| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Imagine subsistence hunters in Brazil, or farmers in the Andean highlands, or fishing communities in Cambodia. Each of these geographically disparate groups is among the indigenous peoples of the world whose livelihoods, cultures, and identities are intimately tied to the land on which they have lived for generations. However, they do not only share this tie to their traditional land. Indigenous peoples' rights to their land, territories, and natural resources have often been historically ignored or neglected when large-scale development or conservation activities, such as hydropower dams or protected areas, were being planned and implemented.
Conservation and development activities have the potential to negatively or positively impact the rights of indigenous peoples, both at very small or very large scales. Notably, data from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) shows that land under the management of indigenous peoples only makes up 20% of the world's landmass and yet it holds roughly 80% of the Earth's remaining biodiversity. This biodiversity and related traditional knowledge, which has been maintained, used, catalogued, and respected for thousands of years by many indigenous peoples, has the potential to maintain cultures, help agricultural systems adapt to a changing climate, offer medical solutions, and inspire awe. However, anything this traditional knowledge may offer the rest of the world, including the biodiversity it has maintained, must be provided with the consent of the indigenous peoples to which it belongs.
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