ILK dialogue workshop for the invasive alien species assessment

Background 

An Indigenous and local knowledge dialogue workshop took place during the first months of the IPBES assessment of invasive alien species and their control, organized by IPBES, UNESCO and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). A key objective of the dialogue workshop was to facilitate the participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) in the early stages of the development of the assessment. Participation of IPLC is crucial to the invasive alien species assessment, as many IPLC have first-hand knowledge of the impacts of invasive alien species on ecosystems and people. Some IPLC groups have also been employing their knowledge of the environment to develop responses or management strategies for invasive alien species.

The dialogue workshop is one of a series of approaches to working with IPLC and Indigenous and local knowledge throughout the assessment process.

Aims of the dialogue workshop

The aim of the ILK dialogue workshop is to provide a space for dialogue between assessment authors and IPLC, with the goals of:

• Developing recommendations from IPLC for specific topics and areas of foci for the assessment;
• Beginning to develop a series of key ILK questions, which will help shape a narrative for the assessment and direct the collection, analysis and synthesis of information;
• Exploring how IPLC experience and understand invasive alien species;
• Exploring IPLC response, adaptation and management strategies for invasive alien species;
• Discussing how the invasive alien species assessment could be useful to IPLC;
• Beginning to develop case studies of relevance to the assessment;
• Determining key experts who can contribute to the assessment as contributing authors or participants in future dialogue workshops and review processes; and  
• Identifying resources and sources of information that could be included in the assessment.