STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionThe patenting of medicinal plants and seeds nurtured and used by indigenouspeoples, like the quinoa, ayahuasca, Mexican yellow bean, maca, sangrede drago, hoodia, etc. is facilitated by the World Trade Organization (WTO)Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).This contains requirements for national legislation to protect copyrights, patents,trademarks and other forms of intellectual property, allowing the patenting of lifeforms for micro-organisms and non-biological and microbiological processes ofproduction of plants and animals. This constitutes a threat to the protection andpromotion of indigenous knowledge. Furthermore, these policies have subjectedindigenous peoples to the uncertainties of the marketplace, thus decreasingtheir food security and threatening their traditional livelihoods as illustrated bythe discussion on Greenland and Northern Russian communities.“They now even charge for domestic animals such as cats ordogs, which they used to give away for good luck”. — a womaninterviewed, Viet Nam 13large dams have disproportionatelyimpactedindigenous peoplesThe above discussion points to the fact that neo-liberalism has frequently beenimposed on indigenous peoples, and that under structural adjustment programmes,multinational corporations have extracted resources from indigenous territorieswithout the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples involved,providing little or no compensation for the communities with adverse impacts ontheir livelihood and cultural/spiritual life. As a result, the indigenous peoples aremade worse-off beyond what is evident in the quantitative (monetary) indicatorsof poverty and well-being.Large dams and indigenous peoplesLarge dams became symbols of modern development in the twentiethcentury, and recently have also epitomized the unequal economic, socialand environmental impacts of “unsustainable development”. The WorldCommission on Dams (WCD) knowledge base revealed that large damshave disproportionately impacted indigenous peoples and that future dambuilding also targets their lands disproportionately. They have sufferedfrom loss of lands and livelihood, cultural losses, fragmentation of politicalinstitutions, breakdown of identity and human rights abuses.Dam planning and projects are characterized by serious proceduralfailures that relate directly to indigenous communities. The distinctivecharacteristics of affected peoples are often ignored in project planning,as are customary rights. Environmental and social assessments areeither absent or inadequate. Resettlements are frequently ill-planned.13Asian Development Bank (2002).20 | CHAPTER I