BIOPAMA Programme Inception Workshop

© Jim Thorsell

The BIOPAMA (Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management) Programme started at a global inception workshop held at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. Over fifty programme partners and experts participated in the workshop to better understand the project’s aims and contribute to programme planning. The programme will be implemented in two components, one focused on Protected Areas and the other on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The Protect Areas component will be managed jointly by IUCN and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre while the ABS component will be managed by GIZ’s ABS Capacity Development Initiative. 

The project will establish regional observatories to adapt the project to regional contexts and facilitate dialogue between local, national, regional and international stakeholders. According to IUCN’s press release, the project will make better use of data on biodiversity and socio-economic issues to “enhance the understanding of the ecological and human factors that influence the management of protected areas. Regional capacity building programmes will be developed in partnerships with existing institutions, such as regional training centres and universities. These programmes will involve updating and expanding curricula on conservation and protected areas, developing tool kits to solve priority regional issues, training of decision makers, protected area staff, and others. The observatories will build on global efforts for collecting data, directly from the ground, from national services, and from international institutions holding relevant information on biodiversity, pressures and threats. They will have the general mandate of ensuring the awareness and effective buy-in to the necessity to maintain efforts on biodiversity conservation of political institutions of the three regions.” 

Read more the BIOPAMA Programme and the inception workshop here.

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New Website on India's Forest Rights Act

Via fra.org.in/

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a vital tool for communities in India to claim restitution for the deprivation of forest rights and begin to undo the historic injustices done to these communities. Unfortunately, implementation of the Act has been limited. To support communities and their allies to proactively claim the rights granted to them by the Forest Rights Act, an Orissa-based non-profit, Vasundhara, has developed and launched a website on the Act.

The website, fra.or.in, includes well labelled links to general information on the Forest Rights Act and resources on how to use and understand the Act. The resources include a Citizen’s Report on the Act, national and state orders and circulars, guidelines, and background on community forest rights.

The Act can be accessed in English here and Odia here. The website can be accessed here.

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Manila Declaration on ICCAs

Signing of the Manila Declaration via iccaforum.org

The “Nature in the Footsteps of Our Ancestors” Conference in the Phillipines, attended by leaders of indigenous communities, government representatives, local and international NGOs and UN agencies in Manila over the 29-30 March, 2012, adopted the Manila Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs). The adoption of the declaration was the culmination of three sub-national workshops held in November, 2011, which engaged over 100 indigenous leaders on the status of ICCAs, the importance of intellectual property (IP) rights in ICCA processes and the threats the leaders’ communities face. 

This broad engagement with community leaders is reflected in the text of the Declaration. The Declaration seeks to guide government and other actors in how to appropriately recognise and engage with ICCAs. Among other things, it asks government to “support the indigenous peoples’ capability to manage their ICCAs... [and] do not invent new systems or processes from somewhere else that will undermine them.” 

Please read the full text of the declaration here. The press release offers more context and can be found here. Find more community declarations here.

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Supporting Bhutan's ABS Policy Drafting Process

Kabir Bavikatte from Natural Justice and Morten Tvedt from the Fridjof Nansen Institute were in Bhutan from the 28th of March to the 7th of April to provide legal assistance to the Bhutan's National Biodiversity Centre (NBC) to develop Bhutan's Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Policy. Bhutan, which is a signatory to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, began the process of developing its national ABS Policy in April 2011 with the assistance of Kabir and Morten. The multi-stakeholder consultation in April 2011 led to a draft national ABS Policy. 

The national ABS Policy has been through a number of public consultations since, most recently in Central and Southern Bhutan. Kabir and Morten were involved in some of these consultations assisting the NBC in a re-draft of the ABS policy based on the inputs from these consultations. The NBC will conduct further community consultations on the Policy in the East of Bhutan after which the draft ABS policy will be presented to the Gross National Happiness Commission and the Cabinet of Bhutan for approval. The Policy, if it is approved, is likely to become one of the most innovative ABS policies in the world as it will ensure the conservation and sustainable use of Bhutan's biodiversity while foregrounding the social, spiritual and economic wellbeing of Bhutan's communities.

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New Book on Extractive Industries, Indigenous Peoples, MNCs and States

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development has released a new book titled "The Politics of Resources Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations, and the State" by Terence Gomez and Suzana Sawyer. 

From the website, "International institutions, including the United Nations and World Bank, and numerous multinational companies (MNCs) have voiced concern over the adverse impact of resource extraction activities on the livelihood of indigenous communities. Yet the scale and scope of problems confronting indigenous peoples caused by mineral extraction projects endorsed by governments, international agencies and MNCs is monumental. This raises a paradox: Despite the burgeoning number of international charters and national laws asserting the rights of indigenous peoples, they find themselves subjected to discrimination, dispossession and racism. The authors explore this paradox by examining mega resource extraction projects in Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chad and Cameroon, India, Nigeria, Peru and the Philippines."

Read more here.

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NGT Cancels Clearance for Orisha Steel Plant

Photo credit: green.in.msn.com

India’s National Green Tribunal cancelled clearance for a major South Korean steel plant in Orisha on Friday. The steel plant was being constructed despite a committee of enquiry constituted by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) finding that environmental and forest clearance permits had been illegally issued. Communities continued to protest the plant in the face of numerous arrests. 

The National Green Tribunal has directed that a ‘fresh review of the project’ be undertaken before any clearance to proceed with construction is issued. Key issues to be considered in this review are water, pollution, impact on surrounding wetlands and mangroves, and cyclone risk. Please read more about the cancelled clearance here. 

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Gaharu for Social and Ecological Justice

Harry Jonas of Natural Justice spent the day with Dr. Anthony Tibok (pictured) in Kuala Penyu, Sabah. Dr Tibok demonstrated how growing Agarwood (a type of tree) in community forests promotes the conservation of forests while providing community members a good revenue stream. Gaharu, a resin produced by the tree, is prized for its aromatic qualities and is highly sought after in, among other places, the Middle East. Interestingly, Gaharu grows best in shaded areas, making it ideal for growing in pre-existing forests. It therefore provides a very useful crop to communities who are keen on keeping their forests standing but also seek to generate an extra income. More information on Gaharu is available here. Harry thanks Anthony for a fascinating day.

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