STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

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EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionThe mandate of the UNFF has been to facilitate and promote the implementation of the Proposals for Action setup by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). 72 In2007, the Forum adopted the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests (NLBI), and a Multi-YearProgramme (2007-2015) with four measurable and time-bound global objectives to achieve sustainable forestmanagement. 73NLBI is the first ever inter-governmental instrument on sustainable forest management. It covers issues rangingfrom protection and use of traditional forest-related knowledge and practices in sustainable forest managementto the need for enhanced access to forest resources and relevant markets to support the livelihoods of forestdependentindigenous communities living inside and outside forest areas. 74Although UNFF recognizes the role of indigenous peoples in achieving sustainable forest management, indigenouspeoples’ organizations and civil society have generally been disappointed by the UNFF, which does not build onthe open and progressive practices of the IPF/IFF and CSD. 75 They have also widely criticized NLBI for failing torecognize, respect and support the implementation of customary rights of indigenous peoples who live in anddepend on forests and for failing to comply with best practices in environment management. 76UNCCD and UNFCCCIndigenous peoples also participate in the COPs of the Convention on Desertification (UNCCD) and the FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, they are admitted only as observers, not as peoples. In thecase of the UNFCCC, for instance, they have participated since 1988 in the COPs and have released a numberof statements and declarations expressing concerns regarding the implications of climate change policies ontheir livelihoods and cultures. Since 2001, indigenous peoples’ organizations have been acknowledged as aconstituency in climate change negotiations within UNFCCC. At the same time, however, indigenous peoplesare still waiting for UNFCCC’s approval of an Ad Hoc Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change,which would allow them to actively participate in the meetings of the Conference of Parties in the same way theyare able to under the Convention on Biological Diversity. 77Implementation gaps and challengesIndigenous peoples today are increasingly attempting to exert greater control over their natural resources as wellas over their economic and political life. They are acutely aware of the environmental damage that accompaniesmost development programmes and the toll that these efforts impose on peoples and their ecosystems. 78 Theyalso realize that the rapid pace of human-induced environmental change calls for decisive action not onlyat the international level but also at the national and local levels in order to fill the implementation gap andfully respect indigenous peoples’ environmental rights. However, while indigenous peoples have, since 2002,experienced increased recognition of their environmental rights at the international level, translating this political72IPF was set up by the CSD in 1995. It was succeeded by the IFF in 1997, which, in turn, gave way to the UNFF in 2000.73For full text of NLBI, see UN Doc. A/C.2/62/L.5 (2007).74NLBI Article 6 (f) and (y).75See, e.g., Forest Peoples Programme (2004a).76See, e.g., Forest Peoples Programme (2007a).77See indigenous peoples’ statements made at various COPs on the web site of the International Alliance for Indigenous andTribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests at http://www.international-alliance.org78Barkin (2006).THE ENVIRONMENT | 107
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionrecognition into concrete advances at the national and local levels remains amajor challenge. Many decisions made at the international level are not alwaysrespected or implemented at the national level, and indigenous peoples’ voicesare all too often marginalized, if heard at all.while indigenous peopleshave, since 2002,experienced increasedrecognition of theirenvironmental rights atthe international level,translating this politicalrecognition into concreteadvances at the nationaland local levels remainsa major challengeSeveral factors contribute to this situation: structural discrimination of indigenouspeoples at all levels in many countries, a lack of political will to prioritizeindigenous issues and provide funds to address them, the low level and efficacyof indigenous participation in national policy formulation and implementation,and a lack of awareness of international commitments amongst governmentofficials as well as among indigenous peoples themselves (except for a minoritywho work in leading indigenous organizations).Indigenous land rightsA main challenge still facing most indigenous peoples is the right to theirtraditional lands and resources. There are a number of other instruments thatallow for broader recognition and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights tolands and territories. In 1997, the UN Committee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination, in its General Recommendation No. 23 on Indigenous Peoples,called on states-parties to “recognize and protect the rights of indigenous peoplesto own, develop, control and use their communal lands, territories and resourcesand, where they have been deprived of their lands and territories traditionallyowned or otherwise inhabited or used without their free and informed consent,to take steps to return these lands and territories.” The Committee further called“upon state-parties with indigenous peoples in their territories to include intheir periodic reports full information on the situation of such peoples, takinginto account all relevant provisions of the Convention”. 79 In recent years, in itscomments on country reports, CERD has made several observations on the issueof indigenous peoples’ right to land. 80In Africa, indigenous peoples can refer to Articles 21 and 22 of the African Charter,which enshrine the right of peoples to freely dispose of their wealth and naturalresources and provide for the right of peoples to economic, social, and culturaldevelopment. Similar provisions are contained in other instruments adopted bythe African Union, such as the African Convention on the Conservation of Natureand Natural Resources, which is intended “to preserve the traditional rights andproperty of local communities and request the prior consent of the communitiesconcerned in respect of all that concerns their access to and use of traditionalknowledge”. These provisions have been used by the African Commissionon Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to enhance protection of indigenouspeoples’ rights to lands. The African Commission has also received land-relatedcommunications, for example, from the Endorois, indigenous peoples of Kenya,regarding their claims to ancestral lands around Lake Bogoria. 8179CERD (1997) General Recommendation No.23: Indigenous Peoples.80See, for instance, CERD (2003) Concluding Observation on Uganda.81Barume (forthcoming 2009).108 | CHAPTER III
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STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

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