WariNkwi Flores is a citizen of the Kara Andean and Kichwa Andean::Amazonian Nations and founder of the Kinray Hub, an Indigenous RDI Think::Do Tank operating across Ecuador and the United States. It centers IPs&LCs as sovereign actors in climate finance, data equity shares, and nature-based solutions. An IPBES Fellow at the 2nd Global Assessment and a contributor to international biodiversity credit frameworks through the IAPB and BCA-WEF collaboration, Flores specializes in Indigenous Data Sovereignty, BioKulture Systems Design, and trans-systems negotiation conditions for voluntary carbon and biodiversity markets. Flores has represented Indigenous Peoples at international meetings such as COP16, CEIBA, and EMRIP, and publishes in the fields of natural science, political economy, data authority, and Indigenous research policy.
VCM+ Fellow
Authored works:
The views and opinions expressed in works authored by VCM+ Fellows are their own. Links to these works are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or endorsement of the VCM+ Collaborative.
This report examines how the management of Indigenous data (data derived from Indigenous Peoples and their territories) should be built into nature markets, examining the opportunities and risks posed by new monitoring technologies and offering practical guidance for designing equitable, rights-based and effective data management plans for nature finance. Read the report.
This working paper introduces the Sovereign Data Supply Chain (SovDSC), a governance framework designed to ensure that Indigenous communities retain authority over ecological data linked to their territories.Read the working paper.
A reflection on how emerging digital technologies can align with Indigenous sovereignty, rights, values and futures, embodying data governance to catalyze collective and sustainability actions at a landscape or territorial scale. Read the blog.
Part 1 of a two-part series, this Substack details WarīNkwī's journey and introduced the concept of Translational Leaders—Indigenous scholars who can navigate both cultural protocols and Western systems. Read the Substack.
Part 2 of the series, this Substack explores what it means to work with Indigenous knowledge, language mutations that carry two worldviews, and what becomes possible when Indigenous institutionality takes its place as a cooperative pillar of innovation and climate solutions. Read the Substack.