Resolution: Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention

Adopted on 15 September 2012

IUCN World Conservation Congress, Jeju, Korea, 6-15 September 2012

RECALLING the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 13 September 2007 and its endorsement by IUCN at the 4th World Conservation Congress through Resolution 4.052 Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Barcelona, 2008);

ALSO RECALLING Resolution 4.048 Indigenous peoples, protected areas and implementation of the Durban Accord, which resolves “to apply the requirements of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the whole of IUCN’s Programme and operations” and calls on governments “to work with indigenous peoples’ organizations to… ensure that protected areas which affect or may affect indigenous peoples’ lands, territories, natural and cultural resources are not established without indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent and to ensure due recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in existing protected areas”;

REAFFIRMING Resolution 4.056 Rights-based approaches to conservation, and Recommendation 4.127 Indigenous peoples’ rights in the management of protected areas fully or partially in the territories of indigenous peoples and numerous other Resolutions which demonstrate IUCN’s commitment to a rights-based approach to protected areas establishment and management;

NOTING that the World Heritage Convention is celebrating its 40th anniversary under the theme “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communities”;

FURTHER NOTING that the World Heritage Convention can and has played a leadership role in setting standards for protected areas as a whole and that World Heritage sites with their high visibility and public scrutiny have the potential to act as “flagships” for good governance in protected areas;

RECOGNIZING the potentially positive role that the World Heritage Convention can and has played in ensuring and supporting the continued preservation of the traditional lands and territories of indigenous peoples, and WELCOMING Decision 35 COM 12E (2011) of the World Heritage Committee, which encourages States Parties to the World Heritage Convention to “Respect the rights of indigenous peoples when nominating, managing and reporting on World Heritage sites in indigenous peoples’ territories”;

ACKNOWLEDGING that injustices to indigenous peoples have been and continue to be caused in the name of nature conservation, and that indigenous peoples have suffered dispossession and alienation from their traditional lands and resources as a result of the establishment and management of protected areas, including many areas inscribed on the World Heritage List;

NOTING that the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (herein “African Commission”) have all expressed concerns that current procedures and mechanisms are inadequate for ensuring that the rights of indigenous peoples are respected in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, and have called on UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee to review and revise current procedures and operational guidelines;

IN PARTICULAR NOTING the African Commission’s Resolution on the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of the World Heritage Convention and the designation of Lake Bogoria as a World Heritage site (ACHPR/Res.197 (L) 2011) which reaffirms the Commission Decision on Communication 276 / 2003 – Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v Kenya (Endorois Decision) and highlights the traditional ownership rights of the Endorois over Lake Bogoria;

SHARING the African Commission’s concerns that Lake Bogoria National Reserve was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2011 without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous Endorois people and “that there are numerous World Heritage sites in Africa that have been inscribed without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples in whose territories they are located and whose management frameworks are not consistent with the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”;

RESPONDING to the African Commission’s recommendation urging IUCN to “review and revise its procedures for evaluating World Heritage nominations as well as the state of conservation of World Heritage sites, with a view to ensuring that indigenous peoples are fully involved in these processes, and that their rights are respected, protected and fulfilled in these processes and in the management of World Heritage areas;”

The World Conservation Congress at its 5th Session in Jeju, Korea, 6–15 September
2012:

1. REQUESTS the Council and Director General to:
a. develop clear policy and practical guidelines to ensure that the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are respected in IUCN’s work as an Advisory Body to the World Heritage Committee, and to fully inform and consult with
indigenous peoples when sites are evaluated or missions are undertaken on their
territories;
b. actively promote and support the adoption and implementation of a rights-based approach to conservation by the World Heritage Committee and to promote the principles and goals of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

2. URGES the World Heritage Committee to:
a. review and revise its procedures and Operational Guidelines, in consultation with indigenous peoples and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, to ensure that Indigenous Peoples’ rights and all human rights are upheld and implemented in the management and protection of existing World Heritage sites, consistent with the principles and goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, and that no World Heritage sites are established in indigenous peoples’
territories without their free, prior and informed consent;
b. work with State Parties to establish mechanisms to assess and redress the effects of
historic and current injustices against indigenous peoples in existing World Heritage
sites;
c. establish a mechanism through which indigenous peoples can provide direct advice to
the Committee in its decision-making processes in a manner consistent with the right of
free, prior and informed consent and the right to participate in decision-making as
affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

3. CALLS UPON State Parties to the World Heritage Convention to ensure respect for the rights of indigenous peoples in the management and protection of existing World Heritage sites, and to ensure that no World Heritage sites are established in indigenous peoples’ territories without their free, prior and informed consent;

4. URGES the Government of Kenya to ensure the full and effective participation of the
Endorois in the management and decision-making of the “Kenya Lake System” World Heritage area, through their own representative institutions, and to ensure the implementation of the African Commission’s Endorois Decision.

Sponsor: Forest Peoples Programme (UK)

Co-sponsors: Both ENDS (Netherlands); Keystone Foundation (India); The Samdhana Institute (Indonesia); Asociacion Sotz’l (Guatemala); The Christensen Fund (USA); Nederlands Centrum voor Inheemse Volken – NCIV (Netherlands); Staatbosbeheer / Netherlands National State Forest Service (Netherlands); International Indian Treaty Council (USA)*; Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee – IPACC (Africa)*; Center for International Environment Law – CIEL (USA)*

Endorsements by non-IUCN indigenous peoples’ organizations (and indigenous support
organizations):

Global: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs; Minority Rights Group nternational (UK); Tebtebba Foundation (Philippines)

Americas: Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas – ECMIA (Regional); Red de Mujeres Indigenas Sobre Biodiversidad de America Latina / Latin American Network of Indigenous Women for Biodiversity (Regional); Chirapaq, Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú (Peru); Cultural Survival (USA); Indigenous World Association (USA); Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (Canada); Organización Indígena Kus-Kurá S.C. (Costa Rica); Asociación de Abogados y Abogadas de Derecho
Indígena – AADI (Argentina)

Africa: Endorois Welfare Council (Kenya); Tanzania Network for Indigenous Pastoralists – TANIPE (Tanzania); Pastoralists Indigenous NGOs Forum – PINGOs Forum (Tanzania); Centre for Minority Rights Development Kenya (CEMIRIDE); Unissons Nous Pour la Promotion des Batwa – UNIPROBA (Burundi); Okani Association (Cameroon); Programme d’Intégration pour le Développement des pygmées du Kivu – PIDP-KIVU (DRC); Confédération des Associations Amazighes du Sud Maroc – Tamunt n Iffus,
(Morocco)

Asia: Asian Indigenous Women’s Network (Regional); Lumad Mindanaw Peoples Federation – LMPF (Philippines); Council of the Derepa te Erumanen ne Menuvu’ of Central Mindanao (Philippines); DAMAAN Development Organization, Pakistan; Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago / Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara – AMAN (Indonesia); Gema Alam West Nusa Tenggara (Indonesia); Centre
for Organisation Research & Education – CORE (India); Cordillera Peoples Alliance (Philippines); Council of the Derepa te Erumanen ne Menuvu’ of Central Mindanao (Philippines) Pacific: Rapa Nui Parliament (Rapa Nui / Easter Island); Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (Australia); Na Koa Ikaika KaLahui Hawaii; Network of the Indigenous Peoples Solomons – NIPS (Solomon Islands)

Europe: Grupo Intercultural ALMACIGA (Spain); Saami Council; Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North – RAIPON (Russia)

• Received after the cut-off for formal sponsorship