STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionIllegal loggingIllegal logging has become a growing problem in the world’s rainforests.Recent estimates for Peru suggest that 90 per cent of the timber beingextracted in the Peruvian Amazon is illegal and originates from protectedareas belonging to indigenous communities or set aside for indigenouspeoples who live in voluntary isolation. Apart from the environmentaldestruction such illegal logging causes, it also puts these isolated peopleat risk of contracting contagious diseases if contacted by loggers.Source: Stavenhagen (2004), 9-10.Protected areas—a story of evictions and abusesThe creation of protected areas has been a central element of conservationpolicies since the end of the nineteenth century. Between 1872, when YellowstoneNational Park was established in the United States, and the early 1960s, some10,000 protected areas were created. In 2003, the total number of protectedareas stood at 102,102, covering more than 18.8 million square kilometres. 20 Itshould moreover be noted that there is a growing number of privately ownedprotected areas across the world.From their inception, most protected areas were designed as areas of landtaken over by the state, without the consent and the consideration of indigenouspeoples and their land use patterns, and primarily for the enjoyment of outsiders. 21Applying the so-called Yellowstone model, which consisted of establishingand managing national parks for the benefit of future generations, but to theexclusion of indigenous residents, national parks in many parts of the worldhave denied indigenous peoples their rights, evicted them from their homelands,and provoked long-term social conflict. This model of “colonial conservation”caused, and continues to cause, widespread human suffering and resentmentamong indigenous peoples. 22national parks in manyparts of the worldhave denied indigenouspeoples their rights,evicted them from theirhomelands, and provokedlong-term social conflictToday, a new model of conservation can also be discerned based on respect forthe rights of indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge. “Protected area”has become a cover term and includes many different categories with varyingpurposes ranging from scientific research to tourism and recreation. In the late1980s and early 1990s, for instance, a new trend promoting community-basedconservation and community-based natural resource management emerged asa way of integrating conservation and development and securing the livelihoods20See UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre at http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/UN_list/index.htm21Borgerhoff Mulder and Coppolillo (2005).22Colchester (2004).THE ENVIRONMENT | 91