A/HRC/51/28 interests of that communal, life-sustaining resource, preserving its health for present and future generations.25 34. In Timor Leste, the mandate has observed women-led initiatives, based on indigenous justice practices, that have expanded mangrove forests to protect the coastline and prevent salination, and have enforced temporary no-fishing zones with remarkable gains for the coral reef ecosystem. 26 In Oaxaca, Mexico, indigenous women lead the process of “water harvesting” by recovering groundwater through community management and practices. B. Food security 35. Indigenous women play an integral and active role in farming, food production, preparation and preservation and seed conservation, transmitting their knowledge and timehonoured practices intercommunally and intergenerationally. They contribute to food security within their own communities and have been able to define and apply sustainable production strategies and distribution.27 Through indigenous scientific knowledge, learned from their mothers and grandmothers, women are involved in crop identification, weather pattern prediction and seed selection, storage and management. These practices have evolved and been refined through careful practice and observation over generations. 36. Indigenous women have a wealth of knowledge and understanding about what food items their ecosystems produce, where and when to find them and how to make best use of what is available. Additionally, they have extensive knowledge as to which fruits and vegetables grow best on their lands, as well as having proven systems for farming and cultivating their lands year-round without causing lasting damage to the ecosystem. Indigenous peoples have historically focused on wild or naturally occurring plants rather than farmed plants. Such knowledge is essential for understanding and preserving the ecosystem. 37. Seeds are particularly important to indigenous peoples across the world as symbols of rebirth, growth and the cycle of life.28 For most indigenous peoples, seed custodianship lies largely in the hands of women, seeds being considered an important part of a woman’s identity, knowledge and power. 38. Across Africa, indigenous women have developed a range of seed-saving methods, smoking seeds over fire to protect them and mixing them with herbs and ash to guard against fungi and repel pests. Women seed custodians determine which of the seeds they have bred will do best in conditions they predict are about to unfold. In the context of climatic instability, the refined ecological knowledge held by women becomes ever more essential. Reading the signs in the ecosystem requires careful observation and attention to detail, such as changes in the behaviour of insects, plants, animals or birds, levels of moisture and patterns of rain or drought. Knowledge of the constellations and the relationship to the moon’s cycle also have an important bearing on determining the seasonal cycles, rains and planting systems.29 39. In Northern Thailand, the Shan, Lua and Akha indigenous women use rotational methods of sharing seeds within the community to ensure food security and limit any possible risk of extinction. Since no one family can plant the whole variety of seeds every year, each family produces different crops and the seeds are shared after the harvest. 30 Indigenous women in Nepal apply their scientific knowledge of farming and food preparation, which includes methods of drying and preserving food, such as fermentation of soybeans.31 In India, 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Submission by Anne Poelina, Co-Chair of Indigenous Studies, Senior Research Fellow, Nulungu Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia. See also https://martuwarrafitzroyriver.org/fitzroyriver-declaration. See A/HRC/42/37/Add.2. Submission by the Government of Guatemala. Submission by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). African Biodiversity Network and The Gaia Foundation, Celebrating African Rural Women: Custodians of Seed, Food and Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Resilience (2015), p. 14. See Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Indigenous Women, Ancestral Wisdom (2021). Submission by Nepal National Indigenous Women Forum. 9