From the Roots of Tradition

We Build the Future

Mission

As our contribution to mitigating the effects of climate change we support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Africa to sustainably use, govern, conserve, and benefit from their lands, waters, and biodiversity—on their own terms, using own laws, customs, and governance systems.

Vision

A continent where Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities enjoy full legal recognition & protection of their human rights—on par with others—equitable access to resources, and the freedom to protect and sustain their environments for future generations to come.

Our Story

Why Our Work Matters?

The world is facing an unprecedented convergence of crises—accelerating climate change, widespread biodiversity loss, and the erosion of cultural and ecological systems that sustain life. Global assessments, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reports on biodiversity, wild species, and the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, and health, affirm what Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) have long known: their stewardship is vital to sustaining ecosystems and addressing these crises. Yet their rights, governance systems, and knowledge remain undervalued or under threat.

ACRRA was founded in 2024 in response to this moment of crisis and a critical gap: the absence of Indigenous-led institutions working to secure biocultural rights in legal, policy, and conservation spaces. Across Africa, Indigenous Peoples are central to protecting biodiversity and stewarding land, yet they remain excluded from decision-making that directly affects their territories and ways of life.

ACRRA aims to shift how conservation and development are done: placing Indigenous legal systems and ecological relationships at the centre and embedding biocultural rights in national and regional legal frameworks. This vision is grounded in the recognition that climate and biodiversity justice cannot be achieved without the leadership, laws, and lived knowledge of IPLCs.

Based in Southern Africa and networked across the continent, ACRRA brings together community organisers, legal advocates, and knowledge holders to defend lands, resources, culture, and climate through Indigenous law, biocultural conservation, and rights-based advocacy. Our work is grounded in legal empowerment and collective action. We support communities to speak in their own voice, act in their own authority, and shape the legal and policy frameworks that govern their lives and lands ACRRA’s approach aligns with key international frameworks such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Global Biodiversity Framework targets, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). While our primary focus is on Indigenous Peoples, we also work with local communities and allied networks to promote rights-based conservation, address systemic human rights challenges highlighted by the African Commission, and ensure that women and youth play a central role in shaping a just and sustainable future.

Our Values

ACRRA’s work is grounded in the ethics and worldviews of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). Its communications are shaped by the following core values:

Self-determination: We support IPLCs to shape the future of their lands, territories & resources in line with Article 26 of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
Solidarity: We stand alongside IPLCs not as saviours or intermediaries, but as trusted legal allies and convenors.
Integrity: We uphold truth, transparency, and accountability in everything we do especially when sharing stories or defending others.
Justice: We advocate for fair and rights-based approaches to land, conservation, and development, guided by international human rights law and customary law.
Stewardship: We recognise the deep, interwoven relationships between land, culture, governance, and biodiversity in Indigenous worldviews and defend them as essential to rights-based conservation and development approaches.