “We never thought this could happen—to see the video we recorded ourselves.” He added, “We learned a lot, and there were some points that really struck me, because just imagine that with videos alone we can create a story, record it, and publish it. Plus, this town is a tourist destination, and there are organizations we can support through this.”

Self-determination and Indigenous Rights

All of this work is carried out in accordance with the principles of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), data sovereignty, and respect for Indigenous rights, combining innovation and ancestral knowledge in digital solutions validated by the Indigenous Peoples themselves.

Other initiatives, such as the community of practice, create a space for learning among Indigenous Peoples, which becomes a key tool for identifying their own paths to development, while strengthening community governance and the capacity to make long-term decisions.

Another key component of the project is participatory long-term economic planning through the FSC Economic Viability Tool. This process helps communities identify opportunities and challenges, and make collective, data-based decisions that increase their well-being.

Learn more about the project

May News and Highlights

Indigenous voices in Santa Marta, New York, Cambridge (UK)

FSC IF

“For us, biodiversity is life,” Minnie Degawan

From safeguarding forests and mountains to nurturing sustainable food systems, Indigenous communities have long been stewards of nature through ancestral wisdom and deep responsibility to the land.

A Call for Integrated Action on Climate, Biodiversity, and Land Crises
Explore the need for stronger collaboration across the Rio Conventions. Indigenous leadership and knowledge are essential for addressing climate, biodiversity, and land crises through integrated solutions.

International Day for Biological Diversity

Indigenous Peoples Are Essential to Protecting Biodiversity

FSC IF

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.

Support Indigenous-led action for people and planet:

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