Connecting the Legal Dots at SBSTTA

At a SBSTTA side event on Governance of Protected Areas: Crucial Concepts and Tools for the Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA), Kabir Bavikatte (Natural Justice) presented on the importance of making linkages between various legal provisions for community rights, particularly the PoWPA and the Working Group on Article 8(j). He highlighted the draft Ethical Code of Conduct on Respect for the Cultural and Intellectual Heritage of Indigenous and Local Communities Relevant for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity that was adopted by the Working Group in 8(j) as a guiding document for realizing community rights under PoWPA. He also noted that the Working Group on 8(j) is increasingly aiming to implement Article 10(c) and PoWPA's Target 2.2 on community governance, particularly by building on the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines. Kabir stressed that the draft resolution to be adopted at the Conference of Parties in Nagoya will require the Working Group on 8(j) to integrate Article 10(c) as a cross-cutting issue into the CBD's various programmes of work and thematic areas, beginning with PoWPA. He concluded by calling for engagement with the serious gains made on community rights under the Working Group on 8(j) in order to encourage states to uphold their similar commitments under PoWPA.