Indigenous Peoples and Conservation Organizations

16 Conservation Partnerships
compatible with conservation objectives, and that
external market forces have caused recent disruptions.
Based on this analysis, and on working
with local people, WWF developed guidelines
for the sustainable use of wildlife in the region.
Many of the concepts in the guidelines are applicable
to other areas where communities are concerned
that their wildlife is dwindling.
Fortunately international environmental law
increasingly recognizes, through agreements such
as the Convention on Biological Diversity, that
the knowledge, innovations, and practices of
indigenous peoples and local communities are
vital resources for preserving the genetic heritage
of the planet. Systematic effort is needed to help
revitalize and protect such knowledge in collaboration
with concerned communities, with full
respect for their intellectual property rights.
Indigenous peoples should have the opportunity
to benefit fairly from the use and application of
their knowledge, and this will serve our common
interest by strengthening their ability and commitment
to act as environmental stewards.
3.4 Benefit Sharing and Economic
Alternatives
Long-term conservation of indigenous peoples’
territories and resources requires that communities
directly and equitably benefit from the use of
their land. In most cases, conservation implies
trade-offs that have direct or indirect impact on
local livelihoods. Indigenous and traditional people
should not be expected to participate in conservation
activities that do not contribute to
improving their quality of life. Ensuring an
improved quality of life often involves the creation
of economic alternatives that promote sustainable
resource use and generate income to
counterbalance market pressures to overexploit
resources for short-term gain. Care must also be
taken that benefits are broadly distributed to
avoid fragmenting the community and undermining
its ability to manage its resource base wisely.
3.5 Mitigation of Environmental Impacts
Indigenous groups and conservation organizations
are both concerned about the destructive
impact that ill-conceived logging, mining, oil
exploitation, and other development efforts can
have on the environment. These issues have converted
many indigenous groups into activists
fighting to defend the integrity of their lands and
ecosystems. Through coordinated and mutually
supportive work, conservationists and indigenous
peoples can mitigate these threats and promote
practices that lead to sustainable development.
Article 7 of ILO Convention 169 requires governments
to carry out environmental impact assessments
(EIAs) for any activities taking place on the
lands and territories of indigenous peoples that
could affect the quality of their environment and
resource bases. To help ensure that this proscription
is followed, WWF has pledged to help monitor
development of EIAs for external interventions
in any indigenous territory where WWF works so
that affected communities are fully informed,
allowed to voice their concerns, and able to defend
their rights. WWF, in cooperation with concerned
indigenous organizations, will also urge governments
to put in place all necessary measures to
prevent and control environmental impacts in
those lands and territories, and will help local
organizations strengthen their own capacity for
prevention, control, monitoring, and mitigation.
3.6 Building Conservation Capacity
Building the conservation capacity of community
organizations is not limited to the circumstances
described in the preceding section. It is a fundamental
tool for enabling indigenous and other
communities to plan and implement conservation
activities, and it is a bedrock of WWF’s conservation
strategy. Capacity building covers a wide
range of activities—from training to improve the
leadership, accounting, and administrative skills
of indigenous organizations, to providing technical
assistance, access to information, and support
for networking. Assistance should take place in
the context of respect for self-governing institutions
and customary law, and should promote a
social environment that is conducive to real
democracy—one in which marginalized peoples
have a say in all matters that affect their wellbeing.
Indigenous conservation capacity will be
enhanced through the promotion of macro-policies
like the decentralization of natural resource
management, and capacity building at the local
and regional levels will make states more likely
to devolve responsibility.
One aspect of capacity building deserves special
attention. Environmental problems affecting
indigenous peoples’ lands and resources are often