The Permanent Forum reiterates its previous recommendations on the ongoing plastic crisis and the importance of the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the negotiations of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme on an international treaty to tackle the crisis. The Permanent Forum welcomes the discussions of the Human Rights Council on the matter at its fifty-second session.
The Permanent Forum urges States to include indigenous peoples in decision-making processes in all areas of water management, including commercial use, irrigation and environmental management, and to ensure that such decision-making processes are consistent with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular its article 32, under which the free and informed consent of indigenous peoples is required prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources.
The Forum recommends that the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna facilitate the full and effective participation, including funding, of indigenous peoples, particularly women and youth, and the Forum in the work to implement these conventions, and involve them fully in policy formulation and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of environmental programmes or projects.
The Forum anticipates that the host country will do its utmost to assure the issuance in a timely manner of entry visas to members of the Forum and observers from non-governmental organizations, pursuant to article IV, section 11, of the Headquarters Agreement, in order to attend its sessions. The Forum also anticipates that other member States hosting United Nations meetings to which indigenous organizations are invited will also do their utmost to ensure the timely issuance of entry visas. The Forum further requests that consideration be given to the waivering of visa fees by host countries for applicants wishing to participate in the work of the Forum and related meetings and activities.
The Permanent Forum appoints Anne Nuorgam, a member of the Forum, to undertake a study to examine freshwater fishing and hunting rights of indigenous peoples, to be submitted to the Forum at its seventeenth session.