Leaders are meeting in Yerevan, Armenia, for COP17, a United Nations meeting about nature. They are discussing a permanent group for Indigenous peoples and local communities. The group will give these communities a stronger voice in decisions about protecting nature.
The UN agreed to create the group at COP16 in Colombia in 2024. This followed 30 years of work and talks. Now, leaders must agree on how the group will work. They also need to decide how to pay for its work, and some countries still oppose parts of the plans.
Lucy Mulenkei is a Masai leader from Kenya. She helps lead the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. She worked to help create the new group. Despite the problems, she hopes the meeting will end well.
Mulenkei says Indigenous communities protect nature and must help reach the world's nature goals for 2030. She also wants scientists and communities to bring their knowledge together. When researchers use community knowledge, she says both sides must agree on the terms. Communities must also share in the benefits.
