ICCA Kenya Committee hosts Coast Meeting

From December 9-10th the ICCA Committee in Kenya hosted a multi-stakeholder meeting in Ukunda along the Kenya coast. The objective of the meeting was to initiate discussions on the idea of ICCAs amongst a wide range of community members involved in local conservation initiatives. Participants of the meeting included representatives from conservancies, rangelands, Community Forest Associations (CFAs), Kayas (sacred forests) and Beach Management Units (BMUs) from all along the coastal region. As a member of the ICCA Committee in Kenya, Natural Justice was involved in the planning and coordination of the meeting. 

Some key points raised during the discussions included:

• The linkages between the conservation work communities are already engaging in and the concept of ICCAs. As community members, do we identify as ICCAs? Is there any difference between ICCAs and the work we are already doing? 
• Governance was determined to be a key point defining ICCAs. However, currently many communities might not have as much governance over their natural resources as they would like to. To this end, the idea of ICCAs as an aspirational term was brought forward. Not everyone here might embody perfectly all the characteristics of an ICCA right now, but these discussions provide a framework for communities to discuss, reflect and work towards certain objectives. Being an ICCA is a process. And it can empower communities to advocate for more governance. There is no ICCA that is absolutely self-governing as they are all subject to national law. 
• There is a great need for documentation, such as mapping and surveys. This would be useful to capture and preserve traditional knowledge and histories, but also to provide communities with a baseline and evidence as they attempt to engage with policy and face more and more challenges. 

Key challenges communities are facing:

Bwana Sururu of Kaya Muhaka explaining the
medicinal properties of the tree behind him

• Lack of capacity - in terms of skills to understand and comment on EIAs or Bills, and resources to enforce decisions that they make regarding the management of their protected area. In addition, when communities do attempt to engage with EIAs or legislative processes, they face many other hurdles - the comment periods are too short, the NEMA office will be closed for long hours or it is impossible to get a copy of the document in question. 
• Lack of transparent and consultative processes regarding the giving of permits or licenses (for example to fish, or harvest wood within a protected area), development or extractive projects, among others
• Poor enforcement of laws, often due to conflicts of interest - often representatives of the Fisheries Department or Forest Service do not support the community when complaints or requests are made. Later, communities have found that often there has been a conflict of interest as government officials also have commercial interests. 

There were also presentations on the Kenya Forests Bill and Community Land Bill, both of which will greatly affect many of the communities present. The two-day meeting finished with a field visit to a local Kaya (sacred grove).

Is Oil the End of Poverty in Kenya? Or are we seeing the new Scramble for Africa?

Map of Oil Exploration blocks in Kenya

From November 26-27th Maya Sikand from Natural Justice attended a seminar on the extractives industry in Kenya entitled, ‘Kenya’s new natural resource discoveries: Blessing or Curse?’ The meeting was co-hosted by the Tax Justice Network Africa, Econews Africa, East Africa Tax and Governance Network, Kenya Human Rights Commission and Kenya Oil and Gas Working Group. Attendees ranged from Civil Society representatives from Kenya, Ghana, DRC and Zambia among others, as well as members of the Turkana and Endorois communities.

Some of the key issues raised in the various panels and plenary discussions included: 

• Should Kenya sign up to the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI)? 
• Kenya’s development model. Extraction is an important pillar of Vision 2030, the current national economic model. To ensure this, the country has to work extremely hard to court Foreign Direct Investment. Should we be questioning this development investors and governments 
• The importance of land for Africans, it is not really possible to compensate someone for the loss of something that makes up their very identity. For this reason, the idea of Shareholding Ownership Schemes was suggested as a progressive model to structure community benefits. This has successfully been implemented in some mining areas in Zimbabwe. 
• Kenya’s development model. Extraction is an important pillar of Vision 2030, the current national economic model. To ensure this, the country has to work extremely hard to court Foreign Direct Investment. Should we be questioning this development model?
• There are over thirty communities in Kenya right now that have taken various projects within Vision 2030 to Court for disregard of proper legal processes, however there is limited legal capacity within communities to take these cases very far. 
• At the CSO level the lack of capacity to deal with these new and specialized issues is aggravated by the poaching of skilled people by industry. 
• There is a lack of linkage between the many Bills currently being discussed, leading to a fractured legal landscape that makes implementation even more difficult. 
• How should we extract? Rather than becoming another Nigeria, can Kenya learn from the lessons of Norway or the US? Others disagreed on whether Norway and the US even qualify as successful models, as they have outsourced many of the negative impacts of extraction to less developed countries. 
• There was a lot of emphasis on the need for Kenyans to learn from previous mining and oil experiences in Kenya, Africa and abroad to ensure that the right safeguards and practices are in place.

At the Extractives and the Environment group Natural Justice attended, some particular challenges concerning the environment discussed included: 

• Much of the planned extraction thus far will occur in extremely water-constrained environments. 
• Should the definition of ‘extractive industries’ expand to include practices like industrial agriculture or large-scale fishing? 
• Inter-generational equity – why must we exploit these natural resources immediately? Does it make more sense to build more capacity and infrastructure to manage the resources well first? This will ensure that negative effects are mitigated and allow Kenya to benefit more through value-addition. 
• The particular impact of the extractives on pastoralists is unique, and many international companies will not have come across this situation before. CSOs need to watch out for this and help them understand the relationship pastoralists have to the land. 
• The need for environmental education – many people at both the CSO and community level do not fully understand the environmental and health impacts of the extractives. 

The meeting concluded with strong words regarding the role and goals of CSOs and NGOs in Kenya. Several people asked, why aren’t people more angry? Others felt that to ensure institutions are accountable to citizens a fundamental change in power relations will be necessary. The meeting closed with a powerful reminder that this is the new scramble for Africa: over 2000 businessmen accompanied Obama on his last visit to Africa. Sarkozy recently remarked on how long the West has been ignoring Africa, but now it has finally entered history.

Asia-Pacific Preparatory Workshop for COP11 Concludes

From 9-12 July in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) served as a resource person for a preparatory workshop for representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities in Asia and the Pacific. The workshop was organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and hosted by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education (TEBTEBBA). The first two days of the workshop focused on:

• An introduction to the CBD and mechanisms for participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities, including the Voluntary Fund and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity;
• Articles 8(j) and 10(c), including draft Decisions arising from the 7th meeting of the Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions; and
• 2011-2010 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and Aichi Targets, with particular focus on Articles 11, 14, and 18.

The third day of the workshop was co-facilitated by Natural Justice and the CBD Secretariat and included presentations and group discussions on customary law; an introduction to biocultural community protocols and resource materials such as the toolkit for community facilitators; community experiences with developing and using protocols in Sabah (Malaysia), Sri Lanka, and Arunachal Pradesh (India); experiences with free, prior and informed consent and related national guidelines in the Philippines; and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. In addition to sharing their own experiences with similar processes, participants discussed a number  of key issues, including the importance of securing Indigenous peoples' territories and other fundamental rights (particularly those enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples); resolving conflict between customary laws and state laws; seeking partnerships with a range of different actors and engaging in national and sub-national decision-making processes; and demonstrating how Indigenous peoples and local communities are contributing to the implementation of international targets and obligations such as the Aichi Targets.

The fourth and final day of the workshop was facilitated by Gam Shimray (AIPP) and Joji Carino (TEBTEBBA) and focused on preparations and strategies for engaging in the 11th Conference of the Parties to the CBD, which will be held in October in Hyderabad.

Holly thanks AIPP, TEBTEBBA, the CBD Secretariat, and the workshop participants for a productive week and looks forward to further discussions and collaborations both in the region and internationally.

Asia-Pacific Preparatory Workshop for COP11 Begins

From 9-12 July in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is holding a workshop for representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities from Asia and the Pacific in preparation for the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP11). The provisional agenda includes an introduction to the CBD and mechanisms for participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities; Articles 8(j) and 10(c); the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan and Aichi Biodiversity Targets; the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing; and preparatory discussions for COP11 in October.

The workshop is co-hosted by the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education (TEBTEBBA) and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact. Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) is attending the meeting as a resource person, particularly on community protocols.