Strengthening partnerships and scaling up living models of SEPLS use in community-based agrobiodiversity enhancement and livelihood security to adapt to changes and crisis

Overview

This project proposes a model site which involves in four Naxi (Moso) ethnic mountain villages. The region is a biodiversity hotspot with rich indigenous cultures, but is also severely affected by climate change and resulting loss of biodiversity and of traditional culture and knowledge. Most of the indigenous farming communities are remote, poor and vulnerable. Most men migrate for work. Women thus play key roles in agricultural production and adapting to changes and crisis. However, their crucial roles are not sufficiently recognized and supported by research and policies in biodiversity, climate change and poverty.
We have worked on agrobiodiversity and livelihood security supporting community-based collective actions and linking to scientific technologies in the mountain villages since 2013, with a SEPLS & bio-culture heritage approach. In this process, the coverage of a community network scaled up from one to four villages and achieved some valuable practices and mechanisms for scaling up. Within this project, we aim to use the COP 15 platform for demonstration of this living bio-culture and SDM model, enhancing partnership of multiple stakeholders involved in the co-building of the model, empowering indigenous community networks and policy influence. The key feature of this project is partnership enhancement through joint efforts for scaling up with accumulated good practices and model in COP 15 for policy influence at multiple levels. This project is implemented under collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme - International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP- IEMP).