What Isn’t Named Isn’t Protected and being Named Isn’t Enough

Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples protest exclusion and lack of recognition at the UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Credit: Lucas Wasson for Rights and Resources InitiativeOpinion by Bayarsaikhan Namsrai, Gregoria Jimenez Amaya, Isabel Davila Pereira, Stephen Basele (ulaanbaatar, mongolia)Wednesday, September 23, 2026Inter Press Service ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, September 23 (IPS) - Rightsholders came to Ulaanbaatar from across the world, carrying declarations, demands and years of experience defending the lands on which their communities depend. Indigenous Peoples, local communities, Afro-descendant Peoples, women and youth were equally clear about what they needed from COP17. But being in the room is not the same as having power in the room. In a year when the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists and the three Rio Conventions were supposed to create momentum for rights, recognition and implementation, the negotiations showed how quickly those gains can be diluted when the people concerned are not able to shape the language that governs their lands.What happened in Ulaanbaatar should concern anyone advancing land restoration, climate...