The Permanent Forum urges States parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to seriously consider the recommendations of the above-mentioned international expert group meeting.
The Forum calls on the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to continue its support to the national indigenous peoples biodiversity participatory mechanisms of the small island developing States through the Convention's island and biodiversity project and indigenous peoples program, in the promotion of sustainable biodiversity
Throughout history, indigenous peoples have moved from place to place to find water, pastureland for their animals, and game; to trade goods from different ecological zones; and even to seek job opportunities in urban areas. Mobility restrictions both within and across State borders have affected indigenous peoples adversely, with the impact on pastoralist groups particularly severe in the context of their ability to access water and food. The Permanent Forum recommends that States implement specific measures to address the mobility needs of indigenous peoples, including through cooperation with neighbouring States, and that such efforts be made with the full free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples affected.
Considering their impact on the sexual health and reproductive rights of indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum calls, in paragraph 62 of the report, for “a legal review of United Nations chemical conventions, in particular the Rotterdam Convention, to ensure that they are in conformity with international human rights standards, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.
The Permanent Forum decides to appoint Kanyinke Sena, Mirna Cunningham and Bertie Xavier, members of the Permanent Forum, to conduct a study on indigenous peoples’ rights and safeguards in projects related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) and to report back to the Permanent Forum at its twelfth session, in 2013.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States develop mechanisms through which they can monitor and report on the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples, mindful of their socio-economic limitations as well as spiritual and cultural attachment to lands and waters.
The Permanent Forum invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and relevant States of the Congo Basin to provide at the eighth session of the Forum, in 2009, specific information on the biosphere reserves project and how they will incorporate the indigenous peoples of the Congo Basin and their respective associations into the implementation of the project.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the right to participate in decision-making and the importance of mechanisms and procedures for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in relation to article 18 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum reiterates that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Maritime Organization should facilitate indigenous peoples’ participation in their processes.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other relevant United Nations agencies further develop and enhance natural disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies involving indigenous peoples in the development and implementation of those strategies.
The Permanent Forum requests its secretariat to ensure wide circulation of the above-mentioned report and invites States, members of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, the secretariats of the United Nations Forum on Forests and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to provide comments and additional information and data to both the Special Rapporteur and the secretariat of the Permanent Forum. The contributions can include existing policies, projects and funding related to plantations and forestry, implementation of policies and case studies of good practices.
The Permanent Forum invites the newly established Facilitative Working Group of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform to collaborate closely with bodies outside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on matters relating to climate change and indigenous peoples, in accordance with its mandate (Conference of the Parties decision 2/CP.24, para. 20).
With regard to the environmental issue of water, the Forum, recognizing the indigenous peoples’ Kyoto water declaration made at the World Water Forum, held in Kyoto, Japan, in March 2003, requests that the Commission on Sustainable Development and other relevant United Nations bodies (i.e., UNEP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNDP) consider the declaration in their discussions on this theme in 2004.