SYMPOSIUM

Conservation, Racism and Indigenous Peoples Human Rights

Exploring the intersections of racism, colonialism and conservation and calling for an environmental justice movement based on Indigenous Peoples Human Rights.

To commemorate the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the International Day of Forests, over 500 participants joined us in Cuk-Ṣon (Tucson Arizona) and online for this two day symposium on Thursday March 21 to Friday March 22 exploring the intersections of racism, colonialism and conservation and calling for an environmental justice movement based on Indigenous Peoples Human Rights. International speakers includes Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples José Francisco Calí Tzay and John Knox, the former Independent Expert on human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Watch segmented videos of each speaker on YouTube


Special Issue - 2024 Symposium

The 2023-24 Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (AJELP) Board is enormously proud to publish the following Special Issue, a retrospective on our symposium on Conservation, Racism and Indigenous Peoples Human Rights in partnership with the Indigenous Rights and Protected Areas Initiative. The Journal has shared a building with the Initiative for years– a few doors down on the second floor of Rountree Hall– but this symposium, held in the Spring of 2024, marks the beginning of our work together. Sometimes, it seems, the gaps in our understanding exist for failing to knock on doors just down the hall.

Working as a Journal, we’ve come to understand that the work of publishing legal scholarship is really the work of selecting the bounds of what’s possible. Our work is political in this sense, and must be constantly conscious of its limitations and assumptions. Our Journal has undertaken a unique approach to environmental legal scholarship, understanding that when we’re talking about the environment we’re talking about everything. We’re talking as much about natural spaces as we are about the people who cultivate and rely on them, as much about the river as its disappearance after years of colonization, its steady return as that imposition is challenged. We can’t separate the interests of conserving natural spaces and resources from the interests of human rights and dignity, from the knowledge and conservation practices of Indigenous Peoples. 

This Special Issue begins with a retrospective and call-to-action by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay. Pieces that follow span the work of the Initiative’s staff and network, whose vital interventions offer an analysis of our current situation and where we can go from here. We’re honored to present this retrospective on the Symposium, and are hopeful this collection will spark new conversations and insights.



REFLECTIONS ON RACISM, CONSERVATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

José Francisco Calí Tzay



PROTECTED AREAS: THESE “STATES WITHIN A STATE” REQUIRE SEPARATE OVERSIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Suhas Chakma



FOREGROUNDING HUMAN DIGNITY
A FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING PROTECTION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS IN AFRICA’S PROTECTED AREAS

Elifuraha Laltaika



SKEWED CONSERVATION POLICY AND THE STATE VALIDATION OF LAND DISPOSSESSION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN KENYA

Washington Barasa Kiptoo



FROM COLONIAL BOTS TO INDIGIAI
THE COMPLEX ROLE OF AI IN INDIGENOUS ADVOCACY

Vishal Gaikwad, S.J.D.



IMAGINING WILDERNESS: THE WILDERNESS ACT’S SIXTY YEARS OF MODERN INDIGENOUS DISPOSSESSION

Edward Randall Ornstein, Esq



RECONCILIACIÓN DE TIERRA Y ALMA

Angelantonio Breault



WHITE NATIONALIST PARKS, ECO-FASCISM,
AND CONSERVING GLOBAL CAPITALISM

Gabriella Makerita Hinetu Brayne

Thursday, March 21

Pascua Yaqui Tribe - University of Arizona Microcampus (PYT-UA) 

7400 S Settler Ave, Tucson, AZ 85746

Friday, March 22

James E. Rogers College of Law, Ares Auditorium, Room 164

1201 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

Time (MST) Event
8:00am-9:00am Breakfast Buffet
9:00am-9:10am Traditional blessing
9:10am-9:30am Welcome, Introduction of Sponsors/Acknowledgements of Support
Mia F. Burcham, Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy Editor in Chief, 
Robert A. Williams, Jr., Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program Faculty Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, 
Rebecca Adamson, Bay and Paul Foundations), Watch recorded video
9:30am-10:00am Keynote address by Jose´Francisco Cali Tzay, Watch recorded video
Download the Statement
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right of Indigenous Peoples and former Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
10:00am-10:30am

Featured Speaker: Ruben Reyes, District Director, Rep. Raul Grijalva, U.S. House of Representatives, co-sponsor of H.R.7025 - Advancing Human Rights-Centered International Conservation Act of 2022

Watch recorded video

Morning Session Fortress Conservation, Racism, Colonialism in Historical and Contemporary Perspective  
10:30am–11:00am Featured Speaker: Robert A. Williams, Jr., Watch recorded video
Regents Professor, E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law; Faculty Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program
11:00am–11:30am Featured Speaker: Fiore Longo, Watch recorded video
Director Survival International France and Spain (Online)
11:30am-12:00pm Featured Speaker: Edward Ornstein, Watch recorded video
Special Counsel on Environmental Affairs for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida (Online)
12:00pm- 12:15pm Q & A
12:15pm- 1:15pm LUNCH BREAK
Session Racism, Conservation and Human Rights Violations of Indigenous Peoples in Africa
1:15pm- 2:45pm

Moderator: Elifuraha Isaya Laltaika, Regional Campaign Manager, IPLP  Initiative on Indigenous Peoples Affected by Protected Areas and Other Conservation Measures.

Watch recorded video

  1. Dr. Elifuraha Isaya Laltaika, Senior Law Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Tumaini University Makumira, Arusha-Tanzania​​ and Regional Campaigner Manager, IPLP  Initiative on Indigenous Peoples Affected by Protected Areas and Other Conservation Measures
  2. Kiptoo Washington Barasa, Bay and Paul Foundations Fellow, IPLP Initiative on Indigenous Peoples Affected by Protected Areas and Other Conservation Measures, Kenya
  3. Lesle Jansen,  Head of Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Resource Rights at Jamma International
2:45pm-3:00pm Wrap up-Q & A
Afternoon Session Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Discrimination and Conservation: Framework and Recent Developments
3:00pm-3:30pm Featured Speaker: John Knox, Watch recorded video
first Independent Expert on human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. (Online)
3:30pm-3:45pm Q & A
Session Racism, Conservation and Human Rights Violations of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America
3:45pm-4:15pm Featured Speaker: Juan Leon Alvarado, Watch recorded video
International Indian Treaty Council Human Rights and Bio-Diversity Consultant. (Online)
4:15pm-4:30pm Q & A; Closing remarks

Time (MST) Event
8:00am-9:00am Breakfast Buffet
9:00am-9:15am Introduction of Sponsors/Acknowledgements of support (AJELP and IPLP)
Morning Session:  Racism, Conservation and Human Rights Violations of Indigenous Peoples in Asia
9:15am-10:45am

Moderator:  Suhas Chakma, Regional Campaign Manager, IPLP Initiative on Indigenous Peoples Affected by Protected Areas and Other Conservation Measures.

Watch recorded video

  • Suhas Chakma, Director, Rights and Risks Analysis Group, Core Group on Human Rights Defenders and NGOs of the National Human Rights Commission of India, Regional Campaign Manager, IPLP  Initiative on Indigenous Peoples Affected by Protected Areas and Other Conservation Measures
  • Shankar Limbu: Secretary Vice-chair of the Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP)
  • Pranab Doyle, All Kaziranga Affected Communities’ Rights Committee
10:45am-11:00am Wrap up-Q & A 
11:00am-11:20pm

Robert Williams: IPLP Protected Areas and Conservation Initiative

Watch recorded video

11:20am-11:45am Vishal Gaikwad: Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Advocacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
11:45am-12:00pm Q & A
12:00pm–1:00pm LUNCH BREAK
Afternoon Session: Addressing Systemic Racism in Conservation and Protecting Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights: Decolonizing Conservation and Protecting Biodiversity through a Human Rights-Based Approach. 
1:00pm-1:30pm Featured Speaker: Helen Tugendhat, Watch recorded video
Programme Coordinator, Environmental Governance at Forest Peoples Programme
1:30pm-1:40pm Q & A
1:40pm-2:10pm Featured Speaker: Chris Chapman Watch recorded video
Indigenous Rights Researcher and Adviser at Amnesty International
2.10pm-2:20pm Q & A
2:20pm-3:00pm COFFEE BREAK
3:00pm-3:30pm Featured Speaker: Chrissie Grant, current Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage, (Online) Watch recorded video
3:30pm-3:40pm Q & A
3:40pm-3:50pm Video Message of Professor Verene A. Shepherd, Current Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Watch video message
3:50pm-4:30pm Closing summaries and acknowledgements

For questions email law-conservation@arizona.edu

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