In this study I examined examples of implementation of conservation policies initiated by the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992). I focused on the 101 conservation initiatives conducted during the period of 2002-2012 on the territories of groups classified by the international law as indigenous peoples. I assessed a degree to which conservation benefited indigenous communities as means to combat poverty and ecological degradation. I focused on the connections between the provisions of the CBD Article 8(j) that specified the importance of protecting indigenous and local communities’ traditional knowledge and practices (TK) to conservation, and the actual realities of conservation initiatives in which indigenous expertise was used. I learned that despite the wide use of elements composing TK in the projects examined, only certain communities benefited from the conservation initiatives, with a predominant part of beneficiaries located in the states that insured greater degree of legal and social protection to indigenous individuals as citizens of those states. For the most part conservation was imposed upon indigenous groups; some communities suffered displacement and poverty loosing the lands and resources to the conservation authorities. At the same time in other cases conservation projects offered an opportunity for indigenous individuals to advance their perspectives on managing traditional lands and natural environments and thus, to some degree, advanced underlining these groups’ interests. I concluded that collaborative work between indigenous groups and the outside agencies remains the key means toward improving the indigenous economies and relations with external actors while also serving as a means to care for the environment across geo-political boundaries.