CBD Alliance COP 11 Briefing Notes

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Alliance, a consortium of activists and representatives from NGOs, CBOs, social movements and Indigenous People’s Organisations, has prepared 12 briefing notes for the CBD’s 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) in October in Hyderabad, India. The notes are based upon the discussions, debates and points of agreement which emerged from months of conversations amongst CBD Alliance network members on their priorities for COP 11. The summary of the notes can be accessed here in English and here in Spanish, and the notes themselves can be downloaded here in . 

Rio Tinto Mine's Net Biodiversity Impact Measured

A fascinating partnership between the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest environmental organisation, and Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining groups, has produced its first report on the net impact on biodiversity of a Rio Tinto ilmenite mine in southeastern Madagascar. The report is a product of IUCN’s effort to track Rio Tinto’s progress to meeting its commitment to a Net Positive Impact (NPI) on biodiversity, an initiative launched at the 2004 IUCN World Conservation Congress. 

The study seeks to measure Rio Tinto’s ilmenite mine as a pilot to test the tools designed to achieve and quantify NPI on biodiversity. Rio Tinto is using four different conservation actions to minimise the impact on biodiversity; avoidance, minimisation, rehabilitation and restoration, and biodiversity offsets. In the present analysis, biodiversity losses and gains were measured and forecast for the period 2004–2065 (i.e. from the date of the NPI commitment to the anticipated date of mine closure) in order to determine whether the mitigation activities are sufficient to achieve NPI by closure. The overall analysis shows that the mine “could be on track to achieve a Net Positive Impact on biodiversity by the date of closure of the mine” subject to key reservations. 

The full report can be downloaded here. Find more recent IUCN publications on marine protected areas management, ecological restoration for protected areas, conserving dryland biodiversity and other subjects here.

Major Khoe and San Genome Study

via SABC.co.za

A genomic study has revealed that the Khoe and San communities of southern Africa are “descendants of the earliest diversification event in the history of all humans - some 100 000 years ago, well before the 'out-of-Africa' migration of modern humans.” Over 200 individuals from around southern Africa participated in the study with around 2.3 million DNA variants analysed per individual. The research was conducted by a consortium of international scientists. 

Entitled ‘Genomic variation in seven Khoe-San groups reveals adaptation and complex African history’, the study has been published in the renowned scientific journal, Science. The genome-wide data will be shared widely. 

The report in Science can be accessed here. SABC’s story on the study can be accessed here.

Nouveau film intitulé "Protocoles bioculturels communautaires: Articulant et Affirmant l'intendance des communautés"

Au moment où les protocoles bioculturelles communautaires se propagent dans le monde entier comme moyen d’auto-affirmation et de protection juridique des communautés, un nouveau film intitulé «Protocoles bioculturels communautaires: Articulant et Affirmant l'intendance des communautés» vient d’être diffusé. Le film a été réalisé par Sanjay Barnela et produit par Natural Justice, en collaboration avec Moving Images, Inde. Ce film a bénéficié du soutien financier de la Fondation Shuttleworth. Le film s’inspire de l’expérience de deux communautés, les tradipraticiens de Bushbuckridge, en Afrique du Sud, et la communauté Raika du Rajasthan, en Inde. 

Le film est accessible ici. Pour en savoir plus sur les protocoles communautaires cliquez ici. Le Protocole communautaire de Bushbuckridge peut être téléchargé ici et celui des Raika ici.

E-Module on REDD+ for Communities

Human activities are consuming huge amounts of fossil fuels and raw materials that are creating massive amounts of persistent gases that are dramatically changing weather patterns in unpredictable ways. Deforestation contributes an estimated 18-25% of carbon emissions. The idea behind the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) programme is to generate funds to reduce emissions through forest conservation in order to slow the onset of climate change. Since most of the world’s remaining forests are in the ‘developing world’ and most of the world’s emissions are from the ‘developed world’, the majority of funding for REDD+ will be directed from the latter to the former. As REDD+ is implemented, communities will be significantly impacted, often negatively. 

In this context, Natural Justice has prepared a draft e-module on REDD+ for communities. The module seeks to prepare communities, especially communities developing biocultural community protocols, to engage proactively with the international framework of REDD+. It briefly describes the rationale behind and plans for REDD+. It then looks at the key issues that have emerged around REDD+, focusing especially on the concerns with its current status and the safeguards that are being developed to attempt to protect community rights. It closes by looking at the current forms in which REDD+ is being implemented. 

The full e-module can be downloaded here. Other e-modules drafted by Natural Justice can be accessed here. These modules supplement ‘BCPs: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators’, which can be viewed 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).

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.

Whanganui River to Gain Legal Personality

Credit: James Shook, Wikipedia Commons, via
newswatch.nationalgeographic.com

In a significant recognition of the significance of the environment, a framework agreement between the New Zealand government and the Whanganui River iwi, a Māori community, has laid the foundation for the Whanganui River to have its legal personality formally recognised. The iwi had recently secured recognition in court that the river, the third largest in New Zealand, was an integrated, living whole with rights and interests. 

Read more about the case and the agreement from National Geographic here.

Película sobre Protocolos Comunitarios Bioculturales disponible con subtítulos en español

Como los protocolos comunitarios bioculturales siguen propagándose en todo el mundo como forma de auto articulación comunitaria y protección legal, una nueva película titulada 'Protocolos Comunitarios Bioculturales: Articulando y Affirmando la Custodia " ha sido liberada con subtítulos en español. La película fue dirigida por Sanjay Barnela y producida por Natural Justice, en colaboración con Moving Images, India. La película fue financiada por la Fundación Shuttleworth.

La película sigue las experiencias de dos comunidades, los curanderos tradicionales de Bushbuckridge, Sudáfrica, y la comunidad Raika de Rajasthan, India. La película está disponible aquí. Más informaciones acerca de los protocolos comunitarios están disponibles aquí, en inglés. El PCB Bushbuckridge se puede descargar aquí y el PCB Raika se puede descargar aquí, ambos en inglés.

En relación a los PCB, Natural Justice también disponibiliza, en español, el Protocolo Comunitario Biocultural del Alto San Juan, Colombia, que encontrase aquí.

UNEP Protected Planet Report

The United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC) has released its first ever "Protected Planet Report." The report seeks to track global progress towards achieving Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The report was compiled by UNEP-WCMC, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Commission on Protected Areas and a wide range of organisations that build on the work of the CBD-mandated Biodiversity Indicators Partnership.

The report, which will now be released semi-annually, notes that while the protected area network is growing towards achieving targets in terms of area covered, many protected areas do not offer adequate protection for endangered species. The report also reveals that protected area management is changing dramatically around the world. According to Nature's write up of the report, "in 1990, just 14% of protected areas allowed hunting and other sustainable uses of natural resources, but today that number has risen to 32%. At the same time, the amount of area managed exclusively by governments has declined from 96% to 77%, a trend reflecting the rise of community-based conservation and co-management schemes with indigenous peoples."

Nature's story on the report can be accessed here. IUCN's description of the report can be found here. The report can be downloaded here. 

TCF Panel on Linking Agriculture and Conservation

Via www.christensenfund.org

Natural Justice partner and funder, The Christensen Fund (TCF), organised a panel discussion at the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC) entitled “from competition to collaboration between agriculture and conservation: moving toward convergence between agro-ecology and conservation biology.” The session included representatives from organisations working on issues such as biodiversity conservation, agriculture and Indigenous people. 

TCF described the session as coming in a “new phase of reflection and innovation around an agro-ecosystem approach as farmers, scientists and policy makers explore how to work with nature to reduce fossil energy subsidies, tighten nutrient cycles, better manage water use, contain the use of biocides, and take advantage of more complex and diverse systems to deliver more resilient and sustainable flows of food and fiber.” 

According to a report by the Earth Journalism Network, participants agreed on the need "to mainstream the idea that conservation of biodiversity need not only exist in places like national parks – which total less than 13 percent of the earth’s land area – but on the farms that cover much of the rest of the world.”  

Read the article by the Earth Journalism Network here. Find out more about The Christensen Fund here.