INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' BIOCENTRIC RESTORATION

Restoring ecosystems.
Reviving food and knowledge systems.
Recovering the lost memory of the territories.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration Global Programme is an innovative way to restore degraded ecosystems that places at its centre Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems, cosmogonies, spirituality and territorial management practices.

Co-developed by the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit and Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, the Programme acts on diverse and critical biomes - from rainforests, to mountains and drylands - contributing to food security, climate action, biodiversity conservation, and to reverse land degradation.

This programme directly contributes to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Discover more on the FAO Indigenous Peoples website.

Caring for life in its wholeness. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The Indigenous Peoples' Biocentric Restoration Certificate honours Indigenous Peoples' commitment, leadership, profound knowledge and achievements in the framework of the Global Programme.

As right and knowledge holders, Indigenous Peoples' restoration efforts go well beyond just planting trees. They restore life's subtle connections. They restore food and knowledge systems. They restore the lost memory of the territories.

The Certificate highlights the holistic nature of the Indigenous Peoples' Biocentric Restoration Global Programme: an Indigenous Peoples-led approach that is grounded in respect, reciprocity, knowledge, innovation and spirituality. Based on concrete and georeferenced data, it is a testament to the vital role Indigenous Peoples play in restoring life.

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Monitoring ecosystems as they recover. Upholding Indigenous Peoples' rights.

Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration efforts on the ground are monitored in a participatory way. Centered on Indigenous Peoples' rights, this participatory monitoring system was developed by Indigenous Peoples' organizations and by the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit, in consultation with FAO Forestry division and the AIM4Forests initiative, and in connection with the Framework for Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring (FERM).

Through the use of geospatial tools and community-led mapping, this monitoring system empowers Indigenous Peoples to track ecosystem recovery and generate real-time data that blends Indigenous Peoples' science, formal science and innovation.

This approach ensures that data collection and data property remains firmly under Indigenous Peoples’ governance, in full accordance with their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).