The recently created Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and EcosystemServices (IPBES),originally focused on multilatera land globalissues, is shifting its focus to address local issues and to include in its assessments local stakeholders and indigenous and tradi tional systems of knowledge.Acknowledging that full biodiversity governance is unavoidably rooted in participation of local actors and their problems and knowledge, we suggest that to deal successfully with the complexity and diversity of local issues, including indigenous knowledgesystems,IPBES mustrecognize a key role of local institutions.
