A/HRC/61/49 40. The protection of biodiversity and of cultural diversity must go hand in hand with conservation initiatives.67 Biodiversity and cultural diversity are affected by the same drivers, in particular modernization, industrialization and monoagricultural systems. 68 It is the loss of both that affects the diversity of genes, species and ecosystems69 and, more widely, that leads to habitat loss, food shortages, cultural homogenization and other violations of human rights.70 This is accompanied by the erosion and impoverishment of languages, which often reflect a specific environment, the loss of nature-bound ways of life and practices, traditional knowledge appropriation and the disappearance of resource governance mechanisms, many of which safeguard against unsustainable exploitation and degradation of nature. 71 Place-based stories, narratives, histories, taboos, customs and rituals can lose their cultural significance if the environment changes, thus undermining the ability of individuals and groups to access, enjoy and benefit from their cultural resources. This mutual relationship creates an ecosystem: thriving biodiversity, healthy habitats and ecosystems are the necessary precondition for the flourishing of cultural rights,72 and vice versa, and threats against cultural systems are threats against natural ones, and vice versa. 41. States, conservation actors and other stakeholders must recognize the reciprocal relationship between culture and nature in their conservation strategies and programming. In certain countries, work is under way to integrate traditional knowledge into national biodiversity policies and plans, by documenting intangible heritage relating to natural resources73 and revitalizing traditional practices, such as the Hima system in Saudi Arabia. 42. A potentially encouraging development can be observed in the use of biocultural frameworks in conservation and environmental management. Biocultural frameworks can be used to link the biological and cultural elements of nature, eliminating the separation between the two and providing guidance to States and other conservation actors on how to protect biodiversity more holistically by protecting biocultural heritage.74 43. For example, the Rooibos Access and Benefit-sharing Agreement in South Africa recognizes the Khoikhoi and San peoples as the traditional holders of knowledge about the uses of rooibos, an indigenous plant. The agreement includes a biocultural community protocol, which sets forth the Khoikhoi’s customary laws around rooibos and articulates the expectations of outsiders engaging with that traditional knowledge.75 Municipal laws in areas of Brazil such as Linhares and Espírito Santo have also embraced a biocultural approach, which recognizes the “intrinsic rights of the waves at the mouth of the Doce River”. 76 Uzbekistan is considering the creation of biocultural parks, protecting both natural ecosystems and cultural rights,77 and, in Colombia, transmission of ecological knowledge is unthinkable without the use of Indigenous languages.78 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 12 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, art. 1. See also UNESCO, UNESCO Global Report on Cultural Policies – Culture: The Missing SDG (Paris, 2025). Submission from Myanmar. See www.unep.org/resources/global-environment-outlook-4. See also www.cbd.int/lbcd/step1. A/HRC/34/49, para. 6. See also submission from Uzbekistan, para. 45, for an example of biodiversity loss affecting cultural rights and the rights to health and a decent standard of living. Submissions from Algeria, paras. 1 and 2; Burundi; Mexico; and Myanmar; and submissions from Amnesty International, Institute for Peace and Leadership, Nhimbe Trust, UNESCO and Yezihalem Sisay Takele. Submissions from Diamond Johnny, Mahdi Kolahi and Red Española para el Desarrollo Sostenible. Submission from Algeria, para. 16. See Jared Gonet, “Worldview violence and non-human people in (conservation) science”, Ecology and Society, vol. 29, No. 4 (2024). See https://naturaljustice.org/the-rooibos-access-and-benefit-sharing-agreement/. Submission from International Council on Monuments and Sites. Submission from Uzbekistan. Submission from Colombia. See also www.unesco.org/en/articles/languages-cultures-knowledgeunescos-action-indigenous-peoples. GE.26-01310