Environment

33. The Permanent Forum has made a number of recommendations, in particular at its seventh and ninth sessions, on conservation and human rights, which to date remain largely unimplemented. Particular attention has been given by the Forum to the critical issue of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in establishing and managing any protected area that affects their territories, livelihoods and resources. Those recommendations should be implemented urgently, considering the continued infliction of human rights violations on indigenous peoples in relation to conservation measures.

34. The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Kenya to recognize and formally protect the land and resource rights of the Ogiek and Sengwer peoples in line with the Constitution of Kenya, the Community Land Act of 2016 and other E/2017/43 E/C.19/2017/11 10/25 17-08011 relevant laws, before moving ahead with planned conservation efforts in the Cherangany Hills.

35. The Permanent Forum urges the International Union for Conservation of Nature to establish a task force on conservation and human rights to work with indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations to clearly articulate the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of conservation initiatives and to continue to promote grievance mechanisms and avenues for redress in the context of conservation action, including the Whakatane Mechanism. The Forum invites the Union to report on progress made in the implementation of these recommendations in future sessions.

36. The Permanent Forum recommends that States develop laws and policies to ensure the recognition, continued vitality and protection from misappropriation of indigenous traditional knowledge.

 37. The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States to start the work, in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, of creating a place and a voice for indigenous peoples in the governance of the world’s oceans. This effort involves the participation of indigenous peoples in all aspects of the work and decision-making regarding the Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the environmental provisions and the delimitation of the continental she lf. It may also include establishing advisory committees of indigenous peoples to guide the work under the Convention, as has been done under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

38. The Permanent Forum calls upon the United Nations bodies and Member States to ensure that indigenous peoples have a voice equal to States in the development of and negotiations on the international agreement to address marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. States and the United Nations should guarantee that the agreement upholds and respects indigenous peoples’ role in governing the oceans and the rights set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Studies to be prepared by members of the Permanent Forum

106. The Permanent Forum appoints Brian Keane and Elifuraha Laltaika, members  of the Forum, to undertake a study to examine conservation and indigenous peoples’ human rights, to be submitted to the Forum at its seventeenth session