The Permanent Forum welcomes the proposal of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, to collect information on best practices in adapting statistical inquiries to the needs of indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum looks forward to the results of this project and invites the Institute to follow up on this work with the Forum through the Forum secretariat.
The Permanent Forum recognizes that the United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity and that indigenous peoples, as custodians of the Earth’s biodiversity, should be major players in actions planned for 2010. In that spirit, the Permanent Forum calls for close cooperation between the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Forum in promoting the International Year and in highlighting the role of indigenous peoples as custodians of biodiversity.