Karen representatives today vowed to appeal against the recent Thai court verdict that ruled the authorities did not break the law in burning their properties to forcefully evict them from Kaeng Krachan National Park. Indigenous rights groups have called for effective redress for the affected communities saying that the ruling violated international human rights law.
Best practices around indigenous peoples and the establishment, expansion, governance and management of protected areas was the focus of a discussion at the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress.
The event, organised by Forest Peoples Programme, brought together 14 people at a knowledge café to discuss implementation of elements of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use.
Steps will be made to grow the Whakatane Mechanism into a device that can help redress power imbalances against indigenous peoples, and become a conflict resolution tool that can be available to all for the long-term.
Progress has been made on the issue of recognising the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities where protected areas have been created on their lands.
The intricacies of rights-based work within World Heritage Conservation will be explored at the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress this week.
A joint workshop, by the University of Lucerne in Switzerland, ICOMOS, the IUCN, ICCROM and Forest Peoples Programme, will discuss challenges in achieving greater progress in rights-based approaches around the 1,052 official World Heritage sites, and those vying for the status.
