Illustration, “Yggdrasill, the mundane tree,” by Finnur Magnússon, London: Henry G. Bohn, 1859. Map reproduction courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) has established an Indigenous Data Governance Task Group to establish community norms aimed at protecting Indigenous rights and interests in biodiversity data and knowledge.
In addition to focusing on the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance within the context of GBIF, the Task Group will oversee a pilot testing application of Local Contexts Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Labels.
Three Indigenous communities — the Pueblo Kichwa de Sarayaku in Ecuador, Te Whakatōhea in New Zealand, and Te Pu Atiti’a in French Polynesia — will apply their Labels to open biodiversity data hosted by GBIF.
The IDGov Task Group is led by Lydia Jennings (Pasqua Yaqui and Huichol) of Dartmouth University, and includes 11 other experts, including:
- Maui Hudson (Whakatōhea), Local Contexts and University of Waikato
- Wayne Florence, Iziko Museums of South Africa
- Alberto França (Terena), Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
- Nico Franz, University of Kansas
- Máret Heatta (Saami), The Saami Council and Sámi University of Applied Sciences
- Leslie “Leke” Hutchins (Kānaka ‘Ōiwi), Arizona State University
- Cassandra Sedran-Price (Muruwari/Gangugari), University of Sydney
- Mabel Fernandes Apurinã (Apurinã), Federação das Organizações e Comunidades Indígenas do Médio Purus and União das Mulheres Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira
- Lais Brasileiro, Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
- Per Axelsson, Umeå University
- Susanna Ragnhild Andersdatter Siri (Saami), UiT: The Arctic University of Norway
To learn more about the Task Group and the pilot, see GBIF’s website.
