Report: Locally-led sustainable development

Shifting the decision-making power in conservation efforts from distant actors to those with ancestral, cultural, relational, material and/or spiritual ties to the land is a promising and necessary way forward. Indigenous People and Local Communities (IP&LCs) know best how to care for and defend the land, often based on generations of knowledge accumulation. For the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA), this approach of locally-led sustainable development is more than a principle, it is seen as the basis for real and lasting change. A new report on locally-led sustainable development, co-produced by IUCN NL and Tropenbos International, gives insight into the perspectives and experiences of partners in the GLA.

Header photo: Palawan women doing Rainforestation (planting of native trees) in Brookes Point, Palawan © NTFP-EP Ph Jonas Vertudez

Learning trajectory

To capture the experience and insights of the GLA-partner civil society organisations (CSOs), Tropenbos International and IUCN NL have facilitated a learning trajectory on locally-led sustainable development. Between April 2024 and March 2025, GLA partners participated in four online-sessions and, additionally, in six countries they had face-to-face learning sessions to share experiences and insights.

‘When something is done for me without me, it is against me’.

• CSO from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Insights from the ground

During these sessions, the CSOs shared stories about how they support IP&LCs to protect forests and sustain livelihoods. The participants were invited to reflect, to listen and to consider what it truly means to support initiatives that grow from the soil of communities, rather than from external agendas. The online and face-to-face sessions resulted in the report ‘Insights from the ground: Locally-Led Sustainable Development’.  The report distills insights developed during the sessions, and is thus a co-production of CSO partners, Tropenbos International and IUCN NL to reflect the collective perspectives on locally-led sustainable development.

This report aims to serve as:

• Inspiration: Provide CSOs with ideas and examples to share with their staff and partners, helping them strengthen locally-led approaches in practice.
• Advocacy tool: Equip CSOs to communicate persuasively with donors, INGOs and governmental actors about what locally-led approaches entail, why they matter and how they can be supported.
• Calls to action: Challenge all readers to reflect critically on what genuine locally-led development requires, and to take steps that move beyond rhetoric into practice.

Key insights

1. Value local knowledge and wisdom as the starting point

Local knowledge, rooted in generations of lived experience, is foundational, like roots to a tree. It shapes values, practices, and customs across all phases of locally-led initiatives.

Recommendations

• Recognise IP&LCs as the true experts; adapt your methods to learn from them.
• Respect the diverse forms in which knowledge is expressed.
• Integrate Indigenous and local knowledge into project design, indicators, and reporting.

2. Prioritise basic needs and secure livelihoods

Basic needs and secure livelihoods are not a luxury, they are the soil without which nothing can grow. Without them, long-term goals like forest protection remain out of reach.

Recommendations

• Prioritise urgent needs like food, shelter, and safety while introducing sustainability frameworks. Support initiatives that emerge from within the community, especially for marginalised groups.
• Leave room for immediate needs and urgencies.

3. Advance inclusivity and participation with concrete measures

True growth means moving in step with communities, honoring local customs, and uplifting marginalized voices – such as women, youth, and elders.

Recommendations

• Adapt to the lived experience of marginalised groups.
• Recognise that participation and inclusivity may differ from mainstream practices.
• Allow for an ample time frame needed for a thorough process.

‘You have to be very flexible when working with IP&LCs, because for example, their notion of time may differ from Western timelines. We need to understand the context the people come from, and be respectful. It is also important to decolonise our vocabulary, and ensure that we adapt our methods and processes, together with the people to ensure that these are meaningful and relevant to them.’

• FCDS, Colombia

4. Acknowledge the importance of context: no one-size-fits-all approach

Locally led approaches must reflect unique ecological, cultural, and social conditions – and be adaptable as these conditions change over time.

Recommendations

• Support IP&LCs in creating their own methodologies, tools, processes, and indicators that reflect their own unique context and values.
• Treat locally-led initiatives as living systems that can evolve with time, shifting conditions, and community needs.

5. CSOs have a role as bridges between IP&LCs and external actors

CSOs can connect IP&LCs with external actors, amplifying voices and protecting space for self-determination.

Recommendations

• Increase awareness on rights, and link to international law.
• Support community-decision making, ensuring space and time for dialogue.
• Ensure safety and security for both CSO staff and communities.
• Promote fair and transparent consultation processes.
• Safeguard land and cultural rights in alignment with legal frameworks (e.g. UNDRIP).

6. Develop networks among IP&LCs to strengthen a collective voice

Like a forest canopy, strong networks foster resilience and influence.

Recommendations

• Support trusted local leaders -especially women and youth- to build (intergenerational) networks.
• Facilitate inter-community exchanges and dialogues that deepen solidarity and shared strategies.
• Create spaces for communities to collectively advocate and negotiate with external actors.
• Invest in long-term support for network building.

‘We facilitate dialogue, because we believe if we empower these communities, they can be part of something bigger.’

• ATM, Philippines

7. Organise flexible funding

To truly empower local leadership, funding systems must be restructured to prioritize simplicity, equity, and direct access.

The presented insights are not exhaustive or definite, they are the beginnings of further conversations and discussions to ensure that good intentions become more than just a buzzword.