SILK

Sustaining Indigenous and Local Knowledge through Global Biodiversity Use Data

Indigenous and local knowledge of biodiversity is essential to addressing global environmental challenges. Yet the communities who hold this knowledge—Indigenous Peoples, local and Afro-descendant communities (IPLCAD)—are rarely acknowledged or respected in major scientific databases on biodiversity. Rooted in colonial legacies, this paradox has led to the widespread use of data without fair returns for its knowledge holders.

 

The SILK project aims to address this injustice by building a global network of biocultural data based on ethical and inclusive governance. It brings together the FAIR principles (data that are findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) and the CARE principles (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility and ethics) to properly recognize knowledge holders, ensure fair and equitable benefit-sharing in line with the Nagoya Protocol, and enable data interoperability.

 

By strengthening IPLCAD sovereignty over their knowledge, SILK supports more just, reliable and effective scientific research for biodiversity conservation, while promoting truly collaborative science.