The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) is the largest Indigenous peoples’ network in the world — a membership organization representing 135 communities across 21 African countries, from hunter-gatherer peoples of the Kalahari to nomadic pastoralists of the Sahel. Founded in 1997, IPACC works at the intersection of human rights, environmental justice, and the preservation of Traditional Knowledge Systems that have sustained Africa’s ecosystems for millennia.
Africa’s hunter-gatherer and nomadic pastoralist communities have lived in reciprocal relationship with some of Earth’s most biodiverse landscapes across generations. Their accumulated ecological knowledge — of seasonal cycles, wildlife behavior, water systems, and land stewardship — is now recognized by climate scientists and conservation organizations as irreplaceable: a living archive that no database can replicate. IPACC works to ensure this knowledge is protected, amplified, and carried forward by the communities who hold it.
IPACC is accredited with the UN Economic and Social Council, UNEP, the Global Environment Facility, and UNESCO — giving Indigenous African voices standing in the international forums where decisions about land, climate, and biodiversity are made.
Why This Matters: At a moment when the world is urgently turning toward ancestral wisdom as a guide for ecological healing, IPACC represents the peoples who have never stopped living that wisdom — and who are now recognized as frontline guardians of the biodiversity all life depends on.
