Protecting nature, culture and people

Indigenous peoples' traditional ownership and use of land and resources has often been eroded by protected areas. Their consent has rarely been sought for establishing protected areas on their lands, nor have they received adequate compensation. But are conservation organisations and government protected area agencies beginning to recognise the important role these peoples can play?

It is possible that more than 50 percent of existing protected areas have been established on the ancestral lands of indigenous and other traditional peoples. While no complete data exists, there is little doubt that the impacts of protected areas have often been harmful:

• Restricting access to land and resources causes deprivation and marginalisation.
• Protected area management systems have removed traditional authorities and institutions.
• Indigenous communities experience poverty and food insecurity from loss of access to resources, relocation to marginal areas or emigration to cities.
• Violence has been used to force people to accept new rules restricting access to resources.
• Negative cultural impacts include the loss of indigenous knowledge about managing environmental resources.

Protected areas can, in certain conditions, cause social exclusion. They do not create it - social exclusion is rooted in broader social and economic systems - but have been used to advance and justify it. For example, the Sri Lankan government denied the remaining Wanniyala-Aetto (Veddah) communities access to the last patch of tropical dry zone forest in Maduru Oya National Park relocating them to 'rehabilitation' villages. This was not an isolated protected areas policy but part of a broader policy of forced assimilation of the Veddahs into mainstream society.

Yet, protected areas can benefit local users and inhabitants by protecting their lands and resources from external threats: in Venezuela, the Alto Orinoco Biosphere Reserve has helped protect the traditional territory of the Yanomami and Yekuana Indians against developmental pressures.

Cultural awareness is crucial. Conservationists are beginning to appreciate the value of indigenous knowledge and local conservation practices. Many now accept that socially and culturally sensitive protected area policies must include indigenous and local knowledge for effective management and for ethical reasons. The World Conservation Union 5th World Congress on Protected Areas in 2003 was a key moment in this process, putting social and cultural values at the centre of the new 'paradigm' for protected areas, recognising that policies must be inclusive and relevant to local people's rights and needs.

Indigenous peoples are also interested in protected areas; a growing number of their organisations negotiate with their national governments to establish protected areas which recognise territorial rights and protect their land and resources. Imposition and conflict are now giving way to understanding and reconciliation, protecting biodiversity and culture.

Further policies for successful indigenous-managed or co-managed protected areas include:

• Governments need skilled staff to understand cultural shifts, deal with social, cultural and technical issues and resolve conflicts.
• Indigenous communities and organisations may need support such as funding, access to information and training in negotiation skills to take part in management discussions.
• Conservation organisations need better skilled staff and more appropriate technical tools to deal with the implications of these changes and clearer policies for engaging with indigenous peoples and local communities.

Gonzalo Oviedo
World Conservation Union
28 Rue Mauverney
1196 Gland
Switzerland
T +41 (0)22 999 0287
F +41 (0)22 999 0020
gonzalo.oviedo@iucn.org

See also

Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas: Towards Equity and Enhanced Conservation, by G. Borrini-Feyerabend, A. Kothari and G. Oviedo, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, 2004

Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and Protected Areas: Principles, Guidelines and Case Studies edited by J. Beltr‡n, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK and WWF International, Gland, Switzerland, 2000

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