Yolda Initiative is a nature conservation organisation working at the international level to conserve biodiversity and tackle climate change. Yolda’s approach lies in the Cultural Landscapes and Seascapes and Cultural Practices conceptual framework. Accordingly, recognising humans, with their cultural diversity, as integral components of ecosystems, Yolda’s work has significantly focused on preserving local land and sea use systems, and thus cultural practices, that have shaped and sustained cultural landscapes with their natural and tangible and intangible cultural heritage for millennia.
To achieve this overall objective, Yolda’s strategic objectives are: Enhance knowledge to understand the state and drivers of biological and cultural diversity loss; Direct conservation and restoration of ecosystems and tangible and intangible cultural heritage; Empower and enable local and Indigenous communities as actors of change, and support sustainable customary institutions that rely on traditional ecological knowledge and cultural values and practices; Advocate for favourable policies at national, regional, and global levels that recognise and support cultural practices beneficial to biodiversity and climate action; Raise awareness and communicate the importance of conserving biocultural diversity, addressing climate change, and promoting sustainable land and sea use systems through creative, inclusive, and strategic messaging; Strengthen partnerships and collaborations for greater impact and exchange of knowledge.
Year of accreditation: 2026
Main domain(s) of the ngo’s activities: Oral traditions and expressions, Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe
Main safeguarding measures: a) identification, documentation, research (including inventory-making), b) preservation, protection, c) promotion, enhancement, d) transmission, (non-) formal education, e) revitalization
Main country where the NGO works: Turkey
