Ressources

Global finance for biodiversity has grown significantly over the past 10 years and is now estimated at between US$78 billion and $147 billion per year.

Batwa communities around Kahuzi-Biega National Park were displaced in the 1970s by the creation of the Park and have lived in a situation of landlessness and precarity ever since.

This policy paper is intended for government officials who are responsible for the protection of customary communities’ rights over land and forest, legislators, customary communities, local communities in rural areas and their accompanying institutions.

Kertas kebijakan ini ditujukan bagi pejabat pemerintah yang menangani perlindungan hak-hak masyarakat adat atas tanah dan hutan, legislator, serta komunitas lokal di pedesaan beserta lembaga pendampingnya.

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.

The inaugural Conference of the World Indigenous Network (WIN) took place in Darwin, Australia from 26 to 31 May 2013. The WIN conference was designed to build a strong foundation for an innovative and enduring network of land and sea managers, with a programme aimed at coming together, connecting and sharing stories and experiences of indigenous peoples and local communities who have an active role in managing natural environments. Read more about the WIN here: http://www.worldindigenousnetwork.net/ 

Dari hari Minggu 26 Mei 2013 sampai hari Jumat 31 Mei 2013 Konferensi Jaringan Adat Dunia (WIN) perdana berlangsung di Darwin, Australia. Konferensi ini dirancang untuk membangun fondasi yang kuat untuk sebuah Jaringan Adat Dunia yang inovatif dan kokoh, dengan program yang ditujukan untuk Masyarakat Adat dan Komunitas Lokal yang memiliki peran aktif dalam mengelola lingkungan alam, untuk datang bersama-sama, bertemu dan berbagi cerita dan pengalaman. Baca lebih lanjut tentang WIN di sini: http://www.worldindigenousnetwork.net/ 

A new action plan is being developed at COP11 to support and encourage indigenous peoples in their customary sustainable practices, which reflect their careful and protective interaction with the natural environment. The development of the action plan on customary sustainable use is very important.

"Since almost a decade back, the Resilience and Development Programme (SwedBio) and partners such as Forest Peoples Programme, Tebtebba Foundation and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) have been working for strengthening governance in indigenous territories based on customary sustainable use. The work by SwedBio and partners was initiated by supporting good cases, including presenting them and describing the key factors for success behind. These pilot cases, covering a broad range of social ecological systems, have successively formed a base for building better international policies that adopt customary sustainable use (CSU) as a means for strengthened resilience of biological diversity and contribution to human wellbeing among indigenous peoples and local communities."

At the recent meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Working Group on traditional knowledge, innovations and practices (Article 8(j) and Related Provisions) , which took place in Montreal, Canada, from 31October to 4 November 2011, Forest Peoples Programme and indigenous and local community partners, alongside the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), engaged in discussions with delegates and others about the development of a new “Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use”. This Plan of Action is intended to become a new major component of the already existing Programme of Work that serves to preserve, respect and maintain indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ traditional knowledge, innovations and practices that are related to sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.

Article 10(c) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) states that Parties shall: (...) protect and encourage customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements.

Recent work carried out by various indigenous peoples, such as community mapping and documenting traditional resource use, has resulted in interesting insights into the different gender dimensions in their customary use of biodiversity. In many indigenous communities, there are clear divisions in men’s and women’s roles and tasks relating to biodiversity use. This article shares some examples from case studies carried out by the Wapichan people from South-west Guyana and by the Karen and Hmong people from Northern Thailand. 

Our last E-newsletter (April 2010) reported that a group of indigenous experts on sustainable use issues within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the '10(c) team', planned to highlight the link between secure land and resource rights and the protection and maintenance of customary sustainable use of biological resources by indigenous and local communities. This was to take place at the 14th meeting of the CBD's Subsidiary Body on Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14) in Nairobi, Kenya (10-21 May). Unfortunately, in the event, delegates did not follow the indigenous experts' proposals to include concrete text on this issue in the final SBSTTA recommendations. Discussions on the use and management of wildlife ('bush meat') also caused indigenous peoples great concern and created impassioned debate.

On Monday 18th October, FPP and its indigenous and local community partners together with the CBD Secretariat, hosted a side event on customary sustainable use, which is the focus of CBD Article 10(c).

A team of indigenous representatives, known by many as 'the 10(c) team', will be attending the Fourteenth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14) to highlight persisting obstacles to effective protection and encouragement of their customary sustainable practices. They will advocate for a draft decision calling for better implementation of the commitments under CBD Article 10(c). Secure access to resources and genuine involvement in management of natural resources are part of the solution that the 10(c) team proposes.

The recent sixth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions (WG8(j)-6) took place in Montreal from 2-6 November 2009. Parties acknowledged the importance of customary sustainable use of biological resources by indigenous peoples and local communities and agreed that this should receive more attention in the implementation of the whole Convention. Indigenous participants were satisfied with the meeting's outcomes and commented that their timely input and preparations had paid off.

Bonn, Germany The findings of two new reports launched today at the Convention on Biological Diversity emphatically demonstrate that global biodiversity will continue to be lost if Protected Areas fail to recognise and respect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. The research, conducted in the largest mangrove forest in the world, conversely shows that customary use is fully compatible with conservation and sustainability.

This report highlights the connection between biodiversity conservation and forest peoples' livelihoods and customary use. It shows how the current Forest Department-led management continues to threaten the long-term survival of the forest and the people. The traditional resource users call for an urgent shift towards community-based and collaborative management of the Sundarbans to ensure a future both for its biodiversity and its people.

Drawing on five long-term case studies carried out by FPP with indigeneous peoples' organisations in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Cameroon and Thailand, the paper summarises field data which reveal the remarkable complexity of customary law systems. It proposes a mehtodology for strengthening traditional practices to ensure sustainable use and ensuring that state interventions align with countries' obligations under the CBD and other relevant international treaties.

Contribution to the implementation of Article 10(c) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Four Baka communities mapped their use of their forests using GIS. These maps, together with an outline of the local administrative and socio-political structures and a record of Baka beliefs and rituals, identify the tension between communities’ customary forest use and conservation objectives. This report aims to help improve implementation of the CBD in Cameroon.