Biocultural Rights

Defending Indigenous knowledge and lands

Knowledge & Culture-Centred

At the heart of Indigenous and community-led conservation are Biocultural Rights, a set of collective rights that recognize the deep and inseparable connection between Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), their lands, waters, cultures, and ecosystems. These rights affirm that protecting biodiversity cannot be separated from protecting the people who have sustainably lived with, governed, and nurtured those ecosystems for generations.

Rooted in international law including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights biocultural rights uphold the right of communities to maintain their identities, protect sacred sites, steward biodiversity, and pass on knowledge, languages, and cultural practices to future generations.

At ACRRA, biocultural rights are a cornerstone of our mission. They are not just legal or policy tools they are lived realities that embody Indigenous law, customary governance, and ecological relationships. Defending these rights means ensuring that communities can govern and benefit from their lands and resources on their own terms, free from external threats such as extractive industries, land grabs, and exclusionary conservation models. By advancing biocultural rights, ACRRA supports a future where justice, biodiversity, and cultural survival are not in conflict but thrive together.