World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

IWGIA – Document 129
Cover and Layout: Jorge Monrás
Cover Photos: Bangaan Rice Terraces: Jacques Beaulieu (CC BY-NC 2.0); Uluru: unknown photographer; Ngorongoro Conservation Area: Geneviève Rose (IWGIA)
Illustrations: As indicated. Data for the little maps at the beginning of each case study provided by IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. 2013. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). Cambridge, UNEP-WCMC. www.protectedplanet.net
Translation: Elaine Bolton (Spanish, French); Lindsay Johnstone (French)
Proof reading: Elaine Bolton
© The authors, IWGIA, Forest Peoples Programme and Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation 2014 – All Rights Reserved
Title: World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Editors: Stefan Disko and Helen Tugendhat Place of publication: Copenhagen, Denmark Publishers: IWGIA, Forest Peoples Programme, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation Distributors: Europe: Central Books Ltd. – www.centralbooks.com; Outside Europe: Transaction Publishers – www.transactionpub.com. The title is also available from the publishers Date of publication: November 2014 Pages: xxii, 545 ISBN: 978-87-92786-54-8 ISSN: 0105-4503 Language: English Bibliography: Yes Index terms: Indigenous Peoples/Human Rights/Environmental Conservation & Protection Index codes: LAW110000/ POL035010/NAT011000 Geographical area: World
Distribution in United States: Transaction Publishers Raritan Center 300 McGaw Drive, Edison, NJ 08837, USA www.transactionpub.com
World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
HURIDOCS CIP DATA
The reproduction and distribution of information contained in this book for non-commercial use is welcome as long as the source is cited. However, the translation of this book or its parts, as well as the reproduction of the book is not allowed without the consent of the copyright holders. The articles reflect the authors’ own views and opinions and not necessarily those of the editors or publishers of this book.
INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS Classensgade 11 E, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: (+45) 35 27 05 00 – Fax: (+45) 35 27 05 07 Email: [email protected] – Web: www.iwgia.org
This book has been produced with financial support from The Christensen Fund and the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation.
GUNDJEIHMI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION 5 Gregory Place, PO Box 245, Jabiru, Northern Territory, 0886, Australia Tel: (+61) 8 89792200 – Fax: (+61) 8 89792299 Email: [email protected] – Web: www.mirarr.net
FOREST PEOPLES PROGRAMME 1c Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road Moreton-in-Marsh, GL56 9NQ, England Tel: +44 (0)1608 652893 – Fax: +44 (0)1608 652878 Email: [email protected] – Web: www.forestpeoples.org
Contents
Preface Annie Ngalmirama, Chairperson, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation ............................. xv
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................xvii Contributors ........................................................................................................................ xviii
PART II – CASE STUDIES
Africa The Sangha Trinational World Heritage Site: The Experiences of Indigenous Peoples Victor Amougou-Amougou and Olivia Woodburne ...................................................103
‘We are not Taken as People’: Ignoring the Indigenous Identities and History of Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site, Botswana Michael Taylor .......................................................................................................... 119 Kahuzi-Biega National Park: World Heritage Site versus the Indigenous Twa Roger Muchuba Buhereko .......................................................................................131 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: The Case of the Batwa Christopher Kidd ......................................................................................................147 Ignoring Indigenous Peoples’ Rights: The Case of Lake Bogoria’s Designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site Korir Sing’Oei Abraham............................................................................................163 A World Heritage Site in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area: Whose World? Whose Heritage? William Olenasha .....................................................................................................189
Asia Western Ghats of India: A Natural Heritage Enclosure? C.R. Bijoy .................................................................................................................223 Indigenous Peoples and Modern Liabilities in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand: A Conflict over Biocultural Diversity Reiner Buergin .........................................................................................................245 Shiretoko Natural World Heritage Area and the Ainu People Ono Yugo .................................................................................................................269
Australia and Pacific Pukulpa pitjama Ananguku ngurakutu – Welcome to Anangu Land: World Heritage at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Michael Adams .........................................................................................................289 No Straight Thing: Experiences of the Mirarr Traditional Owners of Kakadu National Park with the World Heritage Convention Justin O’Brien ...........................................................................................................313 Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples and the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area: The Role of Indigenous Activism in Achieving Effective Involvement in Management and Recognition of the Cultural Values Henrietta Marrie and Adrian Marrie ..........................................................................341 The Tangible and Intangible Heritage of Tongariro National Park: A Ngti Twharetoa Perspective and Reflection George Asher ...........................................................................................................377 Rapa Nui National Park, Cultural World Heritage: The Struggle of the Rapa Nui People for their Ancestral Territory and Heritage, for Environmental Protection, and for Cultural Integrity Erity Teave and Leslie Cloud ....................................................................................403
North America Protecting Indigenous Rights in Denendeh: The Dehcho First Nations and Nahanni National Park Reserve Laura Pitkanen and Jonas Antoine ........................................................ 423 The Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Project: A Collaborate Effort of Anishinaabe First Nations and Two Canadian Provinces to Nominate a World Heritage Site Gord Jones ...............................................................................................................441
South America A Refuge for People and Biodiversity: The Case of Manu National Park, South-East Peru Daniel Rodriguez and Conrad Feather.....................................................................459 Canaima National Park and World Heritage Site: Spirit of Evil? Iokiñe Rodríguez ......................................................................................................489 ‘We Heard the News from the Press’: The Central Suriname Nature Reserve and its Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Fergus MacKay ........................................................................................................515
PART III – APPENDICES
Appendix 1 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Resolution 197 on the Protection of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Context of the World Heritage Convention .................................................................................. 528
Appendix 2 World Conservation Congress Resolution 5.047 on the Implementation of UNDRIP in the Context of the World Heritage Convention ......................................... 530
Appendix 3 Call to Action of the International Expert Workshop on the World Heritage Convention and Indigenous Peoples, Copenhagen, 2012 ............................... 533
Appendix 4 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the UN General Assembly, 2012 (Excerpt) ................................ 539
Appendix 5 Letter of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the World Heritage Centre, 2013 ............................................... 543
Laponian Area (Sweden)
Tsodilo (Botswana)
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda)
Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley (Kenya)
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania)
Shiretoko (Japan)
Case study
Kakadu National Park (Australia)
Nahanni National Park (Canada)
WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTSxii
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The World Heritage Convention (formally the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage) was adopted in 1972 to support the preservation of cultural
and natural heritage for the benefit of the world and its peoples. As stated in the Preamble to the Convention, “parts of the cultural or natural heritage are of outstanding interest and therefore need to be preserved as part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole”.
The Convention was adopted prior to most of the significant international steps that have been taken over the past decades to recognize and protect the rights of indigenous peoples, including the establishment of several United Nations and regional bodies dedicated to promoting and upholding the rights of indigenous peoples. The Convention therefore does not reference or reflect these important steps and is, in fact, in some ways at odds with them. Critical among these steps is the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) by the UN General Assembly in 2007.
The challenge therefore presents itself to indigenous peoples to engage with the World Heritage Convention and its organs and States Parties in order to ensure that the implementation of the Convention is amended and improved to take into consideration the new international consensus regarding the importance of recognizing, respecting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. This challenge is particularly urgent given the fact that World Heritage sites can be, and have often been, declared in areas that incorporate, in part or in whole, the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples. The result of this incorporation has not always been positive for indigenous peoples, and has usually come as part of a longer pattern of conservation policies and laws being applied at the national level.
Human rights bodies in the UN system have recognized the violations of the rights of indigenous peoples that can result from the application of conservation policies and, more specifically, from the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. All three of the UN mechanisms dedicated specifically to promoting the rights of indigenous peoples (the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) have called for reforms in the way in which the Convention is applied, underlining the urgent need to reform the Operational Guidelines through which the Convention is implemented so that they are aligned with the UNDRIP. They have highlighted the need to adopt procedures to ensure indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent when sites are inscribed on the World Heritage List, the need to address the frequent lack of access by indigenous peoples to information about pending nominations and other Convention processes affecting them, and the need to take measures to ensure the protection of indigenous peoples’
Foreword
xiiiFOREWORD
livelihoods and tangible and intangible cultural heritage in World Heritage areas, among many other issues.
My predecessor as Special Rapporteur, James Anaya, dedicated a whole section of his 2012 report to the UN General Assembly to the recurring issue of the impact of World Heritage sites on indigenous peoples, which contains a range of observations and recommendations on measures to prevent and remedy violations of indigenous rights in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Additional recommendations are contained in a communication he sent to the World Heritage Centre on 18 November 2013. I intend to follow-up these recommendations during the course of my mandate as Special Rapporteur.
It is clear that there is widespread recognition among human rights bodies of the legacy of problems in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and the impacts that this has had on indigenous peoples. I therefore want to add my support to an important 2012 recommendation of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states: “The Expert Mechanism… encourages the World Heritage Committee to establish a process to elaborate, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, changes to the current procedures and operational guidelines and other appropriate measures to ensure that the implementation of the World Heritage Convention is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and that indigenous peoples can effectively participate in the World Heritage Convention’s decision-making processes.”
The members of the Expert Mechanism highlighted both the importance of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a guide in implementing other conventions or treaties, and the importance of full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making that affects them, both themes that are explored at length in this book and which are fundamental to empowering indigenous peoples to guide their own development.
This book provides detailed case studies exploring the history and continued development and management of World Heritage sites that incorporate, in whole or in part, the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples. The testimonies and histories recorded in this book reveal some of the key challenges facing States and the World Heritage Convention bodies in ensuring that the implementation of the Convention does, in fact, support the aspirations of indigenous peoples to see their rights recognized and respected. The testimonies also reveal the hard work done by indigenous peoples in fighting for respect for their rights in World Heritage areas, through direct advocacy with the World Heritage Committee, engagement with international and/or regional human rights bodies, and national level efforts to achieve self-determination over their lands, territories and resources and their economic, social and cultural development as distinct peoples.
The stories contained herein reflect both the potential for the World Heritage Convention to support the self-determined development of indigenous peoples by helping them to prevent negative developments in their territories, and the difficulties inherent in the implementation of a Convention that does not explicitly recognize the rights of the peoples on which it has a direct impact. I hope that this book will form a contribution to increasing the respect between the World Heritage Convention and the rights of the indigenous peoples living in or around the natural, cultural and mixed sites protected under the Convention.
WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTSxiv
In accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 15/14 of 2010, core aspects of my mandate as Special Rapporteur are examining ways and means of overcoming existing obstacles to the full and effective protection of the rights of indigenous peoples; formulating recommendations and proposals on appropriate measures and activities to prevent and remedy violations of the rights of indigenous peoples; and developing a regular cooperative dialogue with all relevant actors, including Governments, relevant United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and programmes. As Special Rapporteur, I look forward to engaging with all the agencies and bodies involved in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention to improve its record with indigenous peoples, and to supporting indigenous peoples in the protection of their own heritage.
xv
Preface
Annie Ngalmirama, Chairperson, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation
Since the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, a great deal of attention has been paid to respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples in the
implementation of the World Heritage Convention. During the Convention’s 40th anniversary in 2012 (officially celebrated under the theme of “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communities”), the need to improve protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in World Heritage sites was often talked about. For the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the Mirarr Aboriginal people, this issue is very important as part of our country lies within Kakadu National Park, which has been listed as a World Heritage site for over thirty years.
Kakadu is many things to many people. It is World Heritage, it is a national park; it is where uranium mining occurs. For us Mirarr and other local Aboriginal people (Bininj), it is home. It is our ancient and long-lasting home. Our word for our land is Gunred. Gunred sustains us and we sustain it. We are obliged to care for it and for those who visit it. We do not see ourselves as separate to our land. Our land exists through us and we exist through it.
For many years, Kakadu has been a place where the Australian government and we Bininj have worked, lived and argued together. We Bininj are proud of our home and of its World Heritage recognition. For over thirty years, Mirarr have worked to protect our home against unwanted uranium mining and sometimes against the government’s way of managing our land. Sometimes, we are at one with the government; at other times, we are in strong disagreement. We have also resorted to open protest and, to stop the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine, campaigned here in Kakadu and across Australia and the world. In the end we prevailed and mining at Jabiluka was stopped.
We have learned much along this journey with the Australian Government and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Kakadu’s World Heritage status has helped us to prevail, by drawing international attention to our disagreements with the government. We have learned much about what we believe to be the denial of our fundamental international human rights because of mining and the way the Park has been managed.
We have also had positive experiences with the government. Over the years we have developed close working relationships and friendships with park rangers and other government staff. They have often helped us manage our land and they have been there during trying times. In recent years, we have also worked alongside the Djok clan and the government in partnership to secure World Heritage recognition of the Koongarra area.
Our journey with the government and the World Heritage Committee has had many twists and turns and, at the end of the day, it is an ongoing journey. We have been given great hope in recent
WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTSxvi
times that our relationships with both government and industry are increasingly on a more respectful basis, that more opportunities for Bininj people are possible. Much of this is due to Kakadu’s World Heritage status. It helps keep an international focus on our home and our relationships.
We stand in solidarity with other Indigenous peoples in World Heritage areas across the world and trust that their respective governments, UNESCO, and the international community will genuinely and effectively include these peoples in all their decision-making and benefit-sharing. We hope that this book will be a useful contribution to that end.
xvii
The editors of this book are grateful to the many people who supported or contributed to its successful production in one way or another. Our warmest appreciation and thanks go to
Lola García-Alix who, in her capacity as IWGIA’s Executive Director, guided us and supported us wherever she could throughout the production of the book and without whom this project would certainly not have been possible.
In addition to the authors who contributed book chapters and to whom we are most grateful, we would like to express our sincere acknowledgement and appreciation of those who submitted or helped with chapters which, in the end, could not be included. We are also grateful to those who reviewed chapters for us, provided comments or helped in finding authors.
We would further like to express our gratitude for the financial support received from The Christensen Fund and the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation for the production of this book.
Finally, it is important for us to thank our families for their continuous personal support, patience and encouragement.
Although it is not easy to separate out those who deserve special mention in a project that benefited from the work and efforts of so many, we would like to acknowledge the following individuals: Justin O’Brien, Mililani Trask, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Annie Ngalmirama, Yvonne Margarula, Mattias Åhrén, Lars-Anders Baer, Carol Sørensen, Wilson Kipkazi, Lucy Claridge, Albert Barume, Merrilyn Wasson, Bruce White, Ashish Kothari, Chris Erni, Ann-Elise Lewallen, Max Ooft, Donato Bitog, Jill Carino, Alexandra Bocharnikova, Johannes Rohr, Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu, Diana Vinding, Robert Hitchcock, Christian Strobl, Aliya Ryan, Kathrin Wessendorf, Cæcilie Mikkelsen, Annette Kjærgaard, Marianne Wiben Jensen, Alejandro Parellada, Suzanne Jasper, Dalee Sambo Dorough, Mechtild Rössler, Patricia Borraz, June Lorenzo, Ida Nicolaisen, James Tugendhat, and Caroline Maciel Lauar.
Stefan Disko and Helen Tugendhat October 2014
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Michael Adams is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wollongong. He is a member of the Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledges and Rights Commission of the International Geographical Union, and a member of two commissions of IUCN. His research focus has been on the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Protected Areas.
Victor Amougou-Amougou began work in rural development, helping with the capacity building of farmers’ associations and cooperatives. Since 2001 he has worked primarily on Indigenous peoples’ rights and livelihoods, through issues such as forestry, land and natural resource management, and has conducted detailed participatory mapping of resource use in protected areas. He is co- founder and coordinator of CEFAID (Centre pour l’Education, la Formation et l’Appui aux Initiatives de Développement au Cameroun), a local NGO with extensive CSO networks throughout the Congo Basin.
Jonas Antoine is a Dehcho Dene Elder from Liidlii Kue First Nation. Jonas was a member of the Nahanni Expansion Working Group, is a member of the Naha Dehe Consensus Team and represents the Dehcho First Nations in other protected areas initiatives in the Dehcho Process.
George Asher is of Maori descent and Chief Executive Officer of the Lake Taupo and Lake Rotoaira Forest Trusts in New Zealand. Both trusts comprise 55,000 hectares of ancestral lands of which 33,000 hectares are planted with commercial production forests. Parts of these lands adjoin Tongariro National Park and have been protected in their natural state. George has been actively involved in the development of his tribe, Ngti Twharetoa, for the past 30 years and was also independent advisor to the 2006-07 Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee.
Tim Badman is Director of the World Heritage Programme at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with responsibility for…