Agenda item 10. Closure of the meeting at the Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Panama City.
October 30, 2025
Statement on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), delivered by Florina Lopez Miro, Indigenous Women on Biodiversity Network global and Red de Mujeres Indigenas sobre Biodiversidad de America Latina y el Caribe.
Thank you, Co-Chair.
I speak on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB).
By Anonymous
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in southeastern Bangladesh, home to 13 Indigenous communities, has long carried the weight of unhealed wounds. In late September 2025, that fragile peace was shattered once again. What began as a protest demanding justice for the rape of a teenage Indigenous Marma schoolgirl in Khagrachari District turned into a communal crackdown on Indigenous communities.
By Bryan Bixcul (Maya-Tz’utujil), SIRGE Coalition Global Coordinator
By Morne Pietersen, Radio Station Manager
A local community radio station, Eden FM, is playing a pivotal role in preserving the cultural heritage and history of the Klein Karoo region through two distinct but interconnected research projects. The initiatives, undertaken with support from Cultural Survival’s Community Media Grant Fund, documented Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and the personal stories of forced removals under the apartheid-era Group Areas Act.
By Kaushal Chemjong, Station Manager, Radio Triyuga
Diana Ariza Monroy, Community Media Program Assistant, is from Santander, Colombia, but is based in Cauca, in the Nasa community, and holds a degree in Industrial Engineering. Her work is rooted in long-standing community engagement focused on human rights, cultural resilience, and youth empowerment, shaped by six years of experience in the Nasa territory. Diana speaks Spanish and English, and has an understanding of Nasa Yuwe. Reach Diana at diana.ariza@culturalsurvival.org.
By Sandra Peláez (CS Intern)
By Nailejileji Asia Tipap, Executive Director IWDA
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
