As part of its mandate on the environment, the Permanent Forum has raised concerns and made recommendations pertaining to indigenous peoples and forests. The Forum has consistently recommended that the United Nations Forum on Forests and forest-related United Nations bodies develop effective means to monitor and verify the participation of indigenous peoples in forest policymaking and sustainable forest management, and establish a mechanism, with the participation of indigenous peoples, to assess the performance of governmental and intergovernmental commitments and obligations to uphold and respect indigenous peoples’ rights (see E/C.19/2004/23).
The Permanent Forum reiterates its concern about conservation efforts, including the designation of national parks, biosphere reserves and world heritage sites, which frequently lead to the displacement of indigenous peoples from their traditional lands and territories. In this regard, the Permanent Forum requests that a member of the Forum attend the thirty-fourth session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, to be held in Brasilia, Brazil, in August 2010.