{"id":47572,"date":"2021-06-16T20:08:49","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T20:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev6.blazedream.in\/ICSF\/samudra\/recognize-rights-2"},"modified":"2021-08-19T08:49:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T08:49:06","slug":"recognize-rights-2","status":"publish","type":"samudra","link":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/samudra\/recognize-rights-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognize Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Document : Civil Society Statement<\/span><\/p>\n

Recognize Rights<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The following statement on implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Programme of Work on Protected Areas was delivered on 11 February 2008, at the 2nd Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Protected Areas, at Rome<\/span><\/p>\n

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This Statement was delivered by Chandrika Sharma<\/b> of ICSF on behalf of civil society organizations at a meeting on 11 February 2008 in Rome, Italy<\/span><\/p>\n

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As civil society organizations gathered at the 2nd Meeting of the CBD Working Group on Protected Areas, we express serious concern, in the context of protected areas, about the continued overall loss of biodiversity and the continued violation of human rights, and the lack of progress with achieving agreed targets to reduce and halt biodiversity loss. There remain serious threats from extractive and other industries such as logging, mining, and industrial agriculture\/fishing\/aquaculture, new processes such as the promotion of agrofuels, and other such factors that are drivers of biodiversity loss. The loss of biodiversity also continues to have serious impacts on the survival, livelihoods, and cultures of indigenous peoples and local communities. The <\/i>CBD parties must announce a moratorium on extractive and other industries in areas considered important for biodiversity conservation, and on territories of indigenous peoples and local communities without free prior informed consent. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, some the most effective means of reaching the targets to reduce and halt biodiversity loss remain neglected aspects of the CBD Protected Areas Programme of Work (PA POW). This includes, especially, the recognition and support of the rights and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities in community conserved areas and the rest of their traditional territories, and through the involvement and recognition of rights of such communities in the establishment and management of government protected areas. Destruction of biodiversity in the high seas also needs to be halted; the establishment of PAs in such areas needs to take into account the direct and indirect impacts on the rights and livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities, and be coherent with the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. Finally, in the move to establish protected areas as sites of special focus, there is neglect of the fact that the rest of the landscape continues to be degraded.<\/span><\/p>\n

We also point to the recently adopted United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The rights enshrined in this declaration should guide the implementation of the Programme of Work on PAs and all other aspects of the CBD. This is crucial because our experience shows that in most countries, protected areas continue to be established and run in violation of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, despite the commitment to change, which is embedded in the PA POW.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some progress<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

We recognize that there has been some progress on implementation of the PA POW, but our concerns remain on the following points: <\/span><\/p>\n