Indigenous Beekeeping as Pollinator Stewardship and Livelihood Resilience: Supporting Uptake of the IPBES Nexus and Transformative Change Assessments
Learning Material Supporting Uptake of IPBES Assessments
Supporting Uptake of the IPBES Nexus and Transformative Change Assessments
Author: Stephanie Zabriskie
ORCID: 0009-0000-9273-1529
Affiliation: Humanculture (Indigenous-led nonprofit organization)
Capacity: Founder and Executive Director
Associated Platforms
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
UNFCCC Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP)
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (EMRIP)
Purpose
This learning material supports the uptake and interpretation of the IPBES Biodiversity–Water–Food–Health Nexus Assessment and the Transformative Change Assessment by documenting an Indigenous beekeeping practice that operates at the intersection of pollinator stewardship, livelihoods, and climate variability.
In many Indigenous and community-governed contexts, biodiversity conservation, food production, and livelihood resilience are not addressed through separate sectoral interventions. Instead, they are managed as interdependent conditions through long-standing ecological knowledge, seasonal governance, and stewardship practices. This contribution illustrates how such systems function in practice and how they align with the core principles articulated in IPBES assessments.
The implementation challenge addressed here lies not in introducing new conservation or livelihood strategies, but in recognizing and strengthening existing Indigenous and local knowledge systems that already manage Nexus relationships under prolonged environmental stress.
Abstract
Indigenous beekeeping practices across dryland and semi-arid regions often rely on wild, native pollinator populations and are embedded within seasonal, place-based ecological knowledge systems. These practices integrate biodiversity stewardship, water availability, food systems, and livelihoods without treating them as discrete domains.
This learning material documents a Maasai women-led beekeeping practice in northern Tanzania, illustrating how pollinator stewardship, livelihood diversification, and climate adaptation are managed through existing Indigenous governance and knowledge transmission systems. The practice demonstrates how timing, restraint, landscape selection, and intergenerational knowledge transfer contribute to both ecological continuity and household resilience.
By situating this practice within the IPBES Nexus and Transformative Change frameworks, the contribution offers a grounded example of how assessment findings can be understood and applied in real-world contexts where Indigenous systems already operate in alignment with Nexus principles.
Status and Availability
Format: Online learning material and documentation
Status: Submitted and publicly accessible
Initial publication: January 2026
Updates: As additional IPBES-, FAO-, and UN-facing work is released
Download the full paper (PDF):