As the 2025 UNOC convenes in Nice, France, from June 8 to 13 under the theme “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean,” we put forward this statement and reiterate that Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities have an outsized role in governance, conservation, and sustainable use of our oceans. Read more ▸
As an international association promoting the appropriate recognition and support for territories of life worldwide, we are committed to collectively supporting and facilitating, led by communities and supporting organizations at local and national levels, the documentation of an increasing number of marine and coastal territories of life over the next five years. Read more ▸
Pochet Ballester, G., Acosta, M., & Sánchez Campos, R. (2025). Marine and coastal territories of life in Mesoamerica: A legal analysis from the perspectives of small-scale fisheries (V. Solis Rivera, M. K. Uddin, & C. Jarrett, Eds.; L. Åkerson & D. Campos Rubio, Trans.). ICCA Consortium. https://doi.org/10.70841/my6731g Read more ▸
In our struggle against land and ocean grabs and fortress conservation, we are being intimidated and threatened; we ask for solidarity and support from the ICCA Consortium members and community-based organizations. Read more ▸
Indigenous women that live in coastal Chile are coming together to defend the sea, protect biodiversity, and exercise their rights. Read more ▸
We share this alert about the increasing threats against defenders of coastal and marine spaces in Chile and express our solidarity with Daniel Caniullán Huentel, who is continuously facing intimidation. He’s a lonko (leader) of the Pu Wapi Indigenous community of Melinka in Guaitecas (Aysén region). Read more ▸
To ensure effective, equitable, and sustainable approaches to ocean governance and management, we must first put the “People of the Ocean”—the custodians and guardians of the ocean—first. Read more ▸
The lawsuit, which seeks to allow Ainu People to fish for salmon under their Indigenous rights, is the first of its kind in Japan. Read more ▸
We invite you to celebrate World Oceans Day 2023 with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afrodescendant communities in Mesoamerica, Read more ▸
In the Philippines, concerns are growing in the context of emerging challenges within the community and attempts of governments and conservation NGOs to establish state-sanctioned “Marine Protected Areas.” Read more ▸
Workshops like these are laying the foundation for a strong network of ICCAs–territories of life throughout Senegal and Africa by supporting and strengthening the territories at the local level. Read more ▸
In the Aysén region, the latest meeting between the Mapuche Williche People and the local community of small-scale artisanal fishers was held at a critical juncture in which the archipelagic marine ecosystem and those who inhabit it are threatened by salmon aquaculture, overfishing, poverty, and inequity. Read more ▸
The 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference was held in Lisbon, Portugal, from June 27 to July 1, 2022. The ICCA Consortium and several Members and community partners from twelve island and coastal countries attended the conference. Together, we highlighted the self-determined priorities of Indigenous and community custodians of island, coastal and marine territories of life, and of artisanal and small-scale fishers, in a conference that was otherwise focused on status quo approaches to ocean conservation and economic priorities. Read more ▸
During the recent United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, the ICCA Consortium supported the participation of various Member organizations, fishers, and representatives of Indigenous and local communities. Vivienne Solís Rivera and Marvin Fonseca (CoopeSoliDar R.L, ICCA Consortium Member) recount how participants from Indigenous and local communities made an impact in securing better recognition of their rights and more holistic conservation of the oceans. Read more ▸
Many UN member states participating in the UN Ocean Conference still have a long way to go towards recognizing Indigenous Peoples and local communities as part of the solutions to restoring our aquatic ecosystems. Read more ▸
Government agencies in Costa Rica have announced a plan that will undermine the shared governance model in the Cahuita National Park. Read more ▸
Articles illustrate how communities in southwestern Madagascar’s locally managed marine areas have made progress to build their capacity for ecological monitoring and expansion of the marine reserves. These LMMAs are part of the MIHARI Network (ICCA Consortium Member) and are supported by Blue Ventures (ICCA Consortium Member). Read more ▸
By Neville Yapp with LEAP – Land Empowerment Animals People (ICCA Consortium Member),Persatuan Komuniti Kampung Mumiang, andForever Sabah In the mangroves of the Kinabatangan estuary, fluorescent… Read more “Mangrove, moon, and the tides: the story of progress in the Mumiang Locally Managed Marine Area of the Suluk People” ▸
“Our world order and community rules are based on the all-species harmony. Our communities are embedded in the all-species habitats as the custodians and connected to all beings.’’ Read more ▸
The ICCA Consortium urges governments and the UN to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ territories of life as a critical imperative and opportunity to usher in transformative change for the oceans. Read more ▸
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