Indigenous Peoples and Conservation Organizations

Signposts for the Road Ahead 145
together approximately 300 indigenous
people to discuss conservation and the
health of the Bering Sea; 2) the participation
of native partners in press briefings to
inform the public about issues affecting the
region; and 3) the funding of a study of traditional
resource use and a socio-ecological
survey of local views on conservation and
marine resources in order to gauge interest
in establishing a marine protected area that
would include subsistence activities.
• In the southwest Amazon ecoregion, WWF
and its partners have been actively involved
in engaging stakeholders and determining
conservation priorities. In the Bolivia portion
of the ecoregion, for example, WWF
and other groups have begun to identify
areas of significant biological importance,
and in those areas to communicate with
indigenous groups about exploring common
interests. While much more information
and consultation is needed, possible
joint activities include biological inventories,
the development of wildlife management
plans, community-based wildlife
monitoring, and the creation of a private
protected area. Indigenous groups will
also be an integral part of broad-based
stakeholder dialogue and decision making
in the ecoregion.
• The framework policy on indigenous peoples
and protected areas on which WWF collaborated
with the World Commission on
Protected Areas (WCPA) was endorsed by
the IUCN Council in April 1999 and the
WWF network in May 1999. This is now
the official IUCN/WWF/WCPA position on
protected areas that overlap with the lands,
territories, waters, coastal seas, and other
resources of indigenous and other traditional
peoples. The policy provides guidelines for
forging sustainable partnerships with the people
who have been the traditional guardians
of a large number of the world’s biodiversityrich
habitats before they became protected
areas. Despite its limitations, the document
represents considerable progress and will
open more opportunities for collaboration
with indigenous and traditional peoples to
ensure the long-term survival of those areas.
• Capacity building for stakeholder collaboration
is a WWF priority. Significant
investments are being made to adapt what
has been learned in prior fieldwork,
develop new tools, and test them in pilot
efforts that bring stakeholders together to
resolve conflicts and forge coalitions that
further conservation goals. Working with
indigenous groups will be an important
part of this effort.
• New developments have taken place in several
of the projects reviewed in the case
studies. In Papua New Guinea, the fisheries
management plan is being implemented and
resources are being managed more sustainably.
Income is being generated through a
variety of community-run enterprises in
Namibia. In Brazil, the resource management
plan is being returned to the community
via a manual and audiotapes in the
Xavante language.
A common sense of urgency has made conservation
organizations and indigenous peoples
increasingly aware of one another and multiplied
the opportunities for collaboration. The possibilities
are limited largely by the willingness to look
for them. While their aims and approaches are
not identical, nearly a decade of experience shows
that when both groups are willing to listen to one
another and be flexible when searching for common
ground, both will make progress toward realizing
their goals. Effective partnerships are being
forged from an awareness that the land and its
natural resources cannot be protected unless all its
stewards learn to work together.