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The Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene (ECHOES) Team at the MPI-GEA presents its second Executive Report, Biodiversity Through Time: Deep Histories and Living Knowledge Systems from the Global South, in connection with the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.
Biodiversity has deep histories, but its future requires understanding the living knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
The Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene (ECHOES) Team at the MPI-GEA presents its second Executive Report, Biodiversity Through Time: Deep Histories and Living Knowledge Systems from the Global South, in connection with the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.
Building on the team's first Executive Report, Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Food Systems, launched during COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in 2025, this new volume challenges the notion that biodiversity represents a fixed natural state. Instead, it demonstrates how ecosystems have been shaped by long-term interactions among climate, landscapes, human societies, and flora and fauna.
Developed in collaboration with researchers, Indigenous Peoples, and Local Communities from across Africa, Asia, and South America, the report brings together interdisciplinary research and place-based knowledge to examine how biodiversity has changed over thousands of years and how these histories can inform contemporary conservation and restoration strategies. The report demonstrates conservation approaches that are historically informed, locally grounded, inclusive, and attentive to the rights and knowledge of the communities whose lives and futures are closely connected to biodiversity, including:
The Role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Sustaining Biodiversity: Contributions from Quilombola communities in Brazil, Baiga communities in India, Daasanach communities in Kenya, and many others demonstrate how traditional ecological knowledge, collective territorial stewardship, sustainable resource use, and intergenerational practices contribute to biodiversity conservation.
Rethinking Biodiversity through Concepts, Ontologies and Histories: This section explores how biodiversity is conceptualized and understood across disciplines and knowledge systems. It examines biodiversity as a relational and biocultural system, including through diet and food-web dynamics, and engages with diverse ontologies of human-nature relationships.
Deep Histories of Biodiversity Change: Archaeological, palaeoecological, and historical evidence presented reveals how past climate change, human activities, species extinctions, colonialism, and changing land-use practices have shaped contemporary ecosystems.
Conservation, Restoration, and Biocultural Futures: From Indigenous and community-led conservation to heritage ecology, case studies highlight how local knowledge and practices can shape more effective, equitable, and culturally grounded conservation and restoration strategies.
Scientific Methods for Recording Biodiversity Through Time: Showcases approaches including ancient DNA analysis, protein fingerprinting, dendrochronology, archaeological and palaeoecological reconstruction, and computational historical ecology. These methods provide complementary evidence for understanding past ecosystems and informing contemporary conservation decisions.
Connecting Deep Histories and Living Knowledge
A central message of the report is that biodiversity cannot be understood solely through species inventories or recent ecological observations. Many landscapes often perceived as natural or untouched have been influenced by generations of human interaction, management, and care.
For example, contributions from the Brazilian Cerrado demonstrate how traditional fire-management practices have helped shape biodiversity and maintain ecological diversity, while research among Baiga communities in central India highlights customary restrictions on honey collection and fishing that support species reproduction and forest regeneration.
The report also foregrounds the perspectives of Indigenous and traditional communities themselves. As Yeny Botero Londoño, a Desana and Barâ woman from the Cucura Indigenous Community in Colombia, explains in her contribution, “protecting biodiversity means defending territory, culture, food systems, and life itself, while promoting and maintaining a balance between the community's needs and respect for our Law of Origin.”
Together, these experiences reinforce the need to recognize Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities not simply as beneficiaries of conservation initiatives, but as knowledge holders, rights holders, and active partners in biodiversity governance.
Bringing Global South Perspectives to International Biodiversity Policy
The report comes at a pivotal moment for international biodiversity governance. COP17, taking place from 19 to 30 October 2026, marks the first global review of collective progress toward implementing the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Through its interdisciplinary and regionally grounded contributions, the ECHOES report calls attention to the importance of integrating long-term ecological evidence, locally grounded practices, and diverse knowledge systems into biodiversity monitoring, restoration planning, and environmental decision-making.
Prepared for presentation at COP17 and subsequently at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, the report seeks to strengthen dialogue between scientific research, international environmental policy, and the Global South communities whose knowledge and practices help sustain biodiversity.
Mariya Antonosyan
Postdoctoral Researcher
antonosyan@gea.mpg.de
Executive Report: "Biodiversity through time: Deep histories and living knowledge systems from the Global South"
Link: https://gs-anthropocene.org/executive-report-biodiversity-through-time-deep-hist...
https://gs-anthropocene.org/
https://Initiative "Perspectives from the Global South"
Poster Executive Report
Copyright: © Perspectives of the Global South on the Anthropocene
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Studierende, Wirtschaftsvertreter, Wissenschaftler, jedermann
Geschichte / Archäologie, Meer / Klima, Umwelt / Ökologie
überregional
Forschungs- / Wissenstransfer, Forschungsprojekte
Englisch
Poster Executive Report
Copyright: © Perspectives of the Global South on the Anthropocene
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