World Heritage Convention

Relevant resources

World Heritage and Indigenous Peoples - A Call to Action

5 November, 2012

This Call to Action is the result of an International Expert Workshop on the World Heritage Convention and Indigenous Peoples organised by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and financially supported by the Danish Agency for Culture, the Greenland Government, and the Christensen Fund.

Call to Action - English (0.1 MB)

Annexes to Call to Action (0.2 MB)

The World Heritage Convention and Indigenous Peoples

15 October, 2012

Indigenous peoples’ experiences of the inscription of their lands and resources as World Heritage Sites, under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, have been widely varied. In some cases the Convention has been a tool for indigenous peoples to use in protecting their lands – the case of the Mirarr people in Kakadu, Australia, using the World Heritage Convention to halt Uranium mining in their lands stands out. However, far too often the processes of the World Heritage Convention, and the Committee which oversees its implementation, are far removed from the realities of the indigenous peoples living in the lands concerned. Through the lack of involvement of indigenous peoples, the lack of their effective participation and lack of comprehensive consultation and consent procedures, inscription too often results in violation of the rights of indigenous peoples, as expressed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

IUCN Motion on the World Heritage Convention and Indigenous Peoples

26 September, 2012

A Motion sponsored by FPP and passed by IUCN membership at the 5th World Conservation Congress regarding the urgent need to improve implementation of the World Heritage Convention in relation to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Motion - English (0.2 MB)

Joint NGO/IPO submission to the UNPFII on the lack of implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in the context of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention

Various NGOs and IPOs

29 May, 2012

Click here to read the joint submission which was submitted by FPP, CEFAID, IWGIA, Tebtebba, AIPP and various other NGOs and indigenous peoples' organisations.

Joint submission - English (0.1 MB)

FPP-sponsored motion for the World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea, on the implementation of the UNDRIP in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention

FPP

18 May, 2012

This motion recommends ways in which IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, can encourage the World Heritage Committee to ensure that its work is in compliance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Click here to read the motion.

English (0.1 MB)

Report by CEFAID on the consultations in Cameroon for the World Heritage Site nomination of the Tri-National de la Sangha (TNS) protected area

18 April, 2012

Expérience du processus de consultation des communautés locales et autochtones vivant autour du Parc National de Lobéké

Read CEFAID's report in English or in French.

CEFAID Report - French (1.3 MB)

CEFAID Report - English (1 MB)

Report by CEFAID questions the validity of the consultations in Cameroon for the World Heritage Site nomination of the Tri-National de la Sangha (TNS) protected area

16 April, 2012

The Tri-National de la Sangha (TNS) is a protected area with a landscape approach spanning three countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR) and the Republic of Congo. In 2010, the three countries jointly nominated the area as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This nomination was considered by the World Heritage Committee in June 2011.