Side Event

The Rights on Indigenous Peoples and Protected Areas: identifying criteria for the Work Program on Protected Areas

Organizer
NGO Forum for the Environment and Development / German League for Nature and Environment

Date and Time
25 October 2010 18:15 - 19:45

Meeting
Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10)

Protected areas will fail in their delivery if the interests of local communities are ignored. Too often are the rights of indigenous peoples to their land ignored when protected areas are being identified and proposed. ‘Consent’ and ‘control’ are benchmarks against which the establishment and management of protected areas have to be measured. The extent to which indigenous peoples are effectively participating in and consenting to decision-making about protected areas will determine the success of protected areas. This includes the control of the process of managing and monitoring such protected areas, and the equitable sharing of benefits. Protected areas are often planned to not only conserve nature but to fulfill economic interests, such as generating revenues from tourist developments. These economic interests often lie at the heart of the resulting conflicts with indigenous peoples, as no participation or prior and informed consent had taken place. The Work Program of Protected Areas under the CBD needs to fully integrate the rights of indigenous peoples and establish mechanisms to include the success criteria as identified by indigenous peoples. In this side event we will discuss the conflicts arising from the establishment of protected areas without the consent and participation from indigenous peoples. We will further discuss policy options under the CBD work program to adequately include the rights of indigenous peoples.