Supreme Court of Canada Grants Aboriginal title over Tsilhqot'in First Nation land

A Supreme Court of Canada decision has granted the Tsilhqot'in First Nation of British Columbia Aboriginal title over a wide area of traditional territory. The unanimous 8-0 decision, gives the Tsilhqot'in First Nation rights to more than 1,700 square kilometers of land. The group now has rights to the land, the right to use land and the right to profit from the land. Reports indicate that this is the Supreme Court's first on Aboriginal title, and can be used as a precedent wherever there are unresolved land claims.

In 2012, the B.C. Court of Appeal granted the Tsilhqot'in rights to hunt, trap and trade in its traditional territory, but agreed with both the federal and provincial governments that the Tsilhqot'in must indicate specific sites where its people had lived instead of claiming a broad area. The Tsilhqot'in criticized that initial decision, arguing that they had traditionally never resided permanently in one area of the land and that the government had failed to consider their traditional way of life.

This decision by the Supreme Court of Canada now requires governments to meet one of two criteria before conducting economic development on Aboriginal land.

Natural Justice holds BLINC Workshop in Bangalore

BLINC, a two day workshop-cum-exhibition organised by Natural Justice and designed by the LED Laboratory at the Srishti School of Art,  Design, and Technology, was held in Bangalore on June 27 and 28, 2014. BLINC’s vision is to bring Balance in the Landscapethough Imagination, Negotiation and Collaboration. The Workshop brought together NGOs, academics, activists, designers and individuals or groups interested in the overarching theme of ‘Asserting community rights over the environment’.

On Day 1, participants were introduced to a fictitious landscape called Ravalgaon, which is faced with several challenges that are commonly encountered by the participants at BLINC when they engage with local communities in their individual context areas. A visual representation of the landscape (the map) was then displayed. Participants were asked to pick a stakeholder from the map and put themselves in their shoes, in a process called ‘empathy walk’. 

Interestingly, participants picked stakeholders whose perspective they do not usually consider during the course of their work, such as the miners and corporations, in order to better understand their mindset. Some picked the represented communities, as they personally identified with the issues faced by them, and also in order to explore the push-and-pull relationship between the environment and the economy. One participant picked the forest because everything depends on it, while another picked agricultural land because organic farming is the future. The perspective of a priest in the local temple was picked to be an entry point into exploring the relationship between culture and religion with the environment.

The participants were then divided into three groups, and carried out an ‘affinity mapping’ exercise, whereby they identified stakeholder issues and clubbed issues together into broader themes based on similarities/affinities/consensus. 

The process was interactive and thought-provoking, and brought out some of the real-life dynamics of interactions between different stakeholders. The three groups then re-assembled, and discussed insights from their discussions, whereby several interesting pointers emerged, such as how addressing trust issues between different stakeholders is  key to productive dialogue, and how livelihoods can remain while culture can be dynamic and evolve through exposure to other environments, which may be a positive development, and the cathartic effects of migration.

Finally, the identified issues were brought within the three overarching themes of the BLINC conference:

• External and internal influences on communities
• Conservation and development desires
• Conflict transformation

New groups formed under each of these three themes, and proceeded to discuss each in detail. An exercise called the ‘five why’s’ was carried out, in order to arrive at the root of a specific issue under each theme. Groups were then asked to reflect on and critique the process followed by other groups, and their feedback was re-analysed by the original groups. After critical reflection, groups reflected on practical action steps that could be taken to address the issue identified, at the root.

On Day 2 of the workshop, the thematic groups reconvened and brainstormed further on solutions to specific issues faced in particular field contexts. Each group chose a specific issue in a particular context, and identified action steps to address it, using the approaches and themes identified at BLINC. Each group then presented their concrete action plans to all, along with realistic timelines, and legal and other tools to be employed, and gained feedback. This marked the end of the workshop.

The Natural Justice India team officially launched Guftagu, a website conceptualised as a platform to capture narrative pieces, photo stories, videos and interviews reflecting on the experiences of lawyers and other professionals working with communities. The website also has a separate tab dedicated to follow up articles emerging from the themes of the BLINC conference.

There was a public exhibition in central Bangalore where boards  were displayed to the general public, showcasing a short write-up and photos each, of the BLINC concept, the work of Natural Justice, the LED Lab, NJ’s local partner NGO’s, and other organisations which work with local communities.

FAO's State of the World's Forests 2014 Report Published

FAO has just published 'State of the World's Forests 2014'. The report – available here, along with various other briefs - looks a the potential that the world’s forests, trees on farms, and agroforestry systems have in supporting the livelihoods of rural people by providing employment, energy, nutritious foods and a wide range of other goods and ecosystem services. There has been a lack of clear evidence of this, which the report seeks to address by systematically gathering and analyzing available data on forests’ contributions to people’s livelihoods, food, health, shelter, and energy needs.

The report touches on a number of key issues:

• The importance of wood fuel:  Wood fuel, as a primary energy source for many (particularly rural) people, is highlighted in this edition, with a call for sustainable management -  as an alternative to the illegal wood fuel/charcoal trade;
• Improving access: 26 countries are engaging in tenure reform, mainly in support of local livelihoods. Securing tenure rights for investors is advanced later in the document as being essential to the flow of investments in the forestry sector;
• Creating enabling environments to encourage investments: The report specifically mentions IPs, stating the need for them to be involved in consultations. However, only Canada has a specific policy supporting IP investment in forest resources. There is a call for more support for local and indigenous investment;
• TK & Benefit sharing: A small number of countries address Forest TK in national forest policies, with some having already taken steps under the Nagoya Protocol on ABS, but progress is limited. The report calls for the development of ABS in partnership with communities, and measures to recognize the sociocultural dimensions of sustainable forest management;
• Ecosystem services and values of forests: The report mentions environmental accounting frameworks being developed by some countries, and the growth of PES. It recommends “stronger recognition of services provided by forests, and payment mechanisms to ensure sustainable provision", thus advancing the UN Green Economy agenda.

"Catching a Leopard by its Tail": SBSTTA 18 Wraps Up, Ahead of COP12

SBSTTA Chair Gemedo Dalle Tussie

The 18th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) closed on 28 June 2014 after six intensive days of discussions and negotiations among the Parties and observers. In keeping with the format first used at the SBSTTA 17 in October 2013, the CBD Secretariat developed official and information documents, but left the task of developing draft recommendation to committees convened during the meeting. As the Chair of SBSTTA Gemedo Dalle Tussie (Ethiopia) stated in opening the meeting, this format was akin to catching a leopard by the tail, and once you have done so, you must hold on tight.

Several major issues were on the agenda this year, including Item 3: Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO 4). The GBO 4 will be launched at this year’s COP. The GBO 4 concludes that while some progress is being made toward many of the Aichi Targets, they will not be reached by 2020, and we are actually moving away from several targets, in particular targets 4, 8, 10, 12, and 14. Item 4: Marine and Coastal Biodiversity included sub-item 4.1 on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs). Currently, the criteria for determining whether an area is an EBSA have a western scientific focus, although the draft recommendation on EBSAs does note the importance of traditional knowledge and calls for Indigenous and local communities to participate in the process. Item 5: Invasive Alien Species included sub-item 5.1 on Management of Risks Associated with Intro of Alien Species as Pets, Live Bait and Live Food. Notably, the draft recommendation for this agenda item includes voluntary guidelines to be known as "Guidance on devising and implementing measures to address the risks  associated  with the introduction of  alien species as pets, aquarium and  terrarium species, and as live bait and live food."

Item 6: New and Emerging Issues: Synthetic Biology, generated much debate during the plenary sessions. One of the major disagreements among countries is over whether synthetic biology can be considered a “new and emerging issue” that would bring it within SBSTTA's mandate. Some countries such as Brazil argued that synthetic biology does not satisfy the new and emerging issue criteria set forth in decision IX/29, while other such as Costa Rica argued that it was a new and emerging issue. Ultimately, the Parties decided to put the decision off to a later date, and the draft recommendation to COP suggests that synthetic biology be addressed at another SBSTTA meeting before COP 13. With regard to Item 8: Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), there still appears to be some questions on the part of the Parties as to how IPBES will coexist with SBSTTA. IPBES is certainly moving forward, however, and it has received funding from countries and is in the process of hiring experts to meet its deliverables.

Item 9: Issues in Progress included sub-items Items 9.1 and 9.2, which relate to developing deeper links between the biodiversity and climate change agendas. These items generated much debate, and the statements of many Parties indicated a general reluctance to integrate biodiversity and climate change, especially with regard to REDD and biodiversity safeguards. The draft recommendation does encourage Parties and invites other Governments to integrate ecosystem-based approaches into their national policies and programmes related to climate change adaptation, but otherwise much of the text is bracketed. Item 9.4 dealt with ecosystem restoration and conservation. The draft recommendation references ICCAs by inviting “Parties and other Governments, intergovernmental organizations and other relevant organizations: ... To support indigenous and local communities in their efforts to conserve biodiversity via mechanisms such as inter alia indigenous and local community conserved areas (ICCAs) with a view to contributing to the achievement of Aichi Biodiversity Targets 11, 13, 14, 16 and 18.”

Overall, while many important items were on the SBSTTA agenda this year, some of the big decisions, such as on synthetic biology and integrating biodiversity and climate change safeguards, do not look like they will be taken up at COP 12.

UN Human Rights Council Approves Resolution on Binding Standards for TNCs

The United Nations Human Rights Council has approved a resolution to start developing an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights. The resolution, presented by the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, South Africa, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, seeks to establish an intergovernmental working group with the mandate of developing an international legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations.

Despite intense opposition from several powerful countries, the resolution was finally adopted with 20 votes in favour, 14 against and 13 abstentions. All western states members of the Human Rights Council voted against the resolution. The majority of developing countries, including most of African states as well as China, India and Russia, voted in favour.

Mr. Melik Özden, Director of the Europe-Third World Centre(CETIM), an organization based in Geneva that has been fighting for many years for new binding norms, called it a “historic decision that can potentially contribute to end the impunity that transnational corporations too often enjoy for the human rights violations committed, in particular in developing countries, and ensure access to justice for the victims of their activities”.

The Working Group will hold its first session in 2015 to define the elements, the scope, the nature and the form of the future international instrument. While TNCs have a number of binding laws, mechanisms and instruments available to defend their interests, only voluntary codes of conducts and soft laws exist to control their impacts on human rights and ensure access to justice for the victims of their activities.

This development comes on the back of intense work over several months, during which hundreds of civil society organizations and social movements in the Global North as in the Global South have mobilized  actively to support the initiative, culminating in a meeting held in Geneva 23^rd – 27^th June in  Geneva, during which delegates from the Global South and representatives of the victims came to demand new binding norms to end corporate impunity.

Natural Justice and ICCA Host Side Event at SBSTTA 18

On June 26, 2014, Natural Justice and the ICCA Consortium held a side event during SBSTTA 18 on Indigenous peoples’ and community conserved territories and areas (ICCAs) and how they can help in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The side event focused in particular on Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), a type of ICCA that encompasses coastal and ocean territories and areas. This topic was particularly relevant given SBSTTA 18 Agenda Item 4 on marine and coastal biodiversity (link to agenda).

The side event featured two speakers, Onel Marsadule, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Indigenous Knowledge, and Taghi Farvar, President of the ICCA Consortium. Onel's presentation focused on the Kuna Yala people of Panama, whose territory includes a large marine ecosystem on Panama's Caribbean coast. Onel noted that the Kuna people have their own system of governance for the protection of marine and coastal biodiversity of their territory. For the Kuna, the importance of protecting marine resources and ecosystems is not only food dependency, but also on a holistic, cultural and spiritual relationship with the marine ecosystems. The Kuna have codified their customary laws into a written text, and one provision requires any project or activity affecting natural resources and biodiversity (which would include marine resources and biodiversity) to have an environmental impact study. He concluded by observing that it is essential to recognize indigenous resource management of marine ecosystems and called on Parties to strengthen customary laws and practices of conservation and traditional institutions.

Taghi discussed marine ICCAs in Iran, and highlighted the contribution that ICCAs can make to all of the Targets, in particular Target 11 regarding equitably managed areas. He noted several different kinds of marine ICCAs, which include coral reefs, mangrove forests, and coastal wetlands. Communities have used participatory mapping to identify ICCAs that include these and other marine features in the Persian Gulf & Oman Sea. Taghi also noted the ways in which communities in Iran have gone about obtaining recognition for their ICCAs. Rather than waiting for the government to recognize ICCAs, a bottom up assessment process has been developed to assess territorial, ecological and governance aspects of a potential ICCA. Once the assessment process has been completed, and the community has determined that an ICCA exists, that decision is then sent to the government to inform it of the community's decision. In this way, communities exercise control over the process and are actively involved, rather than waiting for the government to decide on classification.

Overall, the side event highlighted the importance of ICCAs to achieving the Aichi Targets, and made clear that ICCAs are important not just for terrestrial areas and territories, but marine and coastal ones as well.

Ninth Issue of [square brackets] Published

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the CBD Alliance have jointly produced the ninth issue of the [square brackets] newsletter to coincide with the recent meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice.

This issue of [square brackets] includes articles on coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean, implementation of Aichi Target 3 in the livestock sector (by Mia MacDonald and Simone Lovera), and biofuel subsidies, among others. The ninth issue of [square brackets] is available for download here.

Exploring the Oil Palm Landscape in the Telupid Forest Complex

Meeting participants in Telupid. Credit: Forever Sabah

Oil palm is one of the biggest commodities in Southeast Asia and is often considered the backbone of the Malaysian economy. However, it has also had an undeniable widespread impact on tropical forests and on the thousands of Indigenous peoples and communities who depend upon them for livelihoods and survival. At the same time, a growing number of communities have small-scale oil palm plantations and are seeking ways to balance environmental protection with income generation.

In the heart of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, the  25-year initiative Forever Sabah is working to bring together communities, smallholders, large oil palm companies, government agencies, and NGOs to address these and other issues in the Telupid Forest Complex. From 23-25 June, a multi-stakeholder team from PACOS Trust, LEAP, Natural Justice, the Drainage and Irrigation Department, and the Forestry Department held meetings with oil palm smallholders and with the managers of a large plantation with high conservation value areas and a mill, in order to identify constraints, bottlenecks, and opportunities for further improvement. An additional series of meetings is being planned for July to explore the issues in greater detail.

For more information, please see: http://forever-sabah.com/news/first-steps-in-telupid/ and follow Forever Sabah on Facebook.

18th Meeting of the CBD SBSTTA Begins in Montreal

23 June 2014 marked the opening day of the 18th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) in Montreal. Several critical issues are on the agenda this year as the Parties prepare for the 12th Conference of the Parties in South Korea in October. These issues include synthetic biology, marine and coastal biodiversity, the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4), invasive alien species, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and harmful incentives (link to meeting documents).

Synthetic biology is important for a number of reasons, including the potential for users to bypass the Nagoya Protocol through the transfer of digital information rather than genetic material itself. It is anticipated that countries in favor of synthetic biology will call for additional studies and argue that an agreed definition of the term is needed in order to delay any action on the matter by the CBD. However, several studies have already been undertaken, and extensive precedent exists for Parties entering into agreements despite a lack of of key terms being defined (i.e. the Cartagena Protocol). Marine and coastal biodiversity is also a key issue, and civil society has called for real action to address ocean acidification, underwater noise and marine debris.

Also of note is the ongoing preparation of the GBO-4, which will be launched at COP 12 and is currently open for comment until 9 July (although during the 1st plenary session some Parties asked for this date to be extended). GBO-4 includes extensive statistical analysis to predict the likelihood of achieving the Aichi Targets by 2020, and it concludes that while progress is being made toward achieving most of the Targets, most will not be achieved by 2020.

Natural Justice is attending SBSTTA 18 and will be monitoring the discussions throughout the week.

Community land rights in the “Zero Draft” of the Post-2015 Agenda

The Secretariat of the International Land Coalition together with various partners, including Natural Justice, has produced a technical brief with suggesting improved targets on land rights in the “zero draft” of the Open Working Group 12 on the Sustainable Development Goals (June 16-20). This brief complements a first input that builds on the consensus achieved through the Global Land Indicator Initiative.

The necessity for land-concerned organisations and delegations to voice their concern is the speed with which negotiations are advancing, coupled with the ever-present risk that even basic wording on land rights will be substantially eroded in the process.

Natural Justice at IDLO Roundtable at WGRI 5 on Legal Preparedness Regarding NBSAPs

On 21 June 2014, IDLO and the CBD Secretariat hosted a Roundtable on Legal Preparedness for Implementing and Mainstreaming National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). The event was designed to raise awareness of legal tools available to assist countries to use law to achieve the Aichi Targets and to allow Parties to share their experiences regarding implementation of their NBSAPs. Several countries shared their experiences, with many noting common themes such as inadequate awareness of legislation relevant to biodiversity; inadequate funding for biodiversity; and the related issue of difficulty with obtaining funds due to cost/benefit analysis that does not adequately capture the value of biodiversity.

Several organizations, including the ABS Capacity Building Initiative, the IUCN, and Natural Justice also gave interventions regarding their work. Jael Makagon highlighted the ICCA Legal Reviews coordinated by Natural Justice in 2012, noting that recognition of and respect for ICCAs is a way of achieving all of the Aichi Targets. While supportive formal law and implementation of law are crucial aspects of conserving and sustainably using biodiversity, achieving the Aichi Targets also needs institutional support as well. One way of doing so is for Parties to recognize and support ICCAs in their NBSAPs.

CBD Executive Secretary Braulio Dias provided closing remarks, noting that while the "political will" of government officials is important, the political will of society is even more important to put pressure on the government to achieve the goals of the CBD. He also highlighted the importance of governments partnering with communities to achieve the Aichi Targets, and hinted that the issue of traditional knowledge, which has been discussed for so many years at WIPO without much progress, will be taken up substantively at this year's Conference of the Parties.

New Report on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Forests and Climate Policies in Guyana

The Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) have published a new special report entitled ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Forests And Climate Policies In Guyana: A Special Report'. The report, edited by Kate Dooley and Tom Griffiths, highlights the vital need for good land tenure governance in the development of sustainable forest and climate initiatives.

One for the key findings, based on detailed fieldwork, is  that insecure land rights and gaps in national legal frameworks as they relate to indigenous peoples’ rights are a major obstacle to the effective and efficient implementation of national land use and climate policies in Guyana.

The authors call  for timely reforms and strengthening of national laws and policies to ensure proper protections for customary land rights and adherence to the core standard of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

The report also underlines the pressing need for robust measures by bilateral and multilateral international agencies to ensure compliance with their own safeguard policies in ongoing forest governance, livelihood, infrastructure, energy and climate programmes.

The Heroes Project: Character Design - Designing the Mantis

During his research period of The Heroes Project designer Abhishek Choudhury came across a lot of folktales which spoke of a trickster deity called /Kaggen in their stories. In folklore of the /Xam people, /Kaggen is seen as the most important deity as a trickster and a creator. /Kaggen is said to be a shape-shifting bushman shaman and often represented as a mantis. The bushman shamans often spoke about physical transformations and shape-shifting in the spirit realm. /Kaggen, the mantis, is said to be the one who created the moon and also the first Eland and other antelopes. In Phase 1, he did an analysis into the character of /Kaggen in an effort to understand the natural and cultural forces that could have moulded this character. More on the character design process.

The urgent need to protect and promote the human right to water in the UN Sustainable Development Goals

In response to the exclusion of the human right to water from the Zero Draft of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) published on June 2nd, recognizing the significance the SGDs will have on the UN development agenda for the next 15 years, and echoing civil society’s consistent demands for a rights-based framework of the SDGs, nearly 300 organisations, including Natural Justice, cosigned a letter titled, “The urgent need to protect and promote the human right to waterand sanitation in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

The letter emphasizes, “For the post-2015 development agenda to reach its objective of being just, people-centered, and sustainable, the goals must prioritize—for present and future generations—the human right to water for health, life, food, and culture over other demands on water resources. This is even more critical given the key role of water for achieving other sustainable development objectives such as sustainable energy and food production, gender equality, and climate change mitigation.”

The letter was drafted by the UN Open Working Group on SGDs and is being circulated among various organizations and stakeholders. All those interested are encouraged to forward the letter onto their government’s UN Ambassadors. Likewise, The Blue Planet Project and Mining Working Group at the UN are calling on water justice activists to tweet messages calling for the human right to water and sanitation to be included in the SDGs using the hashtags #OWG12, #SDGs and #right2water.