Biodiversity’s sisters: The essential role and challenges of Indigenous women in biodiversity strategy processes
Case exploration of Indigenous women from the Amazon in Peru’s National Biodiversity Strategy update and 2050 Action Plan
Globally, growing evidence shows that biodiversity loss disproportionately affects women – particularly Indigenous women – in often overlooked ways. Their deep connection to the land is essential for the survival of 476 million of Indigenous people across the world, cultural continuity, and environmental conservation. However, as ecosystems deteriorate due to deforestation, climate change, and pollution, Indigenous women lose access to crucial resources such as clean water, food sources, medicinal plants, and other materials for cultural practices. This environmental degradation threatens their livelihoods and undermines their key roles as stewards of natural resources, providers, caregivers, and custodians of culture. Traditional knowledge and sustainable practices become increasingly endangered when biodiversity declines, putting women’s identity, agency, and safety in jeopardy, as well as community well-being and cultural heritage.
This case exploration highlights the critical role of Amazon Indigenous women in biodiversity conservation and their invaluable contributions to the muti-stakeholder process of updating Peru’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) through 2050. CDA applied the listening methodology to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Indigenous women.
CDA partnered with Futuro Sostenible, a Peruvian NGO, that facilitated a participatory process to update the NBSAP policy document to 2050. This effort brought together a diverse range of stakeholders from Indigenous groups, youth, grassroots organizations, and national and subnational governments across the country. The Ministry of Environment Peru, UNDP Peru, GIZ, and GEF collaborated to deliver a series of workshops in different regions of the country.
Find the full version of the NBSAP in Spanish here.
Send questions or comments to Diana Campos, [email protected].
To learn more about CDA’s Environment-Fragility-Peace Nexus project or to get involved, contact the project team at [email protected].
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