New COLOURS programme launched to strengthen the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities and support locally driven biodiversity data management

The longstanding partnership between the EU and IUCN has seen more than €100 million invested in locally driven solutions for biodiversity conservation since 2011. Through joint initiatives such as the Biodiversity and Protected Area Management (BIOPAMA) programme and the BEST, BEST2.0+, and BESTLIFE2030 initiatives, this partnership has supported over 350 local conservation actors to lead in on-the-ground conservation action through grants and strengthened regional hubs for biodiversity data and capacity building in five regions, spanning the African, Caribbean, and Pacific regions, and the EU’s Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories.

At a COP16 side-event hosted in the IUCN Pavilion, the impact and legacy of this partnership was celebrated, whilst a new joint programme of work was announced. The COLOURS initiative (COmmunities, Local OUtcomes, and Regional Science) will take a multi-layered approach to supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) through promoting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, strengthening CBD Centres of Excellence (institutions selected by the CBD Secretariat to bolster the implementation of the KMGBF), and supporting the tracking of biodiversity outcomes through the Nature Positive approach.

“The COLOURS initiative offers a fair and equitable response to the many challenges our world’s biodiversity faces, by ensuring that the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities are upheld, and that local communities are empowered to act on the GBF. IUCN is thrilled to continue our partnership with the EU to bring our technical expertise to biodiversity data collection across the globe. With only six years until 2030, collaborative action for nature has never been more vital,” Stewart Maginnis, Deputy Director General, IUCN, said.

“By partnering with IUCN, the EU aims at mobilising a broad range of actors to reconcile people and nature. Preserving precious biodiversity is not possible without local and indigenous peoples’ buy-in, involvement and expertise. COLOURS is about recognising the spectrum of approaches needed to halt the global threats to biodiversity," Aurelia Godefroy, the Deputy Head, Environment and Sustainable and Natural Resources Unit, of DG-INTPA, said. 

IUCN

Stewart Maginnis, IUCN Deputy General, delivers his remarks

The five-year, €15 million programme, will support on-the-ground action across three continents, building on the platform established through the BIOPAMA initiative in the Caribbean and the Pacific that ends in 2025. Under the CBD, the regional Biodiversity Centres of Excellence are responsible for providing scientific, technical and up-to-date information on biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. These centres support informed decision-making at local, national, and regional levels. Through COLOURS, integral support will be provided to this stream of work in the Caribbean (through work with the Caribbean Protected Areas Gateway (CPAG) within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Pacific (through the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)).

In parallel, and where Indigenous peoples (IP) and local communities (LC) are interested and with free, prior and informed consent, the project will provide pathways towards recognition and support at global, regional and national levels. At the global level, the project will advance the identification and recognition of Indigenous rights and will support Indigenous peoples in their advocacy and outreach efforts. Concurrently, at the national level, partner IP and LC-led organisations will work with a global partnership consisting of IUCN, IIFB, and UNEP-WCMC to secure technical and financial support to advance their rights. This action will focus on biodiverse and culturally diverse hotspots, to be selected across the Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific regions.

The final component of the COLOURS initiative seeks to promote a strong Nature Positive approach. The action on measuring Nature Positive outcomes will provide and pilot methods and metrics to allow partner institutions in the Global South, including businesses and other non-state actors, to measure their progress towards delivering Nature Positive outcomes at the site-level.

The COLOURS initiative of the EU and IUCN promises strong support towards countries committed to achieving the goals set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with a special emphasis on achieving Target 3’s 30x30 objective.