A/HRC/51/28 C. Latin America 89. In 2020, the Asociación de Mujeres Indígenas of Colombia succeeded in their legal efforts to designate the Andes-Amazon rainforest that they steward as a civil society nature reserve. The Asociación brings indigenous women in Colombia together to revitalize their knowledge of medicinal plants, gardening, artisanship, women’s self-care and ecological stewardship.81 In Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Arhuaca women engage in ethno-education and ethnobotanical research on sacred plants that have medical, spiritual and nutritional properties. In response to COVID-19, they have promoted the revitalization of indigenous scientific practices by using natural medicines and sacred plants, strengthening the Arhuaco food system and other cultural practices.82 90. In Panama, indigenous women play a fundamental role in conserving and transmitting the Guna cosmovision to future generations. The Organización de Mujeres Indígenas Unidas por la Biodiversidad de Panamá has promoted a project to recover indigenous knowledge on jaguars and other felines among the Guna and Embera peoples and generate information on the conservation of the cats by systematizing information based on indigenous culture and strengthening the local capacity. 91. The Wapichana and Macuxi indigenous women of Brazil gather to learn from elder women about the medicinal properties of plants to strengthen resistance to COVID-19 and are engaged in networking to develop and share their scientific knowledge among indigenous communities and between generations of indigenous women.83 92. Indigenous Nicaraguan women have formed cooperatives to apply agricultural, medicinal and artisanal knowledge to advance their economic opportunities. The Wangki Tangni organization has brought together a collective of Miskito women farmers, promoting women’s self-sufficiency through organic farming practices, and uses its radio station led by indigenous women to reach remote indigenous communities along the Nicaragua-Honduras border and educate community members about their rights. They have also established networks to promote the involvement of indigenous women in indigenous governance and bring them together with municipal governments to combat violence against them. 84 D. Asia 93. Despite climate extremes and variability throughout the region, indigenous women in Bangladesh are taking the lead on securing access to food and purifying and preserving stores of water. They are combating increased flooding and salinization by cultivating floating gardens and planting saline-tolerant reeds, fruits and trees.85 94. In Thailand, indigenous women manage crop production processes, a vital spiritual and cultural tradition for the Akha people. Climate change, increasing monoculture and divergent market orientation away from indigenous communities has led to a gradual disappearance of Akha agriculture. To combat this, community organizers have established a centre to teach youth and interested outsiders the science of Akha agricultural practice. Also in Thailand, the indigenous Shan women, have long understood how to ferment food to store it during famines and other crises, ensuring family and community food security. 86 81 82 83 84 85 86 18 See https://www.amazonteam.org/Indigenous-women-achieve-mamakunapa-civil-society-naturereserve/. FAO, “Celebrating indigenous women scientists on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science”, 11 February 2021. https://www.fao.org/Indigenous-peoples/news-article/en/c/1374632. See https://cir.org.br/site/2020/12/20/mulheres-wapichana-e-macuxi-da-regiao-murupu-realizamoficina-de-medicina-tradicional. Madre, “Towards an indigenous women-led just recovery”, p. 3. Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform web portal – Asia, accessible at https://lcipp.unfccc.int/about-lcipp/un-Indigenous-sociocultural-regions/asia. See https://aippnet.org/land-tenure-security-foundation-resilient-sustainable-food-systems-webinarIndigenous-women-global-game-changers.