Biodiversity has deep histories, and its future depends on understanding the living knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, according to a new executive report released by the Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene (ECHOES) Team at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. The volume, titled Biodiversity Through Time: Deep Histories and Living Knowledge Systems from the Global South, was presented in connection with the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), held in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026.
The report is the team’s second executive report, building on its first, Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Food Systems, which was launched during COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in 2025. The new volume challenges the notion that biodiversity represents a fixed natural state. Instead, it demonstrates how ecosystems have been shaped by long-term interactions among climate, landscapes, human societies, and flora and fauna.
Developed in collaboration with researchers, Indigenous Peoples, and Local Communities from across Africa, Asia, and South America, the report brings together interdisciplinary research and place-based knowledge to examine how biodiversity has changed over thousands of years and how these histories can inform contemporary conservation and restoration strategies. It presents conservation approaches that are historically informed, locally grounded, inclusive, and attentive to the rights and knowledge of communities whose lives and futures are closely connected to biodiversity.
One section documents the role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in sustaining biodiversity. Contributions from Quilombola communities in Brazil, Baiga communities in India, Daasanach communities in Kenya, and many others show how traditional ecological knowledge, collective territorial stewardship, sustainable resource use, and intergenerational practices contribute to biodiversity conservation. Another section rethinks biodiversity through concepts, ontologies and histories, examining biodiversity as a relational and biocultural system, including through diet and food-web dynamics, and engaging with diverse ontologies of human-nature relationships.
The report also draws on archaeological, palaeoecological, and historical evidence revealing how past climate change, human activities, species extinctions, colonialism, and changing land-use practices have shaped contemporary ecosystems. Complementing this deep-history perspective, a section on scientific methods showcases approaches including ancient DNA analysis, protein fingerprinting, dendrochronology, archaeological and palaeoecological reconstruction, and computational historical ecology. These methods provide complementary evidence for understanding past ecosystems and informing contemporary conservation decisions.
A central message of the report is that biodiversity cannot be understood solely through species inventories or recent ecological observations. Many landscapes often perceived as natural or untouched have been influenced by generations of human interaction, management, and care. Contributions from the Brazilian Cerrado demonstrate how traditional fire-management practices have helped shape biodiversity and maintain ecological diversity, while research among Baiga communities in central India highlights customary restrictions on honey collection and fishing that support species reproduction and forest regeneration.
The report also foregrounds the perspectives of Indigenous and traditional communities themselves. As Yeny Botero Londoño, a Desana and Barâ woman from the Cucura Indigenous Community in Colombia, explains in her contribution, protecting biodiversity means defending territory, culture, food systems, and life itself, while promoting and maintaining a balance between the community’s needs and respect for the community’s Law of Origin. Together, these experiences reinforce the need to recognize Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities not simply as beneficiaries of conservation initiatives, but as knowledge holders, rights holders, and active partners in biodiversity governance.
The report arrives at a pivotal moment for international biodiversity governance. COP17 marks the first global review of collective progress toward implementing the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Through its interdisciplinary and regionally grounded contributions, the ECHOES report calls attention to the importance of integrating long-term ecological evidence, locally grounded practices, and diverse knowledge systems into biodiversity monitoring, restoration planning, and environmental decision-making.
Prepared for presentation at COP17 and subsequently at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, the report seeks to strengthen dialogue between scientific research, international environmental policy, and the Global South communities whose knowledge and practices help sustain biodiversity. Additional case studies in the volume highlight how local knowledge and practices can shape more effective, equitable, and culturally grounded conservation and restoration strategies, from Indigenous and community-led conservation to heritage ecology.
Subject of Research: Biodiversity change over deep time and the role of Indigenous and local knowledge in conservation
Article Title: Perspectives from the Global South team releases new executive report on biodiversity through time
Article References: Perspectives from the Global South team releases new executive report on biodiversity through time. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)
Image Credits: AI Generated
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Keywords: biodiversity, Indigenous knowledge, conservation, COP17, Global South, palaeoecology, biocultural diversity, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, ecosystem management, traditional ecological knowledge, Perspectives, Global
News Source: Margaret Porter. (October 29, 2026). New Report Traces Deep Histories of Biodiversity Through Global South Knowledge. Scienmag.
