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	Indigenous Communities want stake in new deal to protect nature by Busani Bafana Inter Press Service, IUCN, agencies   June 2022   In early June 2022, more than 30 people from the Maasai community in the Loliondo division in Tanzania’s northern Ngorongoro District were reportedly injured, and one person died following clashes with security forces over the demarcation of their ancestral lands for a new game reserve.   According to human rights organisations, the Maasai community was blocking eviction from its grazing sites at Lolionda over the demarcation of 1,500km of the Maasai ancestral land, which the government of Tanzania has leased as a hunting block to a United Arab Emirates company.   The eviction of the Maasai is a realisation of fears indigenous communities have about the loss of their ancestral lands under the ‘30by30’ plan proposed in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).   The plan calls for conserving 30 percent of the earth’s land and sea areas. Close to 100 countries have endorsed the science-backed proposal to protect 30 percent of the planet by 2030, which is target 3 of the 21 targets in the GBF.   Indigenous communities worry that the current plan does not protect their rights and control over ancestral lands and will trigger mass evictions of communities by creating protected areas meant to save biodiversity.   The fourth meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework opened in Nairobi, Kenya, this week (June 21-26), hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The meeting is expected to negotiate the final new pact for adoption at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, which includes the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Montreal, Canada in December 2022.   Human rights in the deal for nature   Indigenous groups are calling for a human-rights approach to conservation and strengthening of community land tenure. They emphasise that the international pact to stop and reverse biodiversity loss should include indigenous communities like the Maasai.   “We are highlighting the situation with the Maasai in Tanzania as an example of what should not be happening anymore, and the best way to avoid this is to ensure that there is a human rights language in the post-2020 framework,” Indigenous lawyer and global policy expert Jennifer Corpuz, a Kankana-ey Igorot from the Philippines and a member of the International Indigenous Forum for Biodiversity (IIFB) told IPS.   “In particular, we identify target 3 of the framework, which is area-based conservation and the proposal to expand the coverage of the areas of land and sea that are protected. It is important to have the rights of indigenous people and local communities recognised,” Corpuz noted.   Corpuz said there is growing recognition among scientists about the importance of traditional knowledge and how it can guide decision-making on climate change and biodiversity, as well as the participation of indigenous people in biodiversity monitoring, which are the focus of targets 20 and 21 of the framework.   The CBD COP15 is expected to take stock of progress towards achieving the CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, as well as decide on a new global biodiversity framework negotiated every ten years. The CBD is an international treaty on natural and biological resources ratified by 196 countries to protect biodiversity, use biodiversity without destroying it, and equally share any benefits from genetic diversity.   Indigenous leaders say the evidence is clear about the role of indigenous communities in biodiversity protection following recent reports produced by the Nairobi-based UNEP and other conservation organisations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).   “Achieving the ambitious goals and targets in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework will not be possible without the lands and territories recognised, sustained, protected, and restored by [Indigenous peoples and local communities],” the report noted.   Under siege worldwide, from the rainforests of the Amazon and the Congo to the savannahs of East Africa, indigenous communities could continue to play a protective role, according to their leaders and scientists whose work supports the quest of indigenous peoples to control what happens on their territories.   Biodiversity in extinction   A landmark report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), has warned that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. The assessment report noted that at least a quarter of the global land area is traditionally owned, managed, and used by indigenous peoples.   “Nature managed by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities is under increasing pressure but is generally declining less rapidly than in other lands – although 72% of local indicators developed and used by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities show the deterioration of nature that underpins local livelihoods,” the report noted. It highlighted that the areas of the world projected to experience significant adverse effects from climate change, ecosystem functions and nature’s contributions to people are also areas in which large concentrations of Indigenous Peoples and many of the world’s poorest communities live.   Experts have warned that the success of the post-2020 GBF depends on adequate financing to achieve the targets and goals in the framework.   The finance component needs more attention, political priority and progress, Brian O’Donnell, Director, Campaign for Nature, told a media briefing alluding to the last framework that failed to reverse biodiversity loss because of a lack of financial commitment.   “This is no time for half measures. This is the time for bold ambition by governments around the world… We think a global commitment of at least one percent of GDP is needed annually to address the biodiversity crisis, that is the level of crisis finance that we need to materialise, and parties need to commit to that level by 2030,” O’Donnell said.   “We feel wealthy countries need to increase the support for developing countries in terms of investing at least 60 billion annually into biodiversity conservation in the developing world.”   http://www.ipsnews.net/2022/06/indigenous-communities-want-stake-new-deal-protect-nature/ http://www.iucn.org/news/commission-environmental-economic-and-social-policy/202106/state-indigenous-peoples-and-local-communities-lands-and-territories http://www.iccaconsortium.org/index.php/news/   http://www.iucn.org/crossroads-blog/202207/applying-lessons-climate-change-halting-biodiversity-loss http://www.iucn.org/blog/202206/practice-what-you-preach-have-biodiversity-negotiations-forgotten-urgency-act http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/   * International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Approves Indigenous Peoples’ Global Call to Action to Protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025 to Avoid Catastrophic “Tipping Point” of No Return:   http://amazonwatch.org/news/2021/0910-iucn-approves-indigenous-peoples-global-call-to-action-to-protect-80-of-the-amazon-by-2025 http://amazonia80x2025.earth/ http://www.iucn.org/news/202207/regional-workshop-governance-management-and-indigenous-territorial-law-concludes-view Visit the related web page
	End violence against indigenous women and girls by Reem Alsalem OHCHR, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs   June 2022   End violence against indigenous women and girls. (OHCHR)   Indigenous women and girls face grave, systematic, and continuous acts of violence that permeate every aspect of their lives while perpetrators enjoy alarming levels of impunity, a UN expert said.   “This violence is rooted in historic and unequal patriarchal power structures, racism, exclusion, and marginalisation enabled by a legacy of colonialism,” said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in a report to the Human Rights Council.   “The level of impunity that perpetrators, both State and non-State actors, enjoy is alarming, and the scale and seriousness of violence experienced by indigenous women and girls are inadequately reflected in data collection, legislation, or public policies,” Alsalem said.   Although the right of indigenous women and girls to be free from violence is enshrined in international law, this has not materialised into effective prevention and protection measures by States, the Special Rapporteur said.   Alsalem’s report presents an overview of the main causes and consequences of gender-based violence against indigenous women and girls. It highlights good practices and challenges to their access to justice and support services.   Indigenous women and girls experience systemic discrimination in indigenous and non-indigenous justice systems and confront major barriers in accessing justice, the report said. It called on States to review the interplay of laws between the nation state and indigenous communities to ensure that violence is prevented.   The UN expert warned that the legal lacuna and grey zones on human rights accountability of non-State actors contribute to promoting violence against indigenous women and girls.   “Where violence occurs, it must be addressed effectively to end impunity that exists for these crimes,” Alsalem said. “This violence occurs with the full knowledge and often the tacit agreement and support of States,” she said.   Alsalem’s report also provides recommendations for States and other stakeholders to implement policy and legal reforms that will protect the right of indigenous women and girls to a life free from violence.   “Indigenous women and girls must be entitled to full, equal and effective participation that goes beyond lip service and sees them as resilient actors rather than only as survivors of violence,” she said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/06/end-violence-against-indigenous-women-and-girls-un-expert   May 2022   Indigenous World 2022. (IWGIA)   The Indigenous World is the unique result of a collaborative effort between Indigenous and non-indigenous activists and scholars who voluntarily document and report on the situation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights.   This yearly overview serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced throughout 2021, covering 60 countries.   The Indigenous World 2022 adds not only documentation, but also includes a special focus on the contribution and situation of Indigenous women and their rights around the world. Indigenous women play crucial roles in their communities as breadwinners, caretakers, knowledge keepers, leaders and human rights defenders.   While Indigenous women have made small, but significant progress in being part of decision-making processes in some communities, risen to leadership in communal and national roles, and stood on the protest frontlines to defend their lands and the planet’s decreasing biodiversity; the reality remains that Indigenous women are massively under-represented, disproportionately negatively affected by the decisions made on their behalf without their valuable input, and are too frequently the victims of intersectional discrimination and multiple expressions of violence and sexual assault.   http://iwgia.org/en/resources/indigenous-world.html http://iwgia.org/en/ Visit the related web page
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