ICCA Regional Reviews 

In the last decade, members and partners of the ICCA Consortium, TILCEPA and TGER have spearheaded a process to deepen the understanding of the ICCA phenomenon with respect to varying historical/ regional contexts and to support consequent policy and action.  In collaboration with SwedBio, the GEF Smal Grants Programme and GTZ, initiatives  developed ICCA reviews in several world regions. 

Their results are made available below.

A preliminary synthesis is also available to download from the right bar of this page.

 Melanesia and Polynesia

...CCAs issues are being revitalized in the South Pacific in a unique global phenomenon and one of the untapped riches of the Pacific has begun to show its truepotential.  Villages, communities, tribes, clans and districts are planning, implementingand enforcing management at the local level based on customary tenure. The challenge for policy-makers, scientists, government and non government institutions is to move beyond the emphasis on protected areas in isolation and support and promote this de-centralized Island way.  This is a vital foundation to a truly regional approach to Integrated Island Management that can address  the pressing issues while sustaining the region’s biodiversity and livelihoods.… 

Preliminary Syntesis of the ICCA Regional Reviews

NEW!  COMMUNITY CONSERVED AREAS IN INDIA--

A Directory    available from: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Turtles, forests, blackbuck, primates, wetlands, and beaches…. conserved by rural communities across India. A myth? Not really. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of such initiatives, unknown and unrecognised. This book brings to light such efforts by documenting 140 case studies of Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) from 23 states,  from a diversity of ecosystems, communities, and kinds of efforts.

For early regional reviews (many prepared in preparation of the Durban Vth World Parks COngress, 2003), please scroll at the bottom of the main text in this page.

The Andes: Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia
(In Spanish)

En la región que comprende Bolivia, Ecuador y Colombia no existe reconocimiento formal u oficial de figuras legales emanadas    de los estados para lo que UICN ha denominado Áreas Indígenas y Comunitarias para laConservación –AICC. .....  La mayor extensión semejante con el concepto y práctica de la AICC en la región, corresponde a tierras y territorios pertenecientes legal o ancestralmente a colectividades de pueblos indígenas o comunidades negras afrodescendientes con permanencia de usos y costumbres tradicionales.  Esto plantea que el mayor énfasis del fenómeno AICC está referido en esta región, al tratamiento del acceso histórico reciente a larecuperación o reconocimiento de la propiedad de tierras sobre ecosistemas vitales para la sobrevivencia de grupos étnicos. Su posesión se reputa por estas sociedades desde tiempos inmemoriales, incluso para la mayoría de las culturas amerindias, se remonta al momento de la etnogénesis del respectivo grupo étnico enla protohistoria entre 15.000 y 2000 años antes del presente... 

Aires forestières communautaires conservées dans le Haut Atlas central (Maroc)
(French with executive summary in English)

On peut considérer, au Maroc, les agdals comme des « aires conservées par les communautés locales» ou Aires du Patrimoine Autochtone et Communautaire. Il s‘agit d‘institutions de mise en défense des ressources fondées sur des conditions réglementaires   et organisationnelles émanant des communautés en place et répondant aux spécificités locales selon le type d‘écosystème, la nature de la ressource et l‘évolution économique et sociale des communautés…

Central and Eastern Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Cameroon

Wide differences exist between the four countries with regard to the size, and occurrence of CCAs. This appears to be the result of a complex set of reasons, but includes factors such as enabling policy/legislation, population density and demand for land, and the presence of traditional/indigenous communities who have lived in an area with relatively little disturbance.
The status and durability of CCAs is critically dependent on the ability of local communities to make decisions about land and resource uses, hold secure tenure over resources, and exclude outsiders from appropriating resources…

South-West China

There is no one-size-fits-all working definition, or model of CCAs across SW China, where many groups maintain sacred land practices. CCAs can be found on exclusively collective forest, or on one household’s family land but, most importantly, a great number of them are overlapping or co-existing in multiple forms with protected areas. CCAs are found in a nested hierarchical structure. It is important to recognize the significance of sacred land at the household level and through to the regional level.  Particularly the ones at the household level are most vulnerable. Without such foundation of day-to-day attachment and practices, the more lofty ones at the top might start to loose their cultural constituency…

The Circumpolar Arctic: Nunavut (Canada) and Russia

The concept of “Community Conserved Areas” is still largely unknown among indigenous organizations, local communities, academics, government and others in the Arctic. Most indigenous people do not conceive of their ancestral areas in sub-divided parts that can be properly conserved as separate units. To maintain their indigenous lifestyles, they have utilized extensive land- and seascapes that include several interdependent ecosystems. [In other words] the “southern” concept of “protected areas” does not readily fit into the knowledge systems of Arctic indigenous peoples. Yet, the ICCA concept can be a useful tool for indigenous peoples in the Arctic by which they may gain government recognition of their traditional practices and governance systems…

Northern Mesoamerica: Belize, Guatemala, Southern Mexico

The CCA movement is vibrant is Mexico, growing in Guatemala but merely nascent in Belize.  Indigenous and some mestizo communities have historically managed their territory in a way that ensures the protection and sustainability of their resources.
A long-standing common practice is to maintain a part of their territory in a forested area with minimal human impact.[…]
Indigenous autonomy movements are a strong trend in Mesoamerica, particularly in Chiapas and Oaxaca. In these cases, CCAs are embedded in a wider struggle for liberty, democracy, justice, land tenure, control of natural resources use, production, knowledge, technology, education and culture… .

Forthcoming:

West Asia: The Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan 

Early regional and country studies on ICCAs and Co-managed Protected Areas by TILCEPA members

Most (not all) of this work has been supported by the TILCEPA component of the Ecosystems, Protected Areas and People (EPP initiative) coordinated by Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend

 Lessons Learned in the Establishment and Management of Protected Areas, South America, by Gonzalo Oviedo

Protected Areas and Indigenous and Local Communities in Brazil, by Cláudio C. Maretti, Dec. 2002 / Jan. 2003

Equidad entre Areas Protegidas y Comunidades Locales: Reflexion desde Mesoamérica y el Caribe
ELABORADO POR CoopeSolidar, R.L.: Vivienne Solis Rivera, Patricia Madrigal Cordero, Ivannia Ayales Cruz, Marvin Fonseca Borras.

pp. 1-7 (PDF, 805 KB)

pp. 8-35 (PDF, 870 KB)

pp. 36-69 (PDF, 649 KB) 

Lessons Learnt in the Establishment and Management of Protected Areas in South Asia, by Neema Pathak, with inputs from Anwarul Islam, S.U.K. Ekaratne and Altaf Hussain

Community Conserved Areas in Southeast Asia, by Maurizio Farhan Ferrari

Part 1

Part 2

Synthesis of Lessons Learned, Horn of Africa and Kenya, by Marco Bassi

Enhancing equity in the relationship between protected areas and indigenous and local communities in Central Africa, in the context of global change, by John Nelson & Norbert Gami

Mejorando La Equidad Entre Areas Protegidas, Mesoamerica Y El Caribe, by Vivienne Solís Rivera et al.

Co-management of natural resources in Central America: The road to “equitable distribution of the benefits of biodiversity” or another empty discourse of the technical elite?, by Hugh Govan

Lessons learned from the philosophy and practice of CBNRM in Southern Africa, by Brian Jones

Joint management of national parks in Australia, by Dermot Smyth

Devolution as a Threat to Democratic Decision-making in Forestry? Findings from Three States in India. ODI Working Paper 197;
Overseas Development Institute, London, UK by Sarin, Madhu with Neera M.Singh, Nandini Sundar and Ranu K. Bhogal, February 2003.

Les Aires du Patrimoine Communautaire
(Une nouvelle catégorie d’aires protégées, permettant aux communautés locales de gérer leur patrimoine naturel et culturel selon les principes du développement durable), JEAN LARIVIERE et SEYDINA ISSA SYLLA, courtoisie du Comité français pour l’UICN

Les parcs nationaux à la française : modèle original de l’importance des enjeux de gouvernance au sein de la catégorie II UICN, Martinez C. Petit J-M, Barthod C., Niel C.