Manu Caddie is an inaugural member of the Cali Fund Steering Committee, representing the Pacific region, here he writes in his role as an occasional policy advisor for Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust. The following version of this post has been updated from the original (31/8/26) based on additional information contained in a longer piece published … Continue reading The Cali Fund needs scrutiny, but so does the claim of contributor control.
Manu Caddie is a member of the inaugural Steering Committee for the Multilateral Mechanism for the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources, including the Cali Fund, representing Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the Pacific region. This post is a revised version of an earlier … Continue reading Assessing Third World Network’s Critique of the CBD Database Study
Manu Caddie is a policy advisor for Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust and submitted this piece for publication to celebrate release of a government document that was politically too hot for the Coalition Government. After months of trying, bring denied initially, challenging the official decision and going through the Office of the Ombudsman to request a … Continue reading Developed, Dropped, Disclosed: The Discussion Document That Never Saw Daylight, Until Now
8.00AM (NZT) FRIDAY 24 APRIL - register here via MS Teams Pemadashdakota (Rice Lake) is the first body of water in Ontario to receive this status, and the second in Canada after Quebec's Magpie River set the precedent as it was granted legal personhood in 2021. We're honoured to host Chief Taynar Simpson of Alderville … Continue reading Webinar: The Lake That’s A Legal Person
The Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is currently holding a global consultation on the draft Programme of Work on Forest Biodiversity (PoW Forests), a key component of implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This consultation seeks input on how the new global strategy for forests can halt biodiversity loss while addressing … Continue reading Protecting Forests with Indigenous Knowledge: What AIR Trust Recommends
The conference concluded unexpectedly when countries could not reach an agreement on establishing a new fund during an extensive 10-hour final plenary session that went all night and past dawn on the morning of 2 November. Delegates engaged in intense discussions late into the night, trying to address the numerous items on the agenda.
AIR trust has participated in meetings of the Human Rights Council for more than 20 years, primarily through sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In October 2024, AIR Trust co-founder Tracey Whare was invited to speak to 3rd Meeting of the Second Intersessional Meeting on the Participation of Indigenous Peoples during the 57th … Continue reading Tracey Whare speaks to the Human Rights Council
this Q+A with Air trust member katie lee riddle (rongowhakaata) was originally published by cultural survival (10/10/24) KatieLee Riddle descends from the Iwi of Rongowhakaata on the East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island. She is a Māori researcher at Te Kotahi Research Institute, an interdisciplinary research hub based at the University of Waikato in … Continue reading Digital Sequence Information Poses Risks to Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Biodiversity
Manu Caddie provides some reflections on two weeks of rugged negotiations after 25 years of work towards a global Treaty to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples and prevent biopiracy. The global Intellectual Property (IP) system supposedly protects inventions and incentivises individuals, companies and countries to invest in creating new things. Patents, trademarks/brands, copyrighted artistic … Continue reading Reflections from the WIPO GRATK Treaty Negotiations
The WGDSI-1 report below summarises where we are up to in the DSI discussions. The annex of the document contains each of the points that are to be discussed in the IAG. Hopefully this doc gives readers a good idea of where things are at and have developed since COP15 Decision 15/9 (December 2022). KatieLee … Continue reading DSI Working Group Report
Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust 