Working with indigenous peoples, IFAD has learned that the relationship between natural resources management, sustainable livelihoods and indigenous concepts of self-driven development are interrelated and interdependent. Indigenous peoples conceive and manage their livelihoods in harmony with nature and in accordance with agroecological conservation, natural resources sustainable management, and climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. In this paper, a number of cases from IFAD-funded projects analyse the important role of indigenous peoples’ knowledge preservation and application in community responses to climate change.