Indigenous Peoples and Conservation Organizations

12 Conservation Partnerships
Particularly prominent are the World Bank,
whose Operational Directive on Indigenous
Peoples is well known and frequently cited, and
the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and
the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which have
similar policies.
Many governments of developed countries have
also adopted policies to ensure that their international
assistance programs for development and
the environment respect indigenous rights.
Among others, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain,
and more recently the European Union have all
specifically addressed the issue of local community
rights and interests in undertaking development
and environmental actions with indigenous
groups. This convergence in policy is an important
strand in the growing partnership between
WWF and the aid agencies of these governments
on conservation projects worldwide.
Finally, a broad spectrum of international conservation
organizations has adopted policies geared
toward indigenous peoples. WWF adopted its
Statement of Principles on Indigenous Peoples
and Conservation (see Annex) in May 1996. In
October 1996, the World Conservation Congress
of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) passed
a set of eight resolutions related to indigenous
peoples. IUCN recognized them as repositories
of traditional knowledge about biodiversity, and
noted the role they play in protected areas,
forests, marine and coastal habitats, and a host of
other environmental areas. Nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) dealing with forest issues,
such as the World Rainforest Movement and the
Rainforest Foundation, have made issues affecting
indigenous peoples a fundamental component
of their strategy. Although some environmental
groups like The Nature Conservancy, Friends of
the Earth, and Conservation International do not
have specific policies or programs dealing with
indigenous peoples, they have carried out activities
in coordination with indigenous organizations
on many occasions and have expressed
interest in indigenous issues.
Perhaps the most notable exception to this policy
convergence in the international conservation
movement is Greenpeace, which, in spite of
internal discussions and pressure, has declared
indigenous peoples outside its orbit of priorities.
II. WWF’s Approach to Working
with Indigenous Peoples
WWF seeks to partner with indigenous groups
when conservation of their land and resources
coincides with its conservation priorities.
WWF’s partnerships with indigenous peoples are
based on recognition of their legitimate rights
and interests. These two affirmations are the cornerstones
of WWF’s indigenous peoples policy,
which includes a set of principles to guide the
formation of partnerships. This section discusses
the principles, and the next section addresses the
programmatic guides to partnership.
2.1 Achieving WWF’s Conservation Mission
WWF’s guiding philosophy is that the Earth’s
natural systems, resources, and life forms
should be conserved for their intrinsic value and
for the benefit of future generations. WWF’s
commitment to collaborating with indigenous
peoples to achieve conservation is firm, but not
unconditional. As stated in WWF’s indigenous
peoples policy:
WWF may choose not to support, and
may actively oppose, activities it judges
unsustainable from the standpoint of
species or ecosystems… even if such
activities are carried out by indigenous
peoples. WWF seeks out partnerships
with local communities, grassroots
groups, nongovernmental organizations,
and other groups, including indigenous
communities and indigenous peoples’
organizations, that share WWF’s commitment
to the conservation of biodiversity,
sustainable use of resources, and pollution
prevention.
This echoes Article 10(c) of the Convention on
Biological Diversity, which requires parties to
“protect and encourage customary use of biological
resources in accordance with traditional cultural
practices that are compatible with
conservation or sustainable use requirements.”
This means that traditional systems for environmental
management and for the use of biological
resources should be supported by conservation
organizations as long as those systems contribute
to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Clearly those systems are more likely to
remain sustainable as circumstances change if