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.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the recommendations and proposals that emerged from the consultations of indigenous peoples and the World Bank on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and other carbon funds, such as the BioCarbon Fund, be implemented by the Bank and other relevant agencies. Indigenous peoples should be effectively involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Displacement and exclusion of indigenous peoples from their forests, which may be triggered by projects funded by the Partnership Facility, should be avoided at all costs. Indigenous peoples or their representatives should have a voice in and a vote on the decision-making body of the Partnership Facility and of other climate change funds that will have impacts on them. In the case of those who opt not to participate in reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation or in the projects supported by the Partnership Facility, their choice should be respected. The Forum calls on all parties to ensure that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is implemented when undertaking these processes.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the adoption of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources. It requests FAO to give priority to strategic priority No. 6 (support indigenous and local production systems and associated knowledge systems of importance to the maintenance and sustainable use of animal genetic resources), and to further develop relevant approaches to implement it, including rights-based approaches and payment for services that support the custodianship of local breeds by indigenous peoples.
The Forum recommends that FAO and the Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative work further on the development of cultural indicators for identifying priorities and criteria and methodologies for the right to food and food security, with the participation of indigenous peoples, taking into account the protection and restoration of indigenous peoples' traditional food systems and their agrobiodiversity and associated traditional knowledge and livelihoods. The threats to sustaining such systems, such as monoculture cash crop production, mineral extraction, environmental contamination and genetically modified seeds and technology, should be addressed.
The Forum notes with deep appreciation the reports and responses of United Nations bodies on environment, and reaffirms its recommendations on environment made at its second session, in particular those contained in chapter I, section B, paragraphs 46-49, 54-57, and 59-61 of the report.
The Permanent Forum recommends that forests that have been taken by States from indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent in the name of conservation policies be restored immediately.
The Forum notes the preparation of the World Congress on Protected Areas, to be held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2003, which Forum members consider to be an important meeting calling for their attention and action. The Forum recommends that all laws, policies or work programmes on forests and protected areas guarantee, ensure and respect various aspects of indigenous peoples’ lives, such as their spiritual and cultural lives, lands and territorial rights, including sacred sites, needs and benefits, and recognize their rights of access to and control over the management of forests.
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.
The Permanent Forum recommends that FAO create a technical working group on the collective rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and resources, which will provide technical outputs and publications informing indigenous peoples and the Forum.
The Forum recommends that WIPO undertake a study, in collaboration with Forum members, on the use of indigenous knowledge relating to medicinal plants and resources, the commercialization of such knowledge and how indigenous communities are benefiting from such commercialization.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Arctic Council formally engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to jointly follow up the International Experts Meeting on Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development: scientific, social, cultural and educational challenges (3-6 March 2009 in Monaco).
The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiative of the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to host the International Conference on Biological and Cultural Diversity: Diversity for Development (8-10 June 2010, Montreal, Canada) to develop a joint programme of work on biological and cultural diversity, and requests that future work include broad partnerships with the Permanent Forum, other relevant agencies, indigenous peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations