A side event by Natural Justice and the
Forest Peoples Programme during this year’s UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues called “Too little and too late? Realising the Rights of Indigenous
People in Conservation” took place on Friday, 28 April, 2017, with the aim of
pushing for a renewed focus on the issues surrounding conservation and human
rights.
While over the last few years we have seen an increasing
recognition of the crucial role indigenous people play in conservation,
highlighting the linkages between community rights to land and resources and
biological diversity, the conservation sector continues to be accused of
infringing the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
From the first denials of access of Native Americans to
Yellowstone National Park in the 1860s to the on-going plight of the Sengwer
community in Kenya (see photo above), there are many documented cases of indigenous peoples being
evicted and subjugated in the name of conservation. A 2016 report on the matter by UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, Vicky Tauli-Corpuz (see photo left), states that worldwide, 50% of Protected
Areas were established on the territories and lands of Indigenous Peoples. This
incidence is as high as 90% in Central America.
Conservation interventions can impact on indigenous and
other local communities in a number of ways, including: denial to the right to
self determination, denial of free, prior and informed consent; lack of
engagement by outsiders with indigenous institutions; eviction; unjust
resettlement; destruction of property and livelihoods; denial of access and use
of natural resources; intimidation and physical harm; and exploitative
employment.
Recently, increasing attention has been paid to these
kinds of infringements, including by the reports by two Special Rapporteurs,
namely the aforementioned Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and Professor John Knox, Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.
It should be noted that these injustices have not been
ignored by the conservation sector. Indeed, the adoption of the Durban
Accord at the World Parks Congress in 2003 marked a shift as the conservation
movement adopted a new paradigm of ‘People and Parks’ which recognised the
central role of indigenous peoples in the conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity.
On top of that the conservation community has adopted
some principles and policies recognising its legacy and the on-going human
rights violations in many protected areas. These include:
- IUCN initiated the Whakatane Mechanism in 2011
to enable visits to assess, address and redress injustices carried out in the
name of conservation against indigenous peoples and local communities, on the
ground.
- A number of the larger conservation NGOs have
established the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights.
- Several conservation NGOs have set up indigenous
advisory groups or working groups on Human Rights
However, in spite of this improved rhetoric,
implementation on the ground continues to be problematic, with on-going cases
of human rights violations in the name of conservation.
The aim of the side-event was to build momentum
towards a new focus on conservation and human rights by linking recent UN
reports and recommendations with local experiences and proposals for ways
forwards.
Speakers included Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, who spoke
about the recommendations coming out of her report on the matter; Ms Milka
Chepkorir, who spoke about the plight of the Sengwer community in Kenya, which is
suffering abuses at the hands of the
Kenya Forest Service; Mr Onel Maserdule, who spoke about conflicts between
indigenous peoples and conservation initiatives in Panana; and Ms Tuhi
Martukaw, from the Kasavakan Community, who added additional examples of such
conflict from Taiwan (ROC).
Before opening up the floor for discussion, Milka
Chepkorir also read the recommendations that were included in a formal
submission called “Joint Submission on
the Lack of implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples in the context of conservation policies and practices” to the Forum
during its first week of deliberations. The submission was endorsed by a range
of indigenous peoples organisations and their supporting organisations.
The recommendations are as follows:
We call
on the Permanent Forum to:
a) Take the
lead in convening an Expert Group Meeting on Conservation and Human Rights in
2018, in collaboration with the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to
further explore options for UN action to promote and protect the rights of
indigenous peoples in the context of conservation activities, recognising that
conservation science makes very clear that securing indigenous peoples’
collective tenure rights is the surest basis for effective, as well as just,
conservation;
b) Develop
an Expert Report on Conservation and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to
follow-up the recommendations and reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Special Rapporteur on Environment and
Human Rights and to inform the work of relevant UN agencies and conventions;
c) Pursue
its recommendations to key global conservation organisations, with a focus on
the members of the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights, and to request CIHR
members to report in 2018 to the Forum on the implementation of the Initiative;
d) Urge the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to establish a joint
Task Force on Conservation and Human Rights to work with indigenous peoples'
organisations to clearly articulate the rights of indigenous peoples in the
context of conservation initiatives, and to continue to promote grievance
mechanisms and avenues to redress in the context of conservation action,
including the Whakatane Mechanism (in turn, contributing to implementation of
IUCN Resolution 6.072);
e) Urge
International Financial Institutions, the European Commission, the Global
Environment Facility and other donors to apply the strongest possible
safeguards in the financing of conservation programmes and projects, including
climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, and to recognise collective
tenure as the most effective basis for effective conservation and sustainable
use of natural resources;
We also
call the attention of the Permanent Forum to the following specific case and
associated recommendation:
f) Recommend to the
European Union and the Government of Kenya that financing and planned actions
in the Cherangany Hills in western Kenya be contingent on the recognition and
formal protection of the rights of the forest indigenous peoples, including the
Ogiek and the Sengwer, to their lands, as provided for under the Community Land
Act, 2016, and the 2010 Constitution, especially Article 63 (2) d ii.
