This is the web site of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), a caucus of indigenous peoples working for the recognition of indigenous rights to indigenous biodiversity resources and associated traditional knowledge at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The IIFB was formed in 1996 during a meeting of the 3rd Conference of the Parties (COP) of the CBD (For details of the history, see the forum "About the IIFB"). The membership of the IIFB is informal, and is made up by those indigenous individuals, members of indigenous non-governmental organizations (INGOs), indigenous representative organizations, and representatives of indigenous tribes and nations that attend the meetings of the CBD and its working bodies.
This site is organized to help indigenous delegates to exchange ideas and prepared for the international meetings of the CBD and related environmental conventions. It is also dsigned to encourage others to get involved and understand the importance of the issues being debated at these meetings, and both the dangers and opportunities these present to indigenous peoples.
The web site also contains many links and pointers to other indigenous efforts to protect traditional and sacred lands, ensure their access to traditional cultural resources, guard traditional knowledge and to effectively pursue their self-determined paths into the future. Much of the work of the IIFB is to work to get governments to recognize their obligations to honor indigenous self-determination and respect their customary law related to the custodianship of the land, and many of the details of these obligations must be worked out regionally. We encourage interested people to help support and reinforce these regional efforts (See the section on "Key Links").
Please feel free to use the site and help others by giving your insights, suggestions, pointers and questions. Since many of these issues concern matters of deep spiritual and cultural significance to indigenous peoples, we only ask that you read the Site Guidelines and treat what is discussed here respectfully. This site is not designed for revealing details of indigenous knowledge or for anthropological analysis of traditional knowledge systems. Because these discussions are political and diplomatic, we have also designed portions of the site to be closed to the general public, and ask that the information in any discussion area not be shared outside of these forums unless authors clearly allow sharing. Other materials, such as open declarations and interventions, can be freely shared.
We hope you enjoy learning from and contributing to the site!
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