Major Report on Legal Recognition of ICCAs

Via www.iisd.ca

The ICCA Consortium, Kalpavriksh and Natural Justice launched a report entitled: Legal and Institutional Aspects of Recognising and Supporting Conservation by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities at a side event at the 11th Conference of Parties (COP-11) of the CBD on 9 October, 2012 in Hyderabad, India. The publication synthesises the outputs of a report on international law and jurisprudence and 15 country-level reports. The speakers were all part of the research team, including: Souleye Ndiaye (Director of Protected Areas, Senegal), Samson Pedragosa (PAFID, the Philippines), Dau-Jye Lu (Tao Foundation, Taiwan), Neema Pathak Broome (Kalpavriksh, India), and Simone Lovera (Global Forest Coalition, Paraguay). Harry Jonas from Natural Justice introduced the report and moderated the session which was covered by Earth Negotiations Bulletin and is available here.

Legal Weight and Implementation of the CBD

Via www.iisd.ca

Natural Justice hosted a side event at the 11th Conference of Parties (COP-11) of the Convention on Biological Diversity on 8 October, 2012 in Hyderabad, India. The event emerged from a rapid assessment undertaken by Natural Justice for the CBD Alliance. Among other issues raised by the report are a) the fact that there is no clarity about the legal weight of the CBD and b) how civil society could better engage in the implementation of the CBD. In this context, the event brought together the following people to discuss the incumbent issues: Elisa Morgera (Edinburgh University), S. Faizi (India Biodiversity Forum), Gurdial Singh Nijar (Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity Law, University of Malaya), Joji Carino (Tebtebba, pictured), Chee Yoke Ling (Third World Network), Yolanda Saito (International Development Law Organization) and Frederic Perron-Welch (Centre for International Sustainable Development Law). Harry Jonas from Natural Justice introduced the report and moderated the session which was covered by Earth Negotiations Bulletin and is available here. 

India Urges Adoption of Nagoya Protocol

India has encouraged delegates at the 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-11) in Hyderabad, India, to adopt the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Protocol will  not enter into force until 50 nations ratify it. India, COP-11's chair, is also pushing for member nations to agree on a road map on the issues adopted during COP-10 two years ago in Nagoya, Japan. 

India's Minister of Forests and Environment, Jayanthi Natarajan, appealed to representatives of the 173 nations present, emphasising that future generations will not forgive a failure to preserve the earth's biodiversity. Amina Mohamed, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, called on all parties to "to step up effort for the early ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.” 

Read more here. 

COP 11 Preparations

Natural Justice's Holly Shrumm, Arpitha Kodiveri and Harry Jonas attended the CBD Alliance's preparatory meeting to develop the civil society's strategic engagement at the CBD's 11th COP. Among other things, the team helped draft the group's opening statement and Arpitha Kodiveri chaired a meeting between the CBD Alliance and the New Executive Secretary Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias (pictured). Similarly, Kabir Bavikatte worked with the African Group to prepare for the COP. More information can be found on the CBD website and the CBD Alliance website.

Natural Justice in Hyderabad for CBD COP11

The 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP11) is being held from 8-19 October, 2012, in Hyderabad, India. COP 11 will consider the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 and progress towards the Aichi biodiversity targets. COP 11 will also review the programme of work on island biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, the status of the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing, Article 8(j) (traditional knowledge), marine and coastal biodiversity, biodiversity and climate change, biodiversity and development, biofuels, and several other cross-cutting issues. For introductions to the key issues, please see the CBD Alliance briefing notes.  

In addition to following key agenda items throughout the negotiations, Natural Justice is co-hosting and speaking at several side events and workshops related to biocultural community protocols, Indigenous peoples' and local community conserved territories and areas (ICCAs), including the legal reviews that we coordinated, sacred natural sites, protected areas, the CBD-UNESCO Joint Programme of Work on the Linkages between Biological and Cultural Diversity, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, and access and benefit sharing, among others. More information about many of our joint events is available here.  

Updates on the negotiations and key events will be posted on this blog throughout COP11.

Oxfam Briefing Note on Land Purchases in 'Developing' Nations

Via www.oxfamblogs.org

As vast swathes of land in ‘developing’ nations are purchased by foreign investors, Oxfam has prepared a carefully researched briefing note on the impact of these purchases. The briefing note highlights the fact that almost two-thirds of the land purchased from 2000-2010 was purchased in nations with serious hunger challenges while two-thirds of foreign purchasers intend to export everything produced on the land. 

The note emphasises that Oxfam does not oppose investments in agriculture, especially when they target smallholder producers, but notes that “the unprecedented rush for land has not been adequately regulated or policed to prevent land grabs. This means that poor people continue to be evicted, often violently, without consultation or compensation.” The note concludes by urging the World Bank to temporarily freeze investments involving large-scale land deals until it can review “advice to developing countries, help set standards for investors, and introduce more robust policies to stop land grabs.” 

An Oxfam blog post on the briefing note can be found here, and the full note can be found here.

New IIED Article on Community Protocols

Credit: Nick Lunch

As delegates prepare for the 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) from 8-19 October in Hyderabad, India, Krystyna Swiderska of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has prepared an article tracing the community protocols developed by two communities, the Raika of Rajasthan, India and the Dusun of Sabah, Malaysia to claim rights guaranteed by the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol  on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the CBD. 

The article notes that “although they have conserved important biodiversity of the regions where they have lived for generations, many communities are struggling to safeguard their biodiverse resources.” It presents community protocols as a way that communities are asserting their rights and engaging with outside actors. It then details, with text and photos, the unique ways of life of the Raika and Dusun and how they are using community protocols to protect their rights. 

The article can be found here. IIED’s recent publication on community protocols, rights and consent, drafted and edited in partnership with Natural Justice, can be found here in English and here in Spanish.

Importante Nueva Publicación sobre Protocolos Comunitarios, Derechos y CLPI

El volumen 65 de Aprendizaje y Acción Participativos, (PLA), publicados por el International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), acaba de ser publicado. Intitulado “Biodiversidad y cultura: exploración de protocolos comunitarios, derechos y consentimiento”, la edición especial ha sido editada por Krystyna Swiderska (IIED), Kanchi Johli (Kalpavriksh), Harry Jonas y Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice), Wim Hiemstra (Red COMPAS para el Desarollo Endógeno) y Maria Julia Oliva (Unión para el BioComercio Ético). 

Esta edición especial de Aprendizaje y Acción Participativos explora dos importantes herramientas participativas que los pueblos indígenas y las comunidades locales pueden utilizar para ayudar a defender sus derechos consuetudinarios al patrimonio biocultural: i) Protocolos comunitarios - o estatutos de las reglas y responsabilidades - en el que las comunidades estabelecen sus derechos consuetudinarios sobre los recursos naturales y la tierra, como reconocido en el derecho consuetudinario, nacional e internacional; y ii) Procesos de Consentimiento Libre, Previo e Informado (CLPI), en los cuales las comunidades deciden si permiten o no que los proyectos que afecten sus tierras o los recursos sigan adelante, y en qué términos.

ALF Presentation on Creative Media and the Law

Namita Malhotra of the Alternative Law Forum (ALF) presented on her experiences using different forms of media to communicate the law at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology on 3 October, 2012. The presentation introduced faculty from Srishti and the Natural Justice India team to the use of different media forms and some of their potential challenges. ALF has used these different forms as tools to intervene on a variety of issues ranging from piracy to censorship. Their work continues to highlight the need for experimental modes of communicating the law, with an emphasis on exploring how the law can be deconstructed and understood through a multidisciplinary lens. This presentation will help to inform Natural Justice and Srishti’s work in setting up a lab to focused on exploring how design can be used to flesh out legal problems.

Anaya Statement on Namibia Trip

The United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, has released an end-of-mission statement on his visit to Namibia from 20-28 September, 2012. During Mr Anaya’s visit he met with representatives from indigenous communities including Natural Justice partners in Bwabata National Park, government officials and representatives from civil society. 

Mr Anaya noted that “indigenous groups that are in the minority in Namibia have suffered injustices in the past that leave them disadvantaged, to varying degrees, in the present…These groups have expressed to me a strong desire for greater inclusion in decision-making at all levels, to be able to genuinely set their own priorities for development, and to regain or strengthen rights over lands and natural resources, particularly lands to which they retain a cultural attachment." 

Find Mr Anaya’s full end-of-mission statement here. Find the press release on his visit here. Learn more about his work here.