Panel on COP 18 and Indigenous Peoples' Rights

Analysis of the Current State of COP18 Negotiations and Indigenous Peoples' Demands on the Green Climate Fund from Tebtebba on Vimeo.

Via the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), a recent panel offered representatives from Indigenous rights organisations a platform to share their analysis of the climate change negotiations on 4 December 2012 in Doha, Qatar, during the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 18th conference of parties (COP 18). The panel was organised by Tebtebba and the Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership on Climate Change and Forests and panelists included Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Tebtebba), Dennis Mairena (Centro para la Autonomia y Desarollo de los Pueblos Indigenas - Nicaragua), and Stanley Kimaren (Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners - Kenya). 

The panelists analysed texts from the Subsidiary Body on Implementation and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice and noted the extremely slow pace in negotiations in the Long Term Cooperative Action and Kyoto Protocol working groups. They also discussed the importance in protecting gains made by Indigenous peoples in the next climate change agreement, including the recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, recognition of the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and the requirements for full and effective participation in climate change programmes. On the Green Climate Fund, the panelists called for full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples, with separate representation from civil society.

Also relevant to climate change negotiations, Simone Lovera (Global Forest Coalition) recently drafted an article, posted on REDD-Monitor, on how the form of Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems being developed to track the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme may be a ‘trojan horse’ for carbon markets that have yet to demonstrate results. 

Video from the panel can be accessed here. Simone Lovera’s article can be found here.

Article on Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Think Africa Press

Via thinkafricapress.com

The body of law and policy around the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities is changing and expanding rapidly. To offer a brief overview of notable international instruments and cases relevant to the African context, Dinah Shelton of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission has prepared an article on relevant law entitled "The Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples" for a Think Africa Press online course on ‘International Law and Africa.’ 

The article briefly explains and considers the implications of developments in three areas: the international sphere; African cases; and Inter-American cases. At the international level, ILO Convention No. 107, ILO Convention No. 169, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are considered. For African cases, the Endorois case at the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is covered. On Inter-American cases, the growing jurisprudence around land rights and the right to property, as well as the Awas Tingni judgment of the Inter-American Court, are detailed. 

The article can be accessed here. More information on the Think Africa Press course, which is offered free of charge, can be found here.

Two Opportunities for EMRIP Submissions

Via www.ohchr.org

Two significant opportunities are available to contribute to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' (EMRIP) work to develop and monitor the implementation of law and policy around Indigenous people’s rights. The first is a survey for Indigenous peoples on strategies for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The survey can be completed online here and should be submitted by 18 February, 2013. 

The second is an opening for contributions by Indigenous peoples, academia, national human rights institutions, civil society and other interested groups and persons  on EMRIP's study on access to justice in the promotion and protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights. There is no prescribed form for submissions, and contributions should submitted via email to expertmechanism@ohchr.org by 11 Febrary, 2013.

UN Resolution: World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in September 2014

Photo via social.un.org

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution to hold a high-level plenary meeting on 22-23 September, 2014 in New York to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. The main objectives of the Conference will be to “share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples and to pursue the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” The resolution also states that the Conference “shall result in a concise action oriented outcome document…on the basis of consultations with Member States, as well as indigenous peoples, and by taking into account the views emerging from the preparatory process.” 

“The World Conference on Indigenous Peoples presents a unique opportunity to ensure greater and more inclusive participation of indigenous peoples in decisions which affect them. Indigenous peoples need to be involved, heard and their issues addressed for real and transformative changes to happen. As well, the World Conference is an opportunity to bring to light the historical and current challenges facing indigenous peoples,” said Grand Chief Ed John, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 

Read the full text of resolution A/66/L.61 here. Read a write up on the resolution by The First Perspective here.

IPACC Workshop in Pretoria

Photo from www.ipacc.org.za

Lesle Jansen of Natural Justice participated in a workshop hosted by Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) in Pretoria from 23-25 July. IPACC is a network of over 155 organizations in 22 African countries working towards the recognition of indigenous peoples in Africa. The workshop focused on indigenous peoples’ rights and recognition in South Africa and took place at the University of Pretoria. The participants included the representatives of the National Khoe-San Council (comprising the Nama, San, Cape Khoe, Koranna and Griqua), counterparts from the San and Nama community in Namibia and Botswana, and San youth from the Khwattu Cultural Centre. 

The workshop reviewed the current negotiations by the National Khoe-San Council and the United Nations norms and standards regarding indigenous peoples. It further reviewed the pending National Traditional Affairs Bill that will be giving formal recognition to the Khoe and San traditional leadership amongst others. The second day was an interactive session with the different government ministries. The workshop saw a presentation on UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s foundational principles of self-determination and indigenous institutions and shared platforms for policy dialogue. The last day ended with a mapping of the way forward in addressing the issues the Khoe and San community continues to face.

UNDRIP E-Module for Communities

Natural Justice has developed a number of draft e-learning modules to support communities developing biocultural community protocols (BCPs) to increase their understanding of key international legal frameworks, concepts and programmes. These modules supplement ‘BCPs: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators’. 

The module on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) seeks to provide insight into UNDRIP’s provisions and how they can be applied by communities worldwide It is targeted at communities who identify as Indigenous Peoples, who have a close relationship with a territory or resource, who have historically faced issues regarding that territory or resource, and/or have an interest in asserting any of the rights set out in UNDRIP. 

With approximately 370 million Indigenous Peoples spread across 70 countries worldwide who have historically been marginalised, the process of drafting UNDRIP began in 1985. It was adopted in 2007. While the Declaration elaborates a fairly comprehensive set of individual and community rights for Indigenous Peoples, its impact remains limited as it is not binding and has limited time to achieve changes. The module seeks to support communities to find relevant rights and to begin making these protections material. 

The module can be downloaded here. The BCP Toolkit can be downloaded here. The documents are not final and any comments can be directed to Holly Shrumm (holly (at) naturaljustice.org) and Harry Jonas (harry (at) naturaljustice.org).

Workshop on BCPs, UNDRIP and MEAs

On 24 May during the 13th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE), Holly Shrumm and Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) contributed to a full-day workshop on biocultural community protocols (BCPs), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and multilateral environmental agreements. The workshop was hosted by the ISE Global Coalition for Biocultural Diversity as part of the Congress' Indigenous Forum. Organized by the Global Coalition's Co-Chairs, Alejandro Argumedo (Asociación ANDES) and Krystyna Swiderska (International Institute for Environment and Development, IIED), the day included a range of speakers, including: Viviana Figueres (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity), Pierre du Plessis (Centre for Research-Information-Action for Development in Africa, CRIAA), Maui Solomon (Hokotehi Moriori Trust), Ilse Kohler-Rollefson (League for Pastoral Peoples), and Brendan Tobin (Irish Centre of Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway). Natural Justice presented on the community protocols website and toolkit.

The workshop concluded with a discussion among participants, during which there was general consensus that: a) BCPs offer a practical way for communities to articulate their “territoriality” (Argumedo, in conversation), affirm their responsibilities and assert their rights; b) BCPs should be recognized appropriately by a range of actors; c) BCPs should not be considered a panacea; and d) there is a risk that BCPs could become standardized or driven by external parties, thus undermining local processes.

A report of the workshop is available from IIED here. More information about the use of BCPs is explored in a forthcoming issue of IIED's Participatory Learning and Action Journal, entitled "Biodiversity and Culture: Exploring community protocols, rights and consent".

ICCAs and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

On 15 July, the final day of the 4th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Natural Justice and the ICCA Consortium co-hosted a side event entitled, "Community Governance and Stewardship of Traditional Territories and Biocultural Diversity".

Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend introduced and provided many examples of Indigenous peoples' conserved territories and community conserved areas (commonly known as ICCAs), illustrating their diversity of forms, motivations, values, locations, and impacts. She highlighted their worldwide significance as locally specific "meeting points" of conservation and sustainable livelihoods, rooted in biological and cultural diversity and adaptive decision-making and management systems. Acknowledging the wide range of threats and challenges, she also noted the growing recognition of ICCAs in international policy, particularly in the Convention on Biological Diversity's Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Eleanor Goroh (Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia) spoke about government recognition of the customary fishing system (tagal) in Sabah, Malaysia. Tagal is still being used by some communities in Sabah and has been revitalized in others, with the aims of environmental sustainability and economic self-sufficiency. Such Indigenous natural resource management systems are closely linked with other social, cultural, economic, health, and knowledge systems; they are rooted in and transmitted through generations of learned experience and adat (customary law). Partly in response to declining use since the 1960s (due to logging, uncontrolled fishing practices, and overall exploitation of riverine ecosystems), the Sabah Fisheries Department has recently institutionalized and promoted the tagal system, in accordance with Sections 35-37 of the Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Enactment 2003. Although this legal recognition is an important turning point for the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in conservation efforts in Sabah, it also requires the creation of new committees, standardized rules, and compliance mechanisms that do not accord with the traditional systems. Goroh noted that Fisheries Department should respect and recognize the localized customary governance and legal systems that tagal was built upon rather than replacing them with state-determined and standardized arrangements. She also called for such recognition of customary resource governance and management systems amongst the other state departments and enactments, particularly protected areas.

Diel Mochire (Programme d’Intégration et de Développement du Peuple Pygmée au Kivu/Shirika la Bambuti) presented on Indigenous peoples and forest conservation initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mochire's organization works to support the human rights and socio-economic and cultural development of the Indigenous Pygmies, as well as the protection of the forests, natural resources, and endangered species in their traditional territories. He noted that while different members of the community may have different approaches or motivations for conserving their territory, they are all working towards the same shared vision, namely, political, cultural, and economic autonomy. However, they also face many challenges, including conflicts between customary law and state law, displacement for the creation of strictly protected national parks, lack of respect for the right to free, prior and informed consent prior to activities taking place on their lands, and effects of climate change and land use change (which are in turn driven by industrial logging and agriculture). He called for reinforcement of participatory and community-driven decision-making for conservation initiatives, recognition of customary forest management systems, culturally appropriate education, and greater awareness-raising and capacity-building around the impacts of climate change and potential for REDD schemes.

Vita de Waal (Foundation for Gaia and IUCN-CSVPA) spoke about sacred sites and their role in conserving areas and landscapes. Sacred sites are found in a wide range of places, including pilgrimage routes, particular trees, rocks and stones, sources of water, forests, valleys, mountains, and even entire cities. Some are well-known, and others are secret or hidden, only known locally. She emphasized that sacred sites are some of the most important sites of all of humanity and they often are protected and conserved through sophisticated customary governance and management systems.

Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) closed the panel by reiterating the centrality of self-determination, self-governance, and customary law, as well as the place-specific inter-linkages between biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity, to the localized conservation of territories and areas. There is a diverse bundle of individual and collective rights under both international environmental and human rights frameworks that could support ICCAs in practice, but many obstacles remain and significant human rights violations continue. It was suggested that one way to realize both environmental and human rights frameworks is to conceptualize, implement, and build movements around them together. Four key sets of rights that are fundamental to community governance of territories and biocultural diversity include: rights to self-determination and autonomy; rights to ownership, control, management, and use of land and natural resources; rights to culture, including cultural integrity and participation in cultural life; and rights to self-governance and participation in decision-making. Suggested next steps include developing guidelines for appropriate recognition of and support for ICCAs; advocating for appropriate legal recognition of Indigenous peoples' fundamental rights (as above) in different international and domestic fora; utilization of existing reporting and grievance mechanisms; and mobilizing local movements and public awareness campaigns to garner broad support. (For more information, see Stevens, Stan (2010). "Implementing UNDRIP and International Human Rights Law through Recognition of ICCAs." IUCN-CEESP Policy matters 17: 181-194.)

Discussion included the centrality of these issues to the fundamental rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities around the world; the need for economic and legal systems to be rooted in principles of the natural world and ecosystems; the need to seek and act upon synergies between the different international frameworks; supporting capacity-building initiatives at all levels (including information and resources); the challenges of structural barriers such as illiteracy and power imbalances; opportunities for expanding the mandate and influence of people such as the Special Rapporteur; the power of demonstrating community capacity to conserve as a strategy for government recognition and support; and challenges with realizing the right to free, prior and informed consent (particularly when instigated by powerful corporations and governments).