ICCA Consortium Reports from IUCN Congress and CBD COP11 Available

Two participants' reports are now available from the ICCA Consortium that detail the events and outcomes of the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress (IUCN WCC), held in Jeju in September 2012, and the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP11), held in Hyderabad in October 2012. Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) co-authored the reports in her role as the Consortium's International Policy Assistant.

The IUCN WCC report is available here and more information about the ICCA Consortium's activities in Jeju can be explored here. The CBD COP11 report is available here; more information about the Consortium's activities in Hyderabad can be found here; and an overview of key COP11 outcomes for Indigenous peoples and local communities is available here.

CBD Alliance Recap of COP 11

The CBD Alliance has launched a special issue of its ECO newsletter focused on the discussions, outcomes and challenges of the 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In a brief overview of COP 11, it notes the near-retirement of the landmark Decision III/11 on Agricultural Biodiversity in the name of efficiency and the successful effort to save the decision. It also expresses optimism that COP 12 will focus primarily on implementing past decisions. 

This overview is followed by several articles on a variety of COP 11 topics. Holly Shrumm and Harry Jonas of Natural Justice authored an article entitled “Resilient Peoples for Resilient Ecosystems.” The article highlights two studies which Natural Justice developed in partnership with the Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCA) Consortium and Kalpavriksh on the recognition of ICCAs. The first study, co-published with the CBD Secretariat, considers legal and non-legal forms of recognition and support for ICCAs. The second study offers a more in-depth examination of the legal and institutional aspects of ICCA recognition at the national, regional and international levels. The article then briefly considers the impact of COP 11 decisions on ICCA law and policy.

Other articles consider capacity development for Access and Benefit Sharing in Africa, the next COP and customary sustainable use, business and biodiversity, the tokenism of India’s $50 million pledge to support the cause of biodiversity, youth and COP 11, and biodiversity and livelihoods. 

The newsletter can be downloaded here. 

Miskitu BCP Launched in Honduras

Moskitia Asla Takanka (MASTA), a Miskitu community-based organisation, has developed and launched a Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) with technical assistance from Natural Justice and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Regional Office for Mesoamerica. The BCP seeks to assert the right to and guide the process of obtaining free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for projects in La Moskitia.

The Miskitu community, with a population of around 70 000, live in the tropical rainforest ecosystems of La Moskitia in eastern Honduras. They are facing a series of challenges in their traditional territory, ranging from the destruction of primary forests through agricultural expansion, illegal trade of flora, fauna and drugs, as well as the commercial exploitation of their sub-soil resources. 

To face these and other threats to their natural and cultural environment, MASTA has focused their protocol on defining a mechanism for free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), a vital procedural right that has often been ignored by government and non-governmental development projects. The process of developing the BCP was guided by MASTA, together with representatives from 12 territorial councils and their respective community councils. With this protocol, MASTA is seeking to guarantee that future consultation and consent-seeking processes respect the Miskitu’s own institutions and decision-making procedures. 

To publicise the protocol and its implications to key stakeholders and other communities and organisations advancing Indigenous peoples’ rights, the protocol was presented to the public at an event in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in early November 2012. Further events are planned within the communities of La Moskitia for early 2013. 

The Biocultural Community Protocol of the Miskitu can be downloaded here. An article about the protocol published in the Honduran newspaper La Tribuna can be accessed here.

ABS Stakeholder Meeting - Vanuatu

On 26 November, 2012, a national stakeholder meeting was facilitated by Vanuatu’s Department of Environment and Conservation together with the national GEF Small Grants Program on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The purpose of the meeting was to brief a range of diverse stakeholders on the Nagoya Protocol on ABS to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its significance to them, as well as to receive an update on the process of Vanuatu ratifying the Protocol. Vanuatu, which signed the Nagoya Protocol in 2011, is planning to ratify the Protocol in the near future depending on national regulatory requirements.

Johanna von Braun from Natural Justice and Andreas Drews from the ABS Capacity Development Initiative provided technical input to the meeting and supported discussions on the next steps for both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in this process. After a fruitful debate both stakeholder groups identified a number of priority areas to be targeted in the immediate and medium-term future.

Oceania Biodiscovery Forum & ABS Capacity Development Workshop in Brisbane

From 19-22 November, 2012, the first ever Oceania Biodiscovery Forum took place in Brisbane, Australia. The meeting was jointly facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Eskitis Institute of Griffith University, the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative. This meeting was followed by an Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)  capacity development workshop for ABS Focal Points and other relevant stakeholders in the Pacific region from 22-23 November.

The Biodiscovery Forum provided a platform for exchange on the nature of bioprospecting activities by Australian research institutes, both public and private. A number of researchers shared the nature of their work, ranging from small-scale commercial bioprospecting activities to large-scale gene banks of marine genetic resources. These activities were then discussed against the backdrop of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing to the Convention on Biological Diversity and Australia’s draft policy as a user of genetic resources as well as the existing permit system as a provider of genetic resources. A number of national and regional benefit sharing examples with local communities were shared with participants. 

Both the European Commission and Switzerland shared their current status in implementing the Nagoya Protocol as users of genetic resources, and the extent to which genetic resources would be protected once they left their country of origin. This led to substantial debate as some participants were not satisfied with the current interpretation of both Switzerland and the European Commission in relation to the temporal scope of the Nagoya Protocol as well as their definition of what constitutes ‘access’. In their view the current wording would result in too many resources currently in gene banks being excluded from the Protocol’s protection and subsequently undermine the very purpose of the Protocol.

Finally, the Biodiscovery Forum ended with a visit to the Eskitis Institute, which houses a wealth of terrestrial and marine compounds to support the Institute's search for novel drug- and cell-based therapies against cancer, infectious diseases and neurological diseases. 

The ABS Capacity Development Workshop, the third of a series of three regional workshops in 2012, targeted ABS Focal Points and other relevant stakeholders from the Pacific region. Representatives from the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Niue, Kiribati, the Federation of States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Samao, Palau, Nauru, Tonga, Vanuatu as well as the overseas territories of American Samoa and New Caledonia participated . Also invited were representatives from South Africa and Jamaica to facilitate further South-South exchanges. 

At the request of participants from previous workshops, this training focused on Prior Informed Consent and Mutually Agreed Terms as the two key elements of implementing ABS. Johanna von Braun from Natural Justice served as one of the key resource people in the workshop together with Daniel Robinson (University of New South Wales), Morten Tvedt (Fridtjof Nansen Institute), Geoff Burton (United Nations University), Ben Phillips (SEWPaC), Clark Peteru (SPREP) as well as Andreas Drews and Susanne Heitmueller from the ABS Capacity Building Initiative. Further presentations included a presentation of Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) as relevant community governance structures for ABS by Alifereti Tawake and a presentation on relevant funding opportunities by the GEF Small Grants Programme.

Natural Justice Presents at ECCHR Workshop

Kabir Bavikatte of Natural Justice participated in the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) ‘Start Your Own Organization’ Workshop and Strategic Litigation Conference in Berlin from 8-9 November, 2012. Kabir presented to the ECCHR Young Lawyers and Alumni team on the process of setting up and running Natural Justice along with the lessons learnt on organization building from the last six years of operation.

The Strategic Litigation Conference had panels that dealt with issues ranging from Strategic Human Rights litigation to Universal Justice and Business and Human Rights. The panellists included eminent human rights lawyers who have fought high profile cases including Raji Sourani from Palestine, Colin Gonsalves from India, Charles Abrahams from South Africa and Richard Meeran from the UK. 

ICCA Studies Featured in Stockholm Resilience Centre Research News

Indigenous rangers in Australia are increasingly gaining

recognition for "caring for country", including through the
Indigenous Protected Area programme. Photo courtesy:
Craig Wheeler, Mapoon Ranger

Two studies focusing on Indigenous peoples' and community conserved territories and areas (ICCAs) have been featured in the Stockholm Resilience Centre's Research News in an article entitled "The Invisible Guardians: Enforcing legal mechanisms can highlight Indigenous peoples' importance in natural resource governance".

The first study, coordinated by Kalpavriksh and co-edited by Natural Justice, focuses more on non-legal aspects and is published as Volume 64 of the Convention on Biological Diversity Technical Series along with 19 country studies. The second, coordinated by Natural Justice, focuses more on legal and institutional aspects and includes 15 national and three regional reviews and a review of international law and jurisprudence (all available here). The synthesis report (available in English, Spanish and French) argues that while there are a number of positive developments in the way ICCAs are recognized and supported at the international and national levels, Indigenous peoples and local communities are still often discriminated against in practice, including in ways that undermine the integrity and resilience of their territories, areas and natural resources.

The article on the Stockholm Resilience Centre's Research News also includes a video interview with Joji Carino (Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education, Tebtebba).

Workshop on Legal Empowerment in Southeast Asia

Rooftops in Jakarta.

From 6-7 November in Jakarta, Indonesia, Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) attended a two-day workshop on legal empowerment in Southeast Asia. Hosted by Namati, the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Indonesian Legal Resource Centre, and the TIFA Foundation, the workshop brought together over 30 lawyers and legal specialists focusing on legal empowerment in the region. Over the two days, the group heard presentations, engaged in participatory methodologies and developed a forward-looking strategy for the region. Participants also assessed how to ensure that justice issues are referenced in the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals process, which they considered to be a particularly strategic approach to creating systemic change. On behalf of the Natural Justice team, Harry thanks the organizers for the opportunity and looks forward to supporting next steps.

Presentation to GEF SGP - Kenya

Natural Justice was invited to present at a meeting of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Kenyan National Steering Committee on 9 November, 2012. The National Steering Committee includes representatives from  governmental, intergovernmental and civil society bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, WWF and Oxfam. It provides support to community based environment projects in the country with the aim of environmental conservation and sustainable livelihood development. Gino Cocchiaro presented on the work of Natural Justice, focusing on biocultural rights and biocultural community protocols as mechanisms to support the wellbeing of communities, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Kenyan Civil Society Meeting on ICCAs

Natural Justice's Gino Cocchiaro attended a meeting of Kenyan civil society representatives investigating the promotion of Indigenous peoples' and community conserved territories and  areas (ICCAs)  on 7 November, 2012, in Nairobi, Kenya. During the meeting, which was facilitated by the GEF Small Grants Programme and UNDP, Natural Justice presented on the recently completed Kenyan ICCA legal review, developed by Natural Justice and its partners, and on biocultural community protocols, a legal tool being used by communities in Kenya to secure their ICCAs. Through its BCP Initiative, Natural Justice continues to work closely with Kenyan partners and lawyers to assist communities in the development and use of their BCPs and as they attempt to shape and leverage national law and policy that respect their territories and waters.

RRI Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change

The twelfth Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change was held at the Newseum in Washington, DC, on 5 November 2012, to consider the theme “Scaling-Up Strategies to Reduce Emissions and Advance Development in Forest Areas.” The event was organized by RRI in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy.

João Paulo Miranda and Jessica Campese (Natural Justice) attended the Dialogue, which included important discussions on addressing the obstacles of achieving sustainable use of forests. Participants included representatives from community and non-governmental organisations, governments, donors, and extractive industries, among others. The concept note and agenda, key presentations, and videos are available on the Dialogue webpage. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services provided digital coverage and a summary report.

Major New Partnership - National Khoi-San Council and Natural Justice

NKC Chairperson Cecil Le Fleur
signing the MoU

Natural Justice has established a ground-breaking relationship with South Africa’s National Khoi-San Council (NKC), the government-convened body of representatives from Khoe and San communities of South Africa. Natural Justice’s Lesle Jansen, Laureen Manuel and Johan Lorenzen presented Natural Justice’s proposed partnership with the NKC, which the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA) has agreed to support, to the Council from 6-7 November, 2012, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. A memorandum of understanding committing both parties to the completion of the proposed activities was signed between Natural Justice and NKC on November 7, 2012.  

Natural Justice will support NKC to achieve three objectives through the partnership:

• Support the Council in having meaningful consultations amongst Council communities, members and with government;

• Engage in legal training for the NKC around the National Traditional Affairs Bill and its continued negotiations;

• Consult with Khoe and San communities to draft a self-governance model based on the human rights issues set out in the UN Mission report recommendations of 2005. 

The initial partnership is for 12 months but it is hoped that this will be the foundation of an enduring relationship. 

International Conference on Heart of Borneo Initiative

The proposed Heart of Borneo boundary

(in yellow). Courtesy of WWF-Malaysia.

The island of Borneo is one of the world's major biodiversity hotspots, with thousands of plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. It is politically divided into the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, the Indonesian provinces of West, Central, South, and East Kalimantan, and the state of Brunei Darussalam. In 2007, the three national governments signed the Heart of Borneo Declaration, a unified conservation vision for "maintaining Bornean natural heritage for the benefit of present and future generations". The Heart of Borneo initiative, which is facilitated by the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia), aims to protect 22 million hectares of the largest contiguous forest in Southeast Asia through effective management of forest resources and a network of protected areas, productive forests, and other sustainable land uses.

From 6-7 November, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) attended an international conference entitled "Heart of Borneo +5 and Beyond: Shaping and Nurturing Sabah's Future Together". Held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the conference was organised by the Sabah Forestry Department and co-hosted by a range of other government agencies and non-governmental organisations, including the Sabah Biodiversity Centre, Partners of Community Organisations in Sabah (PACOS Trust) and Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP).

The first session on global perspectives on conservation included a diverse group of presenters, most notably, on renewable energy (Dr. Daniel Kammen, Energy and Resources Group, University of California-Berkeley), on the connections between people and forests (Dr. Tint Lwin Thaung, Executive Director, The Centre for People and Forests), and on the drivers of deforestation (Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.com).

The second session introduced a new and complementary initiative called "Forever Sabah", which aims to transform Sabah's current trajectory into a diversified, conservation-based green economy. The multi-stakeholder panel was moderated by Darrel Webber (Secretary General, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) and included interventions from Sam Mannan (Director, Sabah Forestry Department), Cynthia Ong (LEAP), Anne Lasimbang (PACOS Trust), Dr. Glen Reynolds (the Royal Society's South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme), Jeffrey Horowitz (Avoided Deforestation Partners), and Abdullah Latiff Mohamad (WWF-Malaysia).

The bulk of the rest of the conference consisted of breakout sessions (which included presentations and  open discussions about next steps for Heart of Borneo) on the following five themes: forests and biodiversity; agriculture and plantations; infrastructure and energy development; community development; and tourism. When the groups presented their outcomes in plenary, a common thread throughout - bolstered by strong representation of Indigenous community members from across Sabah - was the need to recognise Native Customary Rights and land title and to ensure participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities in the Heart of Borneo design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation process.

High-Level Panel on Implementation of Nagoya Protocol

On 18 October 2012, Laureen Manuel of Natural Justice attended a high-level panel discussion at a side event at the Convention of Biodiversity’s (CBD) 11th Conference of the Parties (COP 11) in Hyderabad, India. The discussion contemplated key questions surrounding the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The panel included Bard Vegar Solhjell, Minister of Environment (Norway) (Chair), Sileshi Getahun, Minister of Agriculture (Ethiopia), Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment (European Union), and Dr Pema Gyantsho, Minister of Agriculture (Bhutan). Delegates who attended this gathering included government representatives, civil society organisations and representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 

India, Japan, Germany and South Africa were among the countries that shared their experiences on ABS. Germany said they had several ABS programmes in place, including the work of the ABS Capacity Development Initiative to assist developing countries with the implementation challenges. South Africa was applauded by the gathering when it announced that it would be ratifying the Protocol next Tuesday, and Norway indicated that they would ratify the Protocol within the next six months. 

In summary, the main observations of the panel included: 

• Although only a few countries have ratified the Protocol, many countries are at various stages aimed at ratification, with many countries revising their legislation and policies to meet the obligations of the Protocol; 
• The importance of awareness-raising of rights and other ABS issues cannot be over-emphasised; 
• Capacity building and financial and human resources are critical to the process, and is lacking in many countries; 
• Collaboration and the exchange of experiences among Parties are important for effective implementation and should continue in the future. 

In his concluding remarks, the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture, Mr Getahun, said many of the reasons submitted by Parties for not ratifying the Protocol were related to preparatory processes leading up to ratification. These reasons should not hinder ratification. He said that effective implementation starts with ratifying the Protocol despite the preparatory challenges (because activities cannot be classified as legal or illegal if the Protocol is not ratified), making communities aware of the importance of their biodiversity resources and their rights as an informed public will assist in combating biopiracy, and finally, by establishing effective check points.

New ABS Partnership Announced at COP 11

In light of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), emerging national ABS frameworks and increasing overall awareness of ABS, a new set of opportunities for communities to benefit from their role as custodians of genetic resources and holders of traditional knowledge (TK) is emerging. To prepare for and respond to these new opportunities and challenges a new partnership was recently established between the ABS Capacity Development Initiative, a multi-donor initiative implemented by GIZ, the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by UNDP, and Natural Justice. Each partner will contribute its unique expertise and networks. 

This newly established collaboration, which will focus on the design and implementation of a new generation of national and local-level ABS partnerships, was presented at a side-event to the 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 12 October, 2012. After a short introduction of the respective work of the ABS Initiative, GEF SGP and Natural Justice, a number of SGP grantees presented on past and present projects that fall under the broader umbrella of ABS or biotrade during the side event. These included the work of Pacari (Brazil), the Muliru Farmers Conservation Group (Kenya), Fundación para la Promoción del Conocimiento Indígena (Panama) and Sambandh (India). The national coordinators of SGP Sri Lanka and Bhutan highlighted the role SGP could play in engaging in ABS-related projects at the national level. Finally, Cameroon’s national focal point for ABS discussed the case of Prunus Africana and the related potential value chain leading up to the pharmaceutical market in Europe. 

For further information on this new partnership, please contact Johanna (at) naturaljustice.org.

REDD+ Day at COP 11

On 16 October 2012, Laureen Manuel of Natural Justice attended REDD+ Day, hosted by the UN-REDD Programme and other partners at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The meeting, which was divided into five sessions, included the launch of the Little Forest Finance Book, drafted by the Global Canopy Programme, and the UN-REDD Policy Brief on Multiple Benefits, the third part of the UN-REDD Policy Brief series. 

Each session included a team of panelists who presented on their work and areas of expertise. The event was well attended by various stakeholders including policy makers, academics and forest officers. Among the topics debated were discussions on the importance of safeguards for the implementation of REDD+, best practices in governance and safeguarding biodiversity, REDD+ and the Green Economy, as well as the key findings of the new Global Forest Expert Panel (GFEP), an initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF).

Find the Little Forest Finance Book here. Download the UN-REDD Policy Brief on Multiple Benefits here.

Namibian Press Conference at COP-11

On 16 October, 2012, Natural Justice’s Laureen Manuel attended a press conference held by the Namibian Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India. In addressing international media and other COP-11 delegates, the Honourable Minister of Environment and Tourism, Ms Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, shared the country’s experiences, challenges and successes in establishing and implementing its Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme. 

She said that the CBNRM programme is a powerful symbol of the potential for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity to alleviate poverty. Through the devolution of rights over wildlife and forest resources, indigenous peoples and local communities are now driving the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through communal conservancies and community forests. During COP-11, Namibia will be receiving an award for this community-based approach to conservation. 

The Minister also said that in the absence of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) legislation, Namibia was unable to ratify the Nagoya Protocol. However, Namibia's ABS Bill, which Natural Justice helped to draft, has recently been approved by Cabinet and is ready to be tabled before Parliament for enactment. She assured the gathering that Namibia will ratify the Nagoya Protocol once the ABS Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.

She concluded the press conference stating that biodiversity belongs to all and that all nations should work towards developing similar strategies to conserve the environment. After all, she said, we need the environment more than the environment needs us.