For nearly 30 years we have worked alongside indigenous organisations and forest communities to advocate for their rights, and promote an alternative vision of how forests should be managed. In this time, we have seen how the tenacity and long-term vision of forest peoples has changed international conservation practice, set legal precedents, and gained recognition for the importance of forests and how the rights of communities should be upheld.
This is the first international coordinating body of indigenous peoples to summarise and present the views and perspectives of indigenous peoples in international fora and meetings. Forest Peoples Programme acts as the incubating secretariat for the Alliance.
Indigenous activists from around the world established the IIFB, a key body presenting the rights and interests of indigenous peoples in the deliberations of the Convention on Biological Diversity, at the 3rd Conference of the parties held in Argentina. The IIFB remains a major coordinating body for indigenous rights to this day.
Under the banner of ‘People and Parks’, the World Parks Congress in Durban endorsed the ‘Durban Accord’, marking a significant shift in the conservation world’s approach to the rights and interests of people impacted by the creation of protected areas, and highlighting the important roles that indigenous and forest peoples play in effective conservation.
Working with indigenous movements, FPP helped ensure FPIC is a fundamental principle in RSPO and other processes. The publication ‘In Search of Middle Ground’, examined how legal & policy frameworks in India, Indonesia, Venezuela & Guyana deal with indigenous peoples and the extent to which they offer scope for true FPIC.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that Suriname had violated the human rights of 130 people from the Maroon village of Moiwana, a culmination of a legal challenge brought by FPP and partners working together since 1997. The Suriname Government were ordered to return the lands to the community, apologise to them, and develop a $1.2 million community fund.
The IFC adopts new social and environmental safeguard policies, including for projects impacting on indigenous peoples and their rights. For the first time in IFC history, the indigenous peoples safeguard now requires securing the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples before projects are approved.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly after years of global campaigning by organisations including FPP. The Declaration outlines the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing discrimination against them. It is a key milestone in the international recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples.
FPP and partners established the Whakatane Mechanism at IUCN’s Sharing Power conference. The Whakatane Mechanism aims to assess how protected areas are affecting local people and proposes solutions where there are problems. It also aims to identify and support protected areas that recognise the role of indigenous peoples’ in preserving biodiversity.
Leaders of the Wapichan launched their territorial management plan at a public event in the capital of Guyana. They presented a community map of their traditional lands and a plan for care of their territory & resources, including customary laws, sustainable land use, and conservation of cultural heritage and wildlife sites. FPP contributed technical, planning & facilitation assistance.
The Wampis communities came together to form a territorial government to secure control and protection of their land & resources. With FPP support, they secured a legal framework to govern based on principles of FPIC, collective well-being, and a harmonious relationship with the natural world. Their 1st resolution declared their 1.3 million ha ancestral territory as an integrated territory.
CBD COP13, Mexico: FPP, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and the CBD Secretariat presented Local Biodiversity Outlooks. This landmark publication included case studies from around the globe, and represented the first step in a plan to collect data on the work being carried out on all 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets by indigenous peoples and local communities globally.
A report on potential reforms to global supply chains to tackle forest loss and uphold human rights. It is aimed at forest policy makers, governments, businesses and others developing policies, standards and initiatives. It synthesises findings from case studies on forest peoples’ rights and tropical deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Guyana, Liberia, Cameroon & DR
