Every year, the world loses enough forest trees to cover Portugal. Between 1990 and 2020, roughly 420 million hectares of forest disappeared, worsening climate change, destroying biodiversity, and threatening the livelihoods of Indigenous communities. International agreements now call for halting and reversing forest loss by 2030, and they identify Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) as critical to that goal. Yet IKS remains marginalised, often dismissed as inferior to modern science, and is rapidly eroding. This project, led by the University of Leeds in collaboration with the FAO and the Indigenous Peoples Observatory Network, aims to strengthen IKS by facilitating knowledge transfer between Indigenous communities and co-creating insights that bridge the gap between Indigenous knowledge, science, and policy. It will set up a Virtual Living Lab where Indigenous Peoples, scientists, and decision-makers work together. If successful, the research could reshape how global forest restoration efforts incorporate Indigenous knowledge—not as a secondary input, but as a core component of policy and practice. That shift could improve the effectiveness of international initiatives like the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, while respecting the rights and cultures of Indigenous communities.
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Each year the world loses enough forest trees to fill Portugal. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 420 million hectares of forests disappeared between 1990 and 2020, exacerbating climate change and biodiversity loss, and jeopardizing the livelihoods of indigenous communities. Realizing the importance of protecting the world's forests and minimizing the risk of deforestation, a number of international agreements including the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use (2021), and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022), set out an ambitious goal to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 and the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are identified as critical to achieving the goals of halting and reversing forest loss. Studies show that while IKS have a wide range of positive impacts on people and ecosystems, they often remain marginalized and misframed as inferior to modern science, and are rapidly eroding. Collaborating with the University of Leeds, UK, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the Indigenous Peoples Observatory Network (IPON) the proposed project aims to strengthen IKS by facilitating knowledge transfer between different Indigenous communities and co-creating generalizable insights to bridge the gap between IKS, science, and policies to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation. In line with the European Commission's Responsible Research and Innovation framework that stresses 'design science with and for society, this project will set up a Virtual Living Lab together with IPs, scientists, and decision-makers. Findings from this project will contribute to the goals of global initiatives to halt and reverse forest loss as well as the European Commissions 2019 Communication, to step up the actions to restore the world's forests while respecting rights, culture, and the knowledge of Indigenous communities.
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