On 30 October 2024, UNU-IAS co-organized a side event of the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP16) in Cali, Colombia to spotlight the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative (COMDEKS) programme and its role in advancing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The session highlighted community-led initiatives for the sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resources in Cambodia, Colombia and Türkiye.

COMDEKS is a flagship programme of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) that provides funding to communities for biodiversity conservation efforts and the sustainable management of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS). It is implemented in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme (UNDP GEF SGP). 

Risa Edoo (Partnership Specialist, UNDP GEF SGP) announced the publication of a new brochure outlining the programme’s approach to empowering communities with small-scale financing and capacity development.

Suneetha Subramanian (Research Fellow, IPSI Secretariat / UNU-IAS) introduced the latest edition of a toolkit designed to support local communities in assessing ecosystem resilience by mapping environmental and social elements, identifying drivers of change and developing landscape management strategies.

Highlighting a COMDEKS project in Türkiye, Engin Yilmaz (Executive Director, Yolda Initiative; Coordinator, Alliance for Mediterranean Nature and Culture (AMNC)) noted that the toolkit has been used by local stakeholders to compare environmental conditions over the last thirty years and understand the drivers of change. The results were digitized into a geographical information system to aid in monitoring and spatial planning.

Nagin Navirak (National Coordinator, SGP Cambodia) pointed out that the COMDEKS programme has provided grants to 259 small projects in Cambodia. Describing the collaborative process of selecting project sites with community stakeholders and balancing conservation with economic empowerment, she stressed the importance of continuous dialogue and adaptive management.

Stressing that landscape approaches are integral to COMDEKS, Ana Beatriz Barona (National Coordinator, SGP Colombia) explained that community-based organizations were responsible for formulating and implementing projects while considering each territory’s specific ecological and socio-economic dynamics. She discussed water conservation and governance work in páramos – mountain ecosystems that supply water to almost one-third of the Colombian population and are also home to Indigenous and local communities.

Panelists acknowledged that if communities do not have the capacity to sustainably manage their areas, they may have to abandon their efforts or resort to unsustainable practices. They emphasized that the primary focus of the COMDEKS programme is to stimulate local action by supporting community-driven solutions.