DOI: 10.34892/cb9y-n275
title: ICCA Registry database 

description: The ICCA Registry database stores a variety of quantitative and qualitative data on territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, often know as ICCAs or territories of life, such as their area and location, community size and resource use, as well objectives, governance, threats, and support needed. 

The global ICCA Registry was established in 2008 to raise awareness of the significance of Indigenous Peoples’ and community-led conservation practices. It is a global registry of territories and areas that are self-identified and conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The data in the ICCA Registry is voluntarily provided by ICCA custodians or through their supporting organisations. It is not yet comprehensive but continues to grow each year, providing a much-needed evidence base to promote the recognition and support of ICCAs worldwide. The ICCA Registry database stores a variety of quantitative and qualitative data on ICCAs, such as their area and location, community size and resource use, as well objectives, governance, threats, and support needed. UNEP-WCMC works with ICCA custodians and their supporting organisations to document ICCAs as part of a broader global effort to highlight the vital contributions that Indigenous Peoples and local communities have made to conservation throughout history and continue to make today. 


description: The data in the ICCA Registry is voluntarily provided by ICCA custodians, or through their supporting organisations.
description: The information in the ICCA Registry database has been reported by Indigenous Peoples, local communities or their supporting organisations. The data therefore do not represent the views of UNEP-WCMC or the United Nations. Some of the data have been verified through peer review processes led by other Indigenous Peoples and local communities, some by government bodies, and some are still to be verified. Registration in the ICCA Registry database represents self-declaration as an ICCA – territory of life by the custodian community but being in the database does not in itself confer any official recognition or status. The number of ICCAs – territories of life reported to the ICCA Registry currently represents a fraction of the ICCAs – territories of life that exist. A lack of data for a given country or location in the ICCA Registry does not indicate an absence of ICCAs or other forms of Indigenous Peoples’ or local communities’ governance on the ground. The ICCA Registry dataset is not a complete representation of all the ICCAs - territories of life that exist globally. Thus, mismatches between on the ground ICCAs and information held on ICCAs in the ICCA Registry may be due to several reasons that include but are not restricted to: the accessibility of accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date information from data holders, data not submitted to the ICCA Registry, new data being quality checked to fit the ICCA Registry standards, ICCA boundaries not being mapped or accurately digitised. The downloadable version of the ICCA Registry data only includes ICCAs - territories of life that have chosen not to place any restrictions on their data. Any ICCAs - territories of life that have chosen to place restrictions on who can access and use the information are not included in the downloadable version of the data.