Meeting prep: WIN Conference

World Indigenous Network (WIN) Conference 2013
26-31 May 2013 (Darwin, Australia)

The WIN Conference will cover five themes with a range of topics relevant to indigenous and local community land and sea managers, including: territories, lands and waters; communities and relationships; cultures and knowledge; resources and livelihoods; and networks and exchanges. In addition, the following cross-cutting themes inform many of the Conference papers, presentations and break-out sessions: climate change adaptation; young indigenous people; gender-specific indigenous roles and responsibilities; the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Sessions will be webcasted. Visit the Conference website …

 

Meeting review: Global Land Forum 2013

Global Land Forum 2013
23-27 April 2013 (Antigua, Guatemala)

Members of the International Land Coalition (ILC) meeting at the Assembly following the Global Land Forum issued the Antigua Declaration, including a series of commitments related to securing tenure for responsible land governance. The declaration recognises the need for land to be looked at not just as a productive asset, but to be valued for the various functions that it plays, including cultural, spiritual and ecological functions; it highlights that land is a means of establishing the dignity and inclusiveness of people. A notion of territorial development that reflects this multiplicity of functions was the first element of consensus of ILC members. Consensus was also achieved concerning the idea that investment in land is indeed needed, but that models of investment should take into consideration the need to mobilize resources directly from smallholder farmers, as they are uniquely positioned to maintain the integrity of the land, taking into account territorial perspectives. Moreover, noting the impact of increased commercial pressures on land, the territories most at risk are those of indigenous peoples. The rights of indigenous peoples to protect their land must be defended, as land is the source of cultural identity. Through the declaration, ILC members have made the commitment to support indigenous peoples more effectively in their struggle for territorial rights and the protection of their environments. Other issues in focus during the forum included strong support for promoting women land rights and gender justice, denouncing all forms of human rights violations, the importance of environmental sustainability for achieving the right to food, and transparency and accountability in dealing with land issues. Read the ILC press release … Read the Antigua Declaration … Read the Global Land Forum Outcome Statement …

 

This week in review … Indonesia’s Constitutional Court returns customary forests to indigenous peoples

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court returns customary forests to indigenous peoples
REDD Monitor, 17 May 2013

JAKARTA, INDONESIA: On 16 May, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruled that indigenous peoples’ customary forests should not be classed as “State Forest Areas,” as provided by the country’s 1999 Forestry Law, which stated that “customary forests are state forests located in the areas of custom-based communities.” In accordance with the ruling, state forests in Indonesia no longer include customary forests. This is considered to be a landmark ruling and an important step for the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesia. Read the REDD Monitor article … Read a Mongabay article on the issue …

 

Resource: IIED report on collective trademarks and biocultural heritage in the Potato Park, Peru

Collective trademarks and biocultural heritage: towards new indications of distinction for indigenous peoples in the Potato Park, Peru
Alejandro Argumedo
IIED, March 2013 | ISBN 978-1-84369-907-1

This paper presents the experience of the Potato Park communities in Cusco, Peru, in applying for formal protection through a collective trademark, and also in adopting an informal trademark for their products and services. The process of registering the collective trademark brought to light the incompatibility of the registration requirements with Peruvian law on indigenous governance, and the application was unsuccessful. The Potato Park communities have instead opted to use their trademark informally, and it is now widely recognised as a distinctive symbol of the Park. A survey found that as well as raising prices and increasing sales, the mark has helped to ensure social cohesion. However, while the trademark is informal, it lacks protection. Furthermore, experience shows that existing intellectual property tools tend to be unsuitable for protecting communities’ collective intellectual property, and even “soft” intellectual property tools such as collective trademarks and geographical indications can be beyond the legal and financial capacity of remote rural communities. The report concludes with a proposal for an alternative indigenous “biocultural heritage indication” which could draw on geographical indications, design rights and unfair competition law. Such a tool could open up the current IPR system to rural communities, alleviating poverty while protecting traditional knowledge, and strengthening biological and cultural diversity. Download the report [pdf] …

 

Resource: WIPO-UNU paper on the role of customary law in ABS and TK governance

The Role of Customary Law in Access and Benefit-Sharing and Traditional Knowledge Governance: Perspectives from Andean and Pacific Island Countries
Brendan Tobin
WIPO and UNU, April 2013

This paper examines the relationships between customary law, national and international regulation of TK and access to genetic resources and-benefit sharing (ABS), and human rights. It is based upon a desktop analysis of these issues and the deliberations and conclusions of a series of regional and sub-regional workshops held in Andean and South Pacific Island countries between 2003 and 2006. Section I provides an overview of issues relating to protection of TK and recognition of customary law. Section II addresses international recognition of customary law, focusing on the work of the CBD and the WIPO IGC. Section III examines the protection of rights of TK holders under international human rights law. Section IV reviews the status of customary law in Andean and Pacific Island countries. Section V provides an overview of the debates and conclusions of the various workshops. Section VI presents the conclusions of the study and proposals for future action. Download the paper [pdf] …

 

This week in review … IACHR takes case involving Kuna and Emberá indigenous peoples in Panama to Inter-American Court

IACHR Takes Case Involving Panama to the Inter-American Court
OAS press release, 4 April 2013

WASHINGTON D.C., USA: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human rights in Case No. 12.354, Kuna Indigenous People of Madungandí and Emberá Indigenous People of Bayano and their members, Panama. The facts of this case refer to Panama’s failure to meet its obligation to provide the Kuna and the Emberá, and their members, with adequate, effective procedures for gaining access to their ancestral territories and for obtaining a response to the numerous complaints of third-party interference in their territories and natural resources. From the standpoint of the right to equal protection of the law and to non-discrimination, the sequence of violations committed against these two indigenous peoples constitutes a form of discrimination. This is seen in the application of laws that reflect an assimilationist policy that contributes to the violation of indigenous peoples’ right to property over their ancestral territories and natural resources.

Specifically, the case refers to the ongoing violation of the right to collective property of the Kuna and the Emberá, as a consequence of Panama’s failure to pay economic compensation stemming from the dispossession and flooding of the victims’ ancestral territories that began in 1969. The case also has to do with the lack of recognition, titling, and demarcation of the lands granted to the Kuna and the Emberá. Along with the breach of the State’s obligations concerning the collective property of indigenous peoples was a systematic disregard of numerous legal commitments made by the State as recently as 2010. In addition, Panama failed to comply with its obligations of prevention with respect to the invasion of colonists and illegal logging, as a corollary of its obligation to effectively protect the territory and natural resources of the Kuna and Emberá.

The IACHR believes that this case provides an opportunity for the Inter-American Court to analyze the scope and content of the obligation of compensation of indigenous peoples when it has been established that it is not possible to restore the lands and territories occupied and used by their ancestors. This case is also representative of the intrinsic relationship between the effective and timely fulfillment of the obligations to recognize, grant title to, demarcate, and delimit the lands and territories of indigenous peoples and the situation of vulnerability and defenselessness in the face of actions by third parties, with significant impacts on their traditional ways of survival and on their social and cultural life. Read the press release …

 

Resource: Manual on tenure rights and access to forests

Tenure rights and access to forests: a training manual for research
Part I: A guide to key issues
A.M. Larson, CIFOR, 2012 | ISBN: 978-602-8693-84-4

The first part of this guide has been created with the purpose of summarizing the most important aspects of forest tenure rights and access to resources, because of the relevance of these issues for research on forests. It also provides guidance on the selection of methods and tools for obtaining appropriate tenure-related information in research. It addresses tenure, the content of rights, tenure security and theoretical and policy approaches to property; the nature of tenure rights, including customary and informal ones; and other actors and variables, including the role of the state, competing interests in forests and forestland, the role of collective action, and issues of power and differentiation inside the communities. Download the publication [pdf] …

 

Resource: UN-REDD report on indigenous land rights and REDD+ in Mesoamerica

Tenure of Indigenous Peoples Territories and REDD+ as a Forestry Management Incentive – the case of Mesoamerican countries
Adriana Herrera Garibay, FAO
UN-REDD, October 2012

Published by the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), this report draws on case studies from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama to demonstrate how land tenure rights are linked to incentive mechanisms for good forestry management. The report specifically examines REDD+ and payments for ecosystem services, highlighting successful examples of payments for ecosystem services in Costa Rica and community forestry in Guatemala. The report concludes that criteria for successful incentive mechanisms include: the provision of clear economic incentives; the ability to demonstrate community and livelihood benefits; ethnic belonging and associated agreement on resource use rules; and a strong sense of community or communal living. It further examines Mesoamerican advances in recognizing indigenous territorial rights and environmental policies, including development of land tenure institutions and legislation in the region, as well as opportunities and limitations for REDD+ processes in the indigenous forest territories of Mesoamerica. Among the conclusions, it is stated that efforts to implement free, prior and informed consent with indigenous peoples will not be entirely successful unless accompanied by measures to strengthen trust in and legitimacy of government actions within indigenous territories. In addition, the experiences of payments for ecosystem services and regularization and tenure over land and natural resources have shown the need to strengthen governance within the territories. Particular emphasis should be placed on communication processes for the entire population; the development of internal statutes or regulations to support local self-regulation practices for territorial management; and organizing land planning in a participatory way. Download the publication [pdf] …