Conservation and the rights of indigenous peoples

24. The Permanent Forum expresses concern that conservation programmes based on the concept of excluding human beings from the environment have had negative consequences on the rights of indigenous peoples through forced evictions and other E/2018/43 E/C.19/2018/11 18-07701 9/26 harms, while their natural custodianship of the environment and ecosystems has been unrecognized.

25. The Permanent Forum urges the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to undertake, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, a study on the contributions of indigenous peoples to the management of ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity, and submit a report to the Forum by its nineteenth session.

26. The Permanent Forum recommends that the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Union for Conservation of Nature actively engage with indigenous organizations, relevant United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations and other actors to develop a set of actions and commitments in relation to conservation and human rights in the context of the post-2020 biodiversity framework and the next World Conservation Congress. 27. The Permanent Forum requests the Global Environment Facility, as well as other funding mechanisms, to prioritize support for conservation approaches that are led or co-managed by indigenous peoples.

28. The Permanent Forum calls on States to enter into discussions with indigenous peoples whose traditional lands are now incorporated in protected areas, with a view to reaching binding agreements that will not only acknowledge the legitimate interests of wildlife conservation but also recognize and guarantee the rights of those communities under articles 8 (2), 18, 19, 26 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

29. The Permanent Forum calls on international donors to engage in dialogue with indigenous peoples with the aim of developing an approach to conservation based on recognition of and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.

30. The Permanent Forum invites the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to strengthen collaboration in charting ways forward in promoting conservation models that recognize and respect the rights of indigenous peoples.

31. The Permanent Forum invites the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, at its forthcoming meeting on transitional justice, to examine opportunities for restitution in the context of historic conservation-related evictions and other harms. 32. The Permanent Forum urges Member States to reform the agreements of intergovernmental conservation organizations, such as the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, to comply with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Regional dialogues with indigenous peoples and Member States

94. The Permanent Forum urges Governments in the Arctic, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia to fully implement the relevant international obligations related to environmental and social safeguards to assure the conservation of nature and access to natural resources for indigenous peoples within their territories in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals 12, 14 and 15.