Saturday, October 15, 2011

First Symposium on ICCAs in Indonesia

Harry Jonas and Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) attended the first-ever national symposium on the status, prospects, options, and opportunities for Indigenous peoples' conserved territories and areas conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities (ICCAs) in Indonesia, organized by the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice (KIARA), the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme for South and South-east Asia (NTFP-EP), Forest Peoples Programme, the ICCA Consortium, and WWF-Indonesia. The symposium took place from 13-14 October at the CIFOR campus in Bogor with support from The Christensen Fund, UNDP, GIZ, and WWF-Indonesia.

The two days comprised a number of presentations on diverse community experiences with conserved territories and areas across Indonesia, as well as a select few from other countries such as Iran, Panama, and the Philippines. The legal framework, including challenges and opportunities for official recognition of ICCAs, was elaborated by local legal NGO HuMa. Working groups discussed a range of questions, including the extent and local expressions and types of ICCAs in Indonesia; barriers to appropriate recognition and support; and future steps to promote the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, livelihoods, and conservation. Many thanks to Crissy Guerrero and the rest of the organizing committee for hosting us in Bogor!

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