“If Indigenous Peoples hold 25 per cent of lands and territories – who’s 30 per cent are they conserving?”
Indigenous Peoples are being side lined at High Level UN meetings taking place this month in New York, in an ongoing pattern that threatens their rights, say Indigenous leaders.
Absence from decision making will allow Indigenous Peoples to be removed from their territories under the 30 x 30 project, for example, and for extractive companies to exploit natural resources in territories which are currently recognised as pristine and biodiverse.
Dr Roberto Mukaro Agüeibaná Borrero, honoris causa, and interim executive director at Tribal Link is among those who fear their recommendations will not be incorporated into final decisions by the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The lack of representation contributes to ongoing land grabs and displacement, he says.
“We’re supposed to have time during these High Level Political Forum sessions to make statements,” he says. “The States and other members get pushed through and contributions from Indigenous Peoples are left to the end, by which time the conversation is pretty much over.
“There’s no tangible way to see how our input is being recorded by the chairperson, or an understanding of how our views get reflected in the outcome report. These things need to be discussed. It always seems that we are brought in last.
“We are not viewed as partners even though it’s said that we are. The reality is they are not viewing us, in some cases, as trading partners, in government-to-government relationships.
They often come to us after the conversation or planning has started. They’ll try and fit us in as an afterthought.
“There are some cases where people try to reach out at the beginning. But even then, we wonder where we can include our views, or be an effective part of outcomes.”
Dr Borrero says the approach opens the door to systematic dismantling of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
“The UN keeps saying that Indigenous Peoples have a special relationship with the earth, ‘We need a special relationship with Indigenous Peoples; they are the ones conserving 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity etc’,” he says
“Yeah, all that’s wonderful but they keep encroaching on lands, they keep coming up with development schemes that violate human rights. They don’t go into consultations or engage in a process of free, prior and informed consent.
“They’re saying they want to preserve 30 per cent of the earth’s resources for the betterment of mankind, under this new 30×30 pledge. But if Indigenous Peoples are holding 25 per cent of the world’s lands and territories where 80 per cent of the world’s pristine biodiversity is – who’s 30 per cent are they going to be conserving?
“Are they just going to continue to take over our land and protected areas, like what we see in Tazania at the moment? There they have just dedicated another major park and they’re evicting Maasai people really brutally.
“Moving toward this ‘protected land’ idea when Indigenous Peoples have been living there – already noted for the biodiversity and their stewardship. Yet they’re being kicked out to ‘protect’ the animals and land, when Indigenous Peoples have already been doing that.
“These initiatives like 30×30 have the potential to be another large scale land grab from Indigenous Peoples.
“Without language in UN documents that protects rights and present safeguards in these instances of nominating protected areas, we’re going to continue to see a downward spiral.
“From what we’ve seen, many of these protected areas could still be open for leases to extractive industries. All that means is there aren’t Indigenous Peoples left on the ground to protest any more, and assigning these leases becomes the sole purview of governments. For the full story, visit QUOTA Author: Lise Colyer
Date: July 18, 2022
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