Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network
Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network
Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
NOTE 1.3<br />
Indigenous Peoples and <strong>Forests</strong><br />
It is estimated that worldwide 60 million Indigenous<br />
Peoples are highly dependent on forest resources for<br />
their livelihoods. <strong>Forests</strong> and other natural resources are<br />
the foundation for most Indigenous Peoples’ livelihoods,<br />
social organization, identities, and cultural survival, which<br />
are based on a strong and deeply rooted historic relationship<br />
with their ancestral lands and natural resources. This<br />
relationship has cultural, socioeconomic, and spiritual<br />
dimensions and has influenced customary institutions and<br />
practices for managing land and resources.<br />
The identities and cultures of Indigenous Peoples are<br />
inextricably linked to the lands on which they live and the<br />
natural resources on which they depend. This deeply rooted<br />
link informs their livelihoods, social organization, identities,<br />
and cultural survival. It also informs their perceptions<br />
of poverty, well-being, and “the good life,” which often differ<br />
from those of mainstream society as well as of other<br />
rural communities. Their patterns of land use and relationship<br />
with land and resources may also translate into different<br />
goals and models for development—for example, developers<br />
may want to extract natural resources for economic<br />
gain, while indigenous communities may want to leave the<br />
environment and resources intact, providing them with<br />
their livelihoods and spiritual links to their ancestors.<br />
Indigenous Peoples have specific rights relevant for<br />
forest-based projects. The rights and concerns of Indigenous<br />
Peoples have been internationally recognized, foremost<br />
through International Labour Organization (ILO)<br />
Convention 169. The convention affirms the way of life of<br />
indigenous and tribal peoples, recognizes the need to safeguard<br />
their customary rights to land and natural resources,<br />
and stresses that they should benefit equally from economic<br />
and social development and that they and their traditional<br />
organizations should be closely involved in the planning<br />
and implementation of development projects that affect<br />
them.<br />
Specifically concerning biodiversity and sustainable natural<br />
resource management, Agenda 21, adopted by the<br />
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development<br />
(UNCED) in 1992, as well as the Rio Declaration, recognize<br />
the actual and potential contributions of indigenous<br />
and tribal peoples to sustainable development. The 1992<br />
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) calls on contracting<br />
parties to respect traditional indigenous knowledge<br />
with regard to the preservation of biodiversity and its sustainable<br />
use. The CBD has been a key vehicle for enhancing<br />
Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their resources and their participation<br />
in biodiversity conservation and management.<br />
Indigenous Peoples are represented in the Conference of<br />
Parties of the CBD, which recognizes traditional knowledge<br />
and cultural heritage as conservation values.<br />
In October 2007, the United Nations’ General Assembly<br />
adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous<br />
Peoples. The declaration, while nonbinding, sets international<br />
standards for the protection and promotion of the<br />
individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples,<br />
including their rights to land and natural resources, and<br />
advocates a human rights–based approach to development<br />
as it applies to Indigenous Peoples.<br />
These and other international conventions and agreements,<br />
along with the World Bank’s Indigenous Peoples policy<br />
(OP 4.10), provide an important context for World<br />
Bank–assisted, forest-related projects affecting Indigenous<br />
Peoples. Through OP 4.10, the World Bank recognizes the<br />
rights of Indigenous Peoples as addressed in international<br />
and national law and agreements. The policy acknowledges<br />
the vital role that Indigenous Peoples play in sustainable<br />
development, and calls for special considerations when<br />
projects affect the close ties that they have to land, forests,<br />
water, wildlife, and other natural resources. Specifically for<br />
projects supporting parks and protected areas, the policy<br />
states that the World Bank “recognizes the significance of<br />
39