The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is underway in Montréal. Like the COP27 climate conference held in Egypt last month, the goal of this conference is to get member nations to make agreements that can help reverse or slow down the damage being done to our planet.
One of the largest challenges in Canada and across the world is that biodiversity conservation has typically marginalized Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge systems. And yet, there is growing recognition that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples are, on average, more biodiverse.
