IUCN VOCES: Knowledge Dialogue for Conservation with Rights and Justice
IUCN | Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (ORMACC) | VOCES Project
Country (ies): Costa Rica
Scope: Regional
Year: 2024
01
CONTEXT
The STAR scientific metric allows quantifying opportunities to reduce species extinction risk. However, its initial application in Mesoamerica revealed a critical gap: biological data did not capture the complexity of Indigenous governance, territorial threats, or the role of defenders. Therefore, it became necessary to build a shared narrative connecting scientific rigor with the rights frameworks, priorities, and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples.
02
CHALLENGE
Transforming a species-centric technical exercise into a relevant tool for territories, capable of addressing governance, threats, and rights. The challenge consisted of facilitating a space for technical mediation between science and Indigenous knowledge to interpret STAR results under a "Conservation with Rights and Justice" approach, making them usable for political advocacy.
03
SOLUTION
A co-creation process was conceptualized and facilitated to develop a common narrative, bringing together IUCN scientists with Indigenous leaders and technical teams to achieve three strategic outcomes:
- Technical mediation and knowledge dialogue: Calibrating the interpretation of STAR through an expanded understanding of Indigenous biodiversity (cultural, sacred, and material dimensions) and the actual conditions of territorial management.
- Co-creation of narrative and key concepts: Defining shared guiding threads (Indigenous biodiversity, sustainable management, defenders, rights-based conservation, threats, and territorial governance) to serve as a narrative architecture for advocacy.
- Advocacy instruments: Translating the process into strategic knowledge products, including the update of technical presentations and the design of the VOCES project infographic.
04
IMPACT
- Methodological calibration for Indigenous contexts: Critical gaps for using STAR in Indigenous territories were identified, including the need to consider specific threats for a realistic assessment of risk at the territorial level.
- Actionable narrative for advocacy: Facilitating the appropriation of scientific evidence by Indigenous leaders, turning it into an advocacy asset that validates their historical role as biodiversity managers before international bodies.
- Roadmap for regional cartography: Establishing a clear roadmap for updating the Map of Indigenous Peoples of Mesoamerica, defining structured commissions and technical agreements on the information layers to be updated and incorporated.
- Advocacy milestone (COP16): The co-created narrative and the update of the Mesoamerican Indigenous Territorial Information System were prepared as key inputs to position the relaunch of a regional Indigenous cartography.
- Qualitative evidence of effectiveness: Documenting cases that qualitatively validate the contributions of Indigenous Peoples and highlight the effectiveness of community management.
