The decision recognizes and protects the traditional knowledge systems of indigenous peoples and local communities for the benefit of global and national biodiversity management, said Sushil Raj, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Global Rights and Communities Program.

“This strengthens representation, coordination, inclusive decision-making and creates space for dialogue with parties to the COP,” Raj told the Associated Press. “It promotes support for the management of indigenous and traditional territorial biodiversity and advances international human rights standards referenced in the Global Biodiversity Framework. »

The body will be made up of two co-chairs elected by the COP: one appointed by the UN parties of the regional group and the other appointed by representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities, the AP saw in the document.

At least one of the co-chairs will be selected from a developing country, taking into account gender balance, the document said.

“With this decision, the value of traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, African descendants and local communities is recognized, and a 26-year-old historic debt to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is settled,” Susana Muhamad , representative of Colombia. Minister of the Environment and President of COP16, published on the social media platform X shortly after the announcement.

The question of who owns nature’s DNA was one of the most controversial and hotly negotiated topics at the summit, as tensions rose between poorer and developed countries over digital sequential information on genetic resources (DSI).

However, negotiators agreed Saturday morning to force big companies to share profits when they use resources from animals, plants or microorganisms in biotechnology.

Delegations agreed to a genetic information royalty equal to 0.1% of companies’ revenues from products derived from this information.

“Most of the life-saving medicines we use today come from the rainforest. It is therefore right that part of the revenue that companies generate from this information is donated to nature protection,” said Toerris Jaeger, executive director of Rainforest Foundation Norway. “This is the absolute highlight of COP16.”

The final plenary session was lengthy, beginning Friday and continuing through Saturday morning.

At the Montreal summit, rich countries pledged to raise $20 billion a year to fund conservation for developing countries by 2025, and this figure is expected to reach $30 billion a year by 2030 .

Global wildlife populations have fallen by an average of 73% in 50 years, according to the biennial Living Planet report from the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London in October.

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