"Indigenous Partnership Principles" –
developed with Indigenous Peoples and local communities –
to inform consent, collaboration and recognition
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 21, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Today at the 2024 Global Fashion Summit,
Conservation International, alongside Textile Exchange,
released a first-of-its-kind set of guidelines for fashion,
apparel, and textile companies that are looking to partner
with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Editors, please note: additional quotes can be found at the
bottom of this release. The release is available in French,
Portuguese and Spanish here.
The Indigenous Partnership Principles were developed in
partnership between Conservation International and Textile
Exchange with direct input and leadership from Indigenous Peoples
and local communities. The principles include 12 criteria to guide
companies to better center Indigenous Peoples and local
communities' rights and perspectives across their product
development initiatives and supply chains.
Worldwide, there are over 370 million Indigenous Peoples across
70 countries and these communities protect an estimated 80% of the
world's intact biodiversity. Yet recent research from Textile
Exchange revealed that only 5% of 252 fashion companies surveyed
said they were consulting Indigenous Peoples on their company's
nature and biodiversity strategies.
The creation and production of fashion and textiles impacts
Indigenous Peoples and local communities, affecting their culture,
land and cosmology. At the same time, these communities and their
traditional knowledge systems are often undervalued and excluded
from industry benefits.
The guidelines aim to represent the perspectives of Indigenous
Peoples and local communities. To achieve that, Conservation
International worked with 33 representative Indigenous Peoples and
local community stakeholders from around the world whose
experiences with the fashion, apparel, and textile industries
spanned the value chain—from sourcing and design to
manufacturing and waste.
"It's critical to recognize that Indigenous Peoples have a rich
and robust fashion community, and have knowledge, practices, and
designs that have been developed and passed down for millennia,"
said Quinn Manson Buchwald,
director of the Indigenous and Traditional Peoples Program at
Conservation International, who co-led the development of the
Indigenous Partnership Principles. "Not only have these nations and
communities historically been excluded from ventures that impact
their lives and design heritage, but the fashion industry can be
notorious for extractive methods of materials procurement that do
lasting damage to the ecosystems many Indigenous Peoples and local
communities call home.
"Additionally, well-intended conservation strategies are often
created without input from Indigenous Peoples and local
communities, which risks violating Indigenous land rights and
pushing local communities off the land that defines their identity
and provides their livelihoods," said Buchwald, who is himself
a citizen of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of
Montana and the Manitoba Métis
Federation. "Such displacement often creates vulnerability and can
increase exploitation."
The work of Indigenous Peoples is woven throughout industry
supply chains – they play a vital role in ensuring sustainable
resource use, protecting ecosystems from overuse and helping to
limit the impacts of waste and pollution.
Effective partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and local
communities – considered to be among nature's best stewards –
can guide fashion, apparel and textile companies toward
better-informed nature and biodiversity strategies that respect
Indigenous and local rights, culture and intellectual property.
The dozen Principles aim to address this wide range of concerns
and potential threats from the fashion industry on behalf of their
Indigenous Peoples and local community partners, and contain
guidance such as:
- Understand and reduce the environmental and social impact of
your practices;
- Obtain consent;
- Respect Indigenous and local design; and
- Invest in the future of the craft and industry of Indigenous
Peoples and local communities
"Now that the fashion sector has begun to better understand and
address its outsized impact on the environment, it's a natural next
step to look ourselves in the – heavily male-led, most often
white – face and think about better inclusion industry-wide,"
said Virginia Borcherdt, senior
director of sustainable fashion at Conservation International and
co-lead of the Indigenous Partnership Principles. "It's the right
thing to do: establishing respect for and recognition of all
our stakeholders helps these companies inclusively serve consumers
as well as protect people and the planet."
The Indigenous Partnership Principles, for the Fashion, Apparel
and Textile Industries will be formally introduced during the panel
"Pathways to Indigenous Partnership" at the 2024 Global Fashion
Summit.
QUOTE BANK
Dayana Molina, Indigenous Designer and Activist at
NALIMO and consultant for the development of the Indigenous
Partnership Principles, said (in her native Portuguese and
translated into English):
"É imprescíndivel repensarmos os modelos atuais da moda. O
impacto tradicional da moda, é muito danoso. O futuro do planeta,
depende de todos nós. E por isso é tão importante refletirmos sobre
todas atuações e esferas sociais; possibilitando futuras parcerias
com populações indígenas; poluindo menos e gerando mais soluções.
Não existe a possibilidade de tratar nenhum assunto sobre a vida no
planeta terra, sem a lente da sustentabilidade."
"It is essential that we rethink current fashion practices.
The traditional impact of fashion is very harmful. The future of
the planet depends on all of us. That's why it's so important to
reflect on all actions and social spheres; to enable future
partnerships with indigenous populations; to pollute less and
generate more solutions. It is impossible to address any issue
related to life on planet Earth without the lens of
sustainability."
Beth Jensen, Senior Director
of Climate and Nature Impact at Textile Exchange, said:
"The fashion, textile and apparel industry is just beginning
to think about and truly understand the impact that it has on
nature and biodiversity. Our hope is that this work will support
the inclusion of indigenous and local community voices from the
beginning of any strategic planning and business integration
activities.
Textile Exchange is so pleased to partner with Conservation
International to take the next step of providing some specific
guidance to the industry in this area, ensuring that it is centered
in and led by the Indigenous Peoples and local communities
themselves."
About Conservation International: Conservation
International protects nature for the benefit of
humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork and finance, we
spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the
climate, for biodiversity and for people. With offices in 30
countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation
International partners with governments, companies, civil society,
Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature
thrive together. Go to Conservation.org for
more, and follow our work on Conservation
News, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
About Textile Exchange: Textile Exchange is a global
non-profit driving beneficial impact on climate and nature across
the fashion, apparel and textile industry. It guides a growing
community of brands, manufacturers, and farmers towards more
purposeful production from the very start of the supply chain. Its
goal is to help the industry to achieve a 45% reduction in the
emissions that come from producing fibers and raw materials by
2030. To get there, it is keeping its focus holistic and
interconnected, accelerating the adoption of practices that improve
the state of our water, soil health, and biodiversity too.
For real change to happen, everyone needs a clear path to
beneficial impact. That's why Textile Exchange believes that
approachable, step-by-step instruction paired with collective
action can change the system to make preferred materials and fibers
an accessible default, mobilizing leaders through attainable
strategies, proven solutions and a driven community.
At Textile Exchange, materials matter. To learn more, visit
textileexchange.org.
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SOURCE Conservation International