Co-producing Sustainable Ocean Plans with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders

Indigenous Knowledge Systems hold vital insights for sustainably managing ocean areas and fostering the resilience of marine ecosystems and the people that rely on them. Learning from these systems requires relationship building, adopting community-based participatory approaches and fostering mutual understanding through Indigenous ways of knowing frameworks.

Meaningful co-production of Sustainable Ocean Plans requires recognising Indigenous Peoples’ and traditional communities’ rights, respecting knowledge plurality and establishing equitable partnerships from inception. It also needs to be tailored to local contexts – Indigenous and traditional knowledge is deeply rooted in specific ecosystems, landscapes and cultural understandings of nature.

This Blue Paper Blue Paper was commissioned by the Ocean Panel to provide actionable pathways both practical and policy-oriented towards achieving co-production of Sustainable Ocean Plans. Authored by 21 experts with representation from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa; authors include Indigenous knowledge holders, academics, filmmakers, novelists and more.The paper highlights the following practical steps for policymakers working towards collaborative sustainable ocean planning:

• Recognise and value plurality of knowledge systems
• Prioritise equitable and accessible ocean data and knowledge systems
• Fund Indigenous and traditional-led ocean research and planning
• Address gender biases in marine science and management

See also: Indigenous Knowledge Is Key to Better Ocean Management