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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/biocultural-diversity/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Biocultural Diversity</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/biocultural-diversity/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Global pressure on ayahuasca threatens Amazonian plants and knowledge systems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 20:38:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carlos Minuano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321692</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community Forests, Conservation, Consumption, Controversial, Culture, Globalization, Indigenous Peoples, International Trade, Medicinal Plants, Overconsumption, Overexploitation, Plants, Rainforests, Religions, Traditional Medicine, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“One of the world’s largest pharmacies is being destroyed,” says Benki Piyãko, a leader of the Ashaninka Indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Acre. The warning points to multiple threats advancing on the Amazon but also to growing debate surrounding one of the so-called forest medicines: ayahuasca. This Indigenous beverage with psychedelic properties is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“One of the world’s largest pharmacies is being destroyed,” says Benki Piyãko, a leader of the Ashaninka Indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Acre. The warning points to multiple threats advancing on the Amazon but also to growing debate surrounding one of the so-called forest medicines: ayahuasca. This Indigenous beverage with psychedelic properties is usually prepared from two native plants: the caapi vine or mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of the chacrona plant (Psychotria viridis). According to Indigenous leaders and experts, these species are facing increasing pressure and signs of scarcity in some areas. Called kamarãpe by the Ashaninka people, ayahuasca has been used by Indigenous peoples across the Amazon for centuries. It has crossed borders for decades, ceasing to circulate exclusively in its original contexts. Today, it can be found in urban religious centers, therapeutic retreats, and international psychedelic tourism circuits. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are also turning their attention to this ancestral beverage, which already shows evidence of therapeutic potential for different mental health disorders such as depression and substance addiction. But increasing global interest is also creating concerns. As demand grows, so has the ayahuasca supply chain, without a corresponding growth in management or oversight. In different parts of the Amazon, there are signs of pressure on the species used to prepare the beverage, often collected without planning. At the same time, increasing consumption in nontraditional contexts raises concerns about ancestral knowledge being commodified for the market. The main problem seems to lie in how&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321692</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top ocean news stories of 2025 (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/top-ocean-news-stories-of-2025-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/top-ocean-news-stories-of-2025-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Dec 2025 20:39:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alfredo GironAna SpaldingErin SkoczylasVanessa Constant]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312029</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Saltwater Fish, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[2025 was a key year for ocean policymaking, marking the midway point in the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The past 12 months brought landslide multilateral wins for ocean policy, unprecedented financial commitments for marine conservation, and increasing momentum to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. Here, marine scientists, policy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[2025 was a key year for ocean policymaking, marking the midway point in the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The past 12 months brought landslide multilateral wins for ocean policy, unprecedented financial commitments for marine conservation, and increasing momentum to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. Here, marine scientists, policy experts and a communications expert lay out the key ocean stories from the past year. 1. Multilateral breakthroughs reshape ocean governance In a rare breakthrough for ocean governance, two multilateral treaties reached enough ratifications by member states in 2025 to trigger their legal entry into force. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty, known commonly as the High Seas Treaty, reached the milestone of 60 ratifications in September, triggering its entry into force in January 2026. The treaty is a legally binding international agreement safeguarding marine life in areas beyond the jurisdiction of any nation. Making up two-thirds of the ocean, these regions play a critical role in the planet&#8217;s life support system, regulating the climate and providing oxygen, and host critical ecosystems and species. Following the milestone, in November the High Seas Treaty won the Earthshot Prize in the “Revive Our Seas” category, celebrating two decades of advocacy and international cooperation to make the treaty a reality. The World Trade Organization’s treaty to ban harmful fisheries subsidies also came into force in September this year, after 24 years of negotiations. The treaty, called Fish One, bans government subsidies that support the fishing of already-overfished&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/top-ocean-news-stories-of-2025-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312029</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expected ban on Mexican GM corn fetches praise — and worry over imports</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2025 16:53:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adam D. Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/05141440/alan-de-la-cruz-wPFyT4Ri7mM-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293958</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corn, Crops, Culture, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Food, Food Industry, food security, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Rainforests, Trade, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This month, Mexico’s two legislative houses are expected to approve an amendment that will prohibit the cultivation of transgenic corn in the country’s Constitution, a historic decision that farmers’ organizations and leaders of the national agricultural industry are applauding — though not fully celebrating. While the constitutional change proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum will ban [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This month, Mexico’s two legislative houses are expected to approve an amendment that will prohibit the cultivation of transgenic corn in the country’s Constitution, a historic decision that farmers’ organizations and leaders of the national agricultural industry are applauding — though not fully celebrating. While the constitutional change proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum will ban nationwide production of transgenic corn in Mexico, the import and human consumption of genetically modified corn will still be permitted in the country as will the use of the herbicide glyphosate. In December, an independent panel ruled in favor of the U.S., stating that Mexico’s efforts to ban the importation of transgenic corn on human health grounds weren’t scientifically supported. This continued import of large-scale U.S. genetically modified corn is considered to be a threat by local experts, who assert the transgenic seeds — as well as the herbicide glyphosate commonly used in their production — represent a threat to native species of the crop that have existed for thousands of years and continue to be produced by small and Indigenous farmers nationwide. Given that Sheinbaum’s Morena Party holds a majority in both legislative houses, the constitutional amendment is likely to pass with ease in the upcoming weeks, as has been the case with several other recently approved reforms. “The constitutional reform is a good and positive step,” said María Leticia López Zepeda, executive director of the National Association of Commercial Businesses for Farmers (ANEC). “But it doesn’t protect all the country’s corn, which to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293958</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2024’s top ocean news stories (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jan 2025 16:47:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alfredo GironAna K. SpaldingAndrés Cisneros-MontemayorAsha de VosCinda P. ScottJosheena NaggeaJuan José AlavaOlivia MillowayRita Maria el Zaghloul]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/08100341/OceanImageBank_WarrenBaverstock_03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292728</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Saltwater Fish, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[1. Long-awaited plastics treaty flops, for now Despite around-the-clock efforts from delegates, negotiators and numerous advocacy groups, the fifth session of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on plastic pollution failed to pass the Global Plastics Treaty as a legally binding instrument by the end of negotiations Dec. 1. Recommended by a 2022 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[1. Long-awaited plastics treaty flops, for now Despite around-the-clock efforts from delegates, negotiators and numerous advocacy groups, the fifth session of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on plastic pollution failed to pass the Global Plastics Treaty as a legally binding instrument by the end of negotiations Dec. 1. Recommended by a 2022 U.N. Environment Assembly resolution, the proposed treaty would end global plastic pollution by 2040. Although marine plastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental problems facing planet Earth today, the treaty did not pass at least in part because of very strong lobbying by the petrochemical and plastic industries and some member states. Because INC-5 was unable to produce a treaty that would reduce global primary plastic polymer production, lower the amount of chemicals of concern and help eliminate plastic pollution in our oceans, an additional meeting, dubbed INC-5.2, is expected to officially conclude the negotiations in July or August 2025. This follow-up, and hopefully last, meeting will be of paramount importance to reiterate the need to limit global plastics production and eliminate pollution for marine life and the most vulnerable coastal communities who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. Among those present at INC-5 was the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty, an international nonprofit of which one of us is a member. The coalition made the case for using science-based evidence to better target both sources of and solutions to plastic pollution, and it will continue to do so at INC-5.2,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292728</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation at 60: A look back and forward</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/association-for-tropical-biology-and-conservation-at-60-a-look-back-and-forward/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/association-for-tropical-biology-and-conservation-at-60-a-look-back-and-forward/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2024 19:26:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erik Iverson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/09161612/ATBCPanel-BETTER-CROP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Global, Latin America, Rwanda, South America, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Research, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KIGALI — When scientists, conservationists and policymakers from around the world gathered in East Africa this July — exchanging ideas, celebrating successes and planning for the future — the international group represented a living showcase of the dramatic transformations in tropical ecology research that has occurred over the last 60 years. Founded in 1963 by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KIGALI — When scientists, conservationists and policymakers from around the world gathered in East Africa this July — exchanging ideas, celebrating successes and planning for the future — the international group represented a living showcase of the dramatic transformations in tropical ecology research that has occurred over the last 60 years. Founded in 1963 by a group of 32 men — mostly white, mostly from the U.S. — and just one woman, the Association for Tropical Biology focused primarily on advancing Neotropical botanical science. A 2003 name change to the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation reflected the expansion of that mission to include tropical conservation. With 1,000 members in 70 nations today, the professional society’s international membership represents an increasingly diverse roster of scientists from the Global North, tropical Latin America, Africa and Asia, with expertise in everything from carnivores to climate change. Participants in a workshop at the ATBC’s 2024 conference in Kigali discuss issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in tropical field science. Image courtesy of the ATBC. The roots of tropical ecology The ATBC was born at the height of the Cold War, a time of intense global geopolitical upheaval. It was also an era in which the study of tropical ecology still heavily reflected the legacy of the 19th-century colonial period, when jungle collections gathered by European and U.S. explorers attracted the interest of scientists who mostly viewed tropical organisms from afar, and as strange but worth learning about. In 1898, at the end of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/association-for-tropical-biology-and-conservation-at-60-a-look-back-and-forward/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New fund supports Indigenous-led land management in biodiverse area of Bolivia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/new-fund-supports-indigenous-led-land-management-in-biodiverse-area-of-bolivia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/new-fund-supports-indigenous-led-land-management-in-biodiverse-area-of-bolivia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Feb 2024 18:11:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/01165053/Red-howlers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278452</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Solutions, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new fund, announced Oct. 30, plans to support the territorial land management visions of four Indigenous organizations in Bolivia’s Madidi Landscape. It has so far attracted $650,000 in initial support from the Bezos Earth Fund, and more funding from several other sources is now being explored. “We want these funds to help us move [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new fund, announced Oct. 30, plans to support the territorial land management visions of four Indigenous organizations in Bolivia’s Madidi Landscape. It has so far attracted $650,000 in initial support from the Bezos Earth Fund, and more funding from several other sources is now being explored. “We want these funds to help us move forward,” said Gonzalo Oliver Terrazas, president of the regional organization of Indigenous People of La Paz (CPILAP) and member of the Tacana community. “It will help us reaffirm our strong commitment as Indigenous peoples to advance and to carry out territorial management responsibly, for the territories and our future generations.” According to Lilian Painter, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Bolivia, the money collected will enable the Tacana, Lecos, T’simane Mosetene and San José de Uchupiamonas Indigenous communities in Madidi to secure their land rights and livelihoods collectively. In addition, it will help them continue to conserve and protect portions of the Madidi Landscape that overlap with their territories from encroaching threats, such as illegal gold mining, as laid out in their territorial management plans. Musical band in the T’simane Mosetene Indigenous Land. Image by Robert Wallace / Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). These plans, also known as Indigenous Life Plans, were first drafted by communities in a series of workshops and community assemblies 20 years ago and are updated every five years. Facilitated by WCS technicians, technical staff and leaders from the Indigenous organizations, the groups identified a set of objectives and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/new-fund-supports-indigenous-led-land-management-in-biodiverse-area-of-bolivia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278452</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2023’s top ocean news stories (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/2023s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/2023s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2024 18:04:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana SpaldingDavid OburaDiva AmonMinna EppsRhett BennettU. Rashid Sumaila]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/16174001/i-LBN2JQ7-4K-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277703</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Elasmobranchs, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Politics, Prizes, Saltwater Fish, Sharks, Subsidies, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[1. Record heat in 2023 2023 is widely regarded as the hottest year on record, with monthly, seasonal and annual records spiking in the ocean and atmosphere, and repeated headlines in global media. The graph of last year’s global average temperatures (see below) shows a step-change increase from the temperature records of the last 10 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[1. Record heat in 2023 2023 is widely regarded as the hottest year on record, with monthly, seasonal and annual records spiking in the ocean and atmosphere, and repeated headlines in global media. The graph of last year’s global average temperatures (see below) shows a step-change increase from the temperature records of the last 10 years, themselves clearly separated from the cooler preceding decades. Ocean temperatures through the Northern Hemisphere summer reached record highs, with global sea surface temperatures 0.99° Celsius (1.78° Fahrenheit) above average in July through August due to El Niño development in the eastern Pacific that strengthened and intensified to the end of the year. Mass bleaching of coral reefs is one of the most immediate indicators of ocean heat impacts, and record levels of bleaching occurred in the wider Caribbean from July through September. Reports of coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef soon followed, as its summer season began in late 2023, potentially a harbinger of another multiyear bleaching event that could outdo the last one in 2014 through 2017. As we come out of a relatively stable global temperature regime capped by the three-year La Niña from 2020 through 2022, will the coming years represent a step toward or even past potentially irreversible tipping points in the global climate system? This unprecedented increase in warming formed the backdrop to countries and a wide range of stakeholders gathering at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in early December to negotiate whether to turn off the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/2023s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277703</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Journeying in biocultural diversity and conservation philanthropy: Q&#038;A with Ken Wilson</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/journeying-in-biocultural-diversity-and-conservation-philanthropy-qa-with-ken-wilson/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/journeying-in-biocultural-diversity-and-conservation-philanthropy-qa-with-ken-wilson/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2022 04:16:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/06152741/borneo_20190113_061959-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252375</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Borneo, Malaysia, Sabah, Southeast Asia, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, and philanthropy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The concept of &#8220;biocultural diversity&#8221; has gained wider prominence in recent decades as academics, institutions, and practitioners have expanded cross-disciplinary work at the intersection of human culture and biological diversity. Within the conservation realm, this trend has helped raise the profile of issues like Indigenous rights and traditional knowledge, especially since the mid-2010s as many [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The concept of &#8220;biocultural diversity&#8221; has gained wider prominence in recent decades as academics, institutions, and practitioners have expanded cross-disciplinary work at the intersection of human culture and biological diversity. Within the conservation realm, this trend has helped raise the profile of issues like Indigenous rights and traditional knowledge, especially since the mid-2010s as many philanthropic foundations and &#8220;mainstream&#8221; conservation NGOs moved toward more inclusive and community-oriented approaches beyond establishing strict protected areas. Ken Wilson, who has been working at the confluence of community rights, biocultural diversity, and philanthropy for the better part of 40 years, has been a keen observer and commentator on these developments, first as an academic, then a foundation program officer and director, and as an advisor and NGO leader. Lowland rainforest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay Wilson, who served as the head of The Christensen Fund for 13 years and currently lives in Malaysian Borneo, told Mongabay that conservation’s trajectory–from an academic standpoint–has been increasingly influenced in the past 40 years by areas outside its traditional domain, “destabilized” by the “rights and social science inspired critique of &#8216;fortress conservation&#8217; and its corollaries in the 1980s and 1990s” and “global systems analysis enabled by remote sensing and computer modeling capacities.” “This research has been crucial to pluralizing and globalizing conservation,” he said. “It has enabled connection to the bubbling up of the environmental justice and Indigenous environmental movements and has taken mainstream conservation into earth system areas like climate, ecosystem&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/journeying-in-biocultural-diversity-and-conservation-philanthropy-qa-with-ken-wilson/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252375</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Backing the stewards of biocultural diversity: Q&#038;A with Indigenous rights leader Carla Fredericks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/an-interview-with-carla-fredericks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/an-interview-with-carla-fredericks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Feb 2021 16:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/18044724/Brazil-Rio_Mequens_Rondonia_heart-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239767</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Finding Common Ground and Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biocultural Diversity, Conservation, Culture, Environmental Law, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Land Rights, philanthropy, Social Justice, and transforming conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For at least the past 20 years, conservation has been wrestling with some of the darker aspects of its historical relationship with local communities: legacies of colonialism, institutional racism, lack recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights, and abuses like forced evictions from traditional lands and extrajudicial killings. These issues gained increased notoriety in the aftermath of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For at least the past 20 years, conservation has been wrestling with some of the darker aspects of its historical relationship with local communities: legacies of colonialism, institutional racism, lack recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights, and abuses like forced evictions from traditional lands and extrajudicial killings. These issues gained increased notoriety in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing last year when the Black Lives Matter movement forced a public conversation around state violence and social injustice in the United States and beyond. There are signs that the conservation sector is now doing more than just paying lip service to these concerns: Indigenous peoples and local communities are being more actively engaged in decision-making; leadership and boards of conservation institutions are prioritizing diversity and inclusion; and discriminatory practices are increasingly being called out as unacceptable. Issues like free prior informed consent (FPIC) are regularly part of conservation project planning, while conservation groups have taken to promoting local peoples’ land rights as a key component of the battle against climate change and the extinction crisis. But reorienting conservation to put the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities at the center of strategy and decision-making won’t be easy. Recognizing Indigenous rights as a gap in the philanthropic space in general, the San Francisco-based Christensen Fund recently reoriented its grantmaking approach and adopted a new mission: supporting the global Indigenous peoples’ movement “in its efforts to advance the rights and opportunities of stewards of biocultural diversity.” To deliver on this mission, last year&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/an-interview-with-carla-fredericks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239767</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia, ethnobotany, and America&#8217;s decline: An interview with Wade Davis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/colombia-ethnobotany-and-americas-decline-an-interview-with-wade-davis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/colombia-ethnobotany-and-americas-decline-an-interview-with-wade-davis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2020 09:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/23200942/indigenous-boy-macaw-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=235931</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Finding Common Ground]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, South America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Botany, Conservation, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Culture, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Medicinal Plants, Medicine, Pandemics, Rainforests, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Videos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Wade Davis is a celebrated anthropologist, ethnobotanist, photographer, and author who has written thought-provoking accounts of indigenous cultures around the world. These have ranged from The Serpent and the Rainbow about the &#8220;zombies&#8221; in Haitian vodoun religion to One River about the explorations of famed ethnobotanist Richard Evan Schultes who studied the remarkable knowledge of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Wade Davis is a celebrated anthropologist, ethnobotanist, photographer, and author who has written thought-provoking accounts of indigenous cultures around the world. These have ranged from The Serpent and the Rainbow about the &#8220;zombies&#8221; in Haitian vodoun religion to One River about the explorations of famed ethnobotanist Richard Evan Schultes who studied the remarkable knowledge of traditional shamans in the Amazon. Through his writing, Davis has documented the disappearance of indigenous languages and cultures, the loss of which is outpacing the destruction of the world&#8217;s rainforests. Davis&#8217;s newest book, Magdalena: River of Dreams: A Story of Colombia, traces the path of the Magdalena River as a vehicle to tell the story of Colombia, including the nation&#8217;s tumultuous recent past, the tenuous peace of its present, and its future promise. Colombia holds a special place for Davis: it trails only Brazil in terms of biodiversity, is geographically and culturally diverse, and has gone to great lengths to recognize indigenous rights and protect its forests. His writing about the country — especially One River — prompted Colombia&#8217;s former president Juan Manuel Santos to grant him honorary citizenship in 2018. Davis&#8217;s research into Colombia, indigenous cultures, and other societies has given him an unusually broad perspective with which to evaluate recent developments in the United States, which he compared to a collapsing empire in a commentary he authored in August for Rolling Stone. &#8220;In a dark season of pestilence, COVID has reduced to tatters the illusion of American exceptionalism,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;COVID-19 didn’t lay&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/colombia-ethnobotany-and-americas-decline-an-interview-with-wade-davis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-235931</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For Ecuador’s Sápara, saving the forest means saving their language</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/for-ecuadors-sapara-saving-the-forest-means-saving-their-language/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/for-ecuadors-sapara-saving-the-forest-means-saving-their-language/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2019 14:36:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Sax]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Willie Shubert]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/02141646/SaparaMan_Canoe_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220097</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forests]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Anthropology, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Food, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, and Language]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[GLO-4060 QZA-16/0047.4]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAPO, Ecuador — Gloria Ushigua, president of the Sápara women’s association, stops by a large, thin, spindly tree that looks almost dead, and breaks off a thin branch. Running her fingers along it, she finds a small, almost invisible inch-long raised groove and bites into it. Tiny ants swarm out, which she picks off with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAPO, Ecuador — Gloria Ushigua, president of the Sápara women’s association, stops by a large, thin, spindly tree that looks almost dead, and breaks off a thin branch. Running her fingers along it, she finds a small, almost invisible inch-long raised groove and bites into it. Tiny ants swarm out, which she picks off with her teeth. “Ormigas acidas,” or sour ants, she explains in Spanish. “Before my grandparents even heard of limes or lemons, we used these ants to season our dishes when we wanted a sour taste.” This is just one of many examples of how the Sápara, who have inhabited the eastern part of the Ecuadoran Amazon in the Napo eco-region around Yasuni National Park for centuries, have developed a deep local understanding and language for the rainforest they call home — a rainforest that happens to also be one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. But that knowledge is threatened on multiple levels. Gloria shows a fungi commonly used for ear-ache. The cultural and oral traditions of the Sapara are considered an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” by UNESCO because of the depth of ecological and medicinal knowledge the Sapara have. Image by Sarah Sax for Mongabay Currently, only 400 Sápara, considered the smallest of the Ecuadoran indigenous nations, remain, and only a handful of elders speak Sápara fluently; when they die, many of the stories and traditional ecological knowledge encoded in the language is at risk of extinction. The nation also faces external pressure:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/for-ecuadors-sapara-saving-the-forest-means-saving-their-language/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220097</doi>				</item>
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