The Permanent Forum appoints Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz and Mr. Pavel Sulyandziga as special rapporteurs to elaborate papers on indigenous peoples and relevant thematic issues relating to sustainable development (for example, sustainable agriculture, land, rural development, drought and desertification), for consideration by the Commission on Sustainable Development and for the submission of its reports to the Secretary-General and to represent the Permanent Forum in the Commission’s interactive dialogues with United Nations agencies. The Commission is urged to invite a member of the Permanent Forum to attend its annual sessions.
Indigenous peoples in the Pacific rely on marine resources and fisheries for both livelihoods and as a food source. The Permanent Forum encourages United Nations entities to incorporate traditional knowledge into all their work in the region.
The Permanent Forum decides to send a member of the Forum to participate in the Conference to present the outcome of its ninth session on the question of development with culture and identity.
Member States should acknowledge the critical role of Indigenous Peoples as guardians of their lands and territories; their traditional knowledge must be fully respected in environmental governance, including the protection and use of medicinal plants, such as the coca leaf and peyote, that hold profound religious, cultural and spiritual significance to Indigenous Peoples, and their ecosystems.
The Green Climate Fund, the Cali Fund for the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility and the Adaptation Fund should ensure direct access to finance in support of Indigenous-led mitigation and adaptation projects and ensure the representation and participation of Indigenous Peoples in their governing bodies.
The Permanent Forum supports collaborations between indigenous groups and conservation organizations that bring together traditional and scientific knowledge holders to add the wealth of current and historical knowledge of indigenous peoples to the analysis of impacts of climate change and to mitigation solutions and adaptation strategies — recognizing and respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provisions of article 8 (j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Permanent Forum applauds the effective participation mechanisms for indigenous peoples in such mechanisms as the Convention on Biological Diversity Working Group on article 8 (j) and related provisions, and recommends that, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, such practices be extended to all critical areas of interest to indigenous peoples, such as the Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing and in particular the Working Group on Protected Areas.
The Permanent Forum recommends that interested parties organize an international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: sacred plants and sites, articles 11, 24 and 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, and requests that the conclusions of such a meeting be submitted to the Forum at its tenth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States immediately begin the process of demarcation of indigenous peoples’ lands and territories in accordance with customary laws and the norms reflected in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with a view to further protecting indigenous peoples’ lands and resources from expropriation, exploitation and designation as conservation areas or national parks without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, as set out in articles 19, 26 and 27 of the Declaration.
Indigenous peoples have a profound relationship with their environment. This includes their distinct rights to water. The Permanent Forum urges States to guarantee those rights, including the right to access to safe, clean, accessible and affordable water for personal, domestic and community use. Water should be treated as a social and cultural good, and not primarily as an economic good. The manner in which the right to water is realized must be sustainable for present and future generations. Moreover, indigenous peoples’ access to water resources on their ancestral lands must be protected from encroachment and pollution. Indigenous peoples must have the resources to design, deliver and control their access to water.
The Forum recommends the establishment of an international ethical code on bio-prospecting in order to avoid bio-piracy and ensure the respect for indigenous cultural and intellectual heritage. Under the framework of the Convention, a mechanism should be established for the repatriation and devolution of genetic materials collections to indigenous peoples. The Forum recommends to the Convention secretariat that the global taxonomy initiative incorporate an ethical principles and social framework for the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands, traditional knowledge and resources before its implementation.
A recommendation that the Government of Denmark, in its preparatory work and programme for the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, engage indigenous representatives and invite the Chairperson of the Permanent Forum and other members of the Forum to participate.
