Research from the World Resources Institute (WRI) has shown that in landscapes where Indigenous rights are recognized, deforestation rates are lower, and carbon sequestration rates higher than areas where they are not.
By Salam Rajesh
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Thursday, 13 September 2007. The Declaration is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of indigenous peoples. It establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world and it elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms as they apply to the specific situation of indigenous peoples.
Article 10 of UNDRIP is very specific on the rights to territories of indigenous peoples, wherein it is clearly stated that “Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return”.
The global body’s statement on the rights of indigenous peoples say that “Indigenous peoples, in the exercise of their rights should be free from discrimination of any kind” and that “control by indigenous peoples over developments affecting them and their lands, territories and resources will enable them to maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to promote their development in accordance with their aspirations and needs”.
The global discussion filters down back home where Indigenous peoples settled in forest lands and around water bodies have more or less entangled in issues with the State. Quite specifically, during the past decade fishing community thriving off the resources of Loktak Lake have faced multiple onslaughts on their rights to life and rights to resource use by state agencies. Traditionally, the freshwater lake has been accessed by fishers for decades, if not centuries, to eke their livelihood by fishing. Harnessing the floating biomass and the differing depths of the lake to catch fish, the fishing community has lived all their lives within and around the lake generations after generations.
It is beyond argument not to say that Loktak Lake is indigenous territory for these fishing families who have lived their entire life span in and out of the lake, raising their children with the meager income from their day’s catch. The harsh life of a fisher under sun and rain day after day is challenged by a very bureaucratic terminology labeled upon the fishing community by the State: ‘occupiers’. The application of this very terminology seeks to destroy the traditional lifestyle of the fishing community while threatening to deprive them of their fundamental rights to life and rights to resource use.
A basic fundamental right being discussed globally is the rights of women, in specific the rights of indigenous women: the rights to a dignified life, rights to access to resources, the rights to education and welfare schemes, and the rights to vote on equal terms with men. Women are often more vulnerable in society, exposed to dictates in societies where men govern and wield the stick. Historically, male chauvinism had undermined the fundamental rights of women in many pockets, particularly true in underdeveloped nations and where fundamentalist groups rule the roost.
As in the case of the Loktak fishers, equally true of the other communities in the uplands and in the plains of Manipur, the women bear the brunt of sourcing for food to feed their families, for supplementing on their earnings to educate their children, and to shoulder many other responsibilities in their society. The hardship of life, burdened by the need to work day in and out to eke their living, have hardened the women fishers of Loktak to fearlessly face any move by the State to dislocate them from their indigenous territory and lifestyle. This was witnessed in their strong stand against State’s move to evict them from Loktak between 2011 and 2013. The State has since attempted many-a-times to move them out but the women have stood strong and resolute in their assertion of their fundamental rights.
The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)’s director for strategic analysis and global engagement, Alain Frechette has this to say: “If you look just 10 years ago, community rights were not many parts of the global narrative, the global development narrative, and certainly not part of climate and biodiversity discussions. The issue of land rights more or less developed within the last decade. Now there is a growing movement within the protected area arena, within climate discussions and within development more generally, that local communities and Indigenous peoples have inherent rights to land and resources”.
Research from the World Resources Institute (WRI) has shown that in landscapes where Indigenous rights are recognized, deforestation rates are lower and carbon sequestration rates higher than areas where they are not. In the climate and development arenas, the most current alarm being sounded is for rights – securing the land rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples, local communities and the marginalized members therein.
Article 19 of the UNDRIP spells it out quite clearly that “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the Indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them”. This principle was fundamentally violated by the State when the controversial The Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act, 2006 was enacted by the government without having gone through the process of consultations with the different local stakeholders. The Act threatens the fundamental rights of the Loktak fishers.
Article 3(1) of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No.169) is also very clear on the rights of indigenous peoples: “Indigenous and tribal peoples shall enjoy the full measure of human rights and fundamental freedoms without hindrance or discrimination. The provisions of the Convention shall be applied without discrimination to male and female members of these peoples”. The Convention was adopted in Geneva on 7 June, 1989 under the broad context of the International Labour Organization in purview of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the many international instruments on the prevention of discrimination.
Article 14(1) of the Convention is quite specific on the rights of ownership: “The rights of ownership and possession of the peoples concerned over the lands which they traditionally occupy shall be recognized. In addition, measures shall be taken in appropriate cases to safeguard the right of the peoples concerned to use lands not exclusively occupied by them, but to which they have traditionally had access for their subsistence and traditional activities”. This fundamentally applies to indigenous territory traditionally accessed and used by the fisher families in Loktak and other wetlands of Manipur.
The discussions happening around the globe at this point of time is on the respect of Indigenous peoples’ rights to their traditional territories and of their intrinsic involvement in the protection and conservation of pristine natural landscapes, vital rainforests, peatlands, mangroves and water bodies as part of the strategy towards climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. The Manipur Government requires to have a re-look into the status of the Indigenous peoples in the State and work towards their all-round welfare and development.
(The writer is associated with IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic & Social Policy. He can be contacted at [email protected])