Shortly after the Durban Congress, the Convention on Biological Diversity, at its COP 7 meeting in Kuala Lumpur (2004), approved the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA).  PoWPA supports a “new approach” to protected areas, calling for attention to governance types and quality, equity in conservation, and indigenous peoples’ rights.  The two meetings of the World Conservation Congress (WCC) that followed – WCC3 in Bangkok (2004) and WCC4 in Barcelona (2008) – confirmed and strengthened the same approach from the IUCN perspective.  Numerous IUCN Resolutions attest to the will of IUCN members to recognize and support ICCAs, and IUCN publications were developed to back this up technically.  WCC4 in Barcelona also approved new IUCN technical guidelines for protected areas, explicitly stating that different governance types – including ICCAs – can fully contribute to developing national protected area systems.  [The IUCN protected area matrix, in fact, lists ICCAs as column 4 and notes that ICCAs can embrace all IUCN categories/ management objectives].  Meanwhile, CBD COP 8 and CBD COP 9 reviewed the implementation of PoWPA and stressed the need to engage more forcefully in its element 2 dedicated to “Governance, participation, equity and benefit sharing”.  This was also reflected in the statement of recommendations that the May 2010 meeting of CBD SBSTTA in Nairobi submitted to COP 10, to take place in Nagoya (Japan) in October 2010.  In this meeting, notably, CBD delegates began even to describe some specifics of the recommended ICCA recognition, spelling out important safeguards for indigenous peoples and local communities.

Below you will be able to quickly access the main documents produced in the international congresses and meetings just mentioned.  Together, they make a powerful case for countries members of IUCN and parties to the CBD (193 countries all over the world) to provide effective and respectful recognition and support to ICCAs.

A list of key policy documents and events in chronological order:

• Global Biodiversity Outlook, Nairobi, 2010 
• SBSTTA, Nairobi, 2010 
• CBD COP 9 Decision IX/18, Bonn, 2008 
• World Conservation Congress, Barcelona, 2008 
• CDB COP8 DecisionVIII/24, Curitiba, 2006
• World Conservation Congress, Bangkok, 2004 
• Programme of Work on Protected Areas, approved at COP 7, Kuala Lumpur, 2004 
• The World Parks Congress (WPC), Durban, South Africa, 2003: 
• The Durban Accord 
• The Durban Action Plan 
• Recommendations 
• The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention, no. 169, 1989 

Key policy documents and events outlined in brief: 

This is a link to the main GBO page and gives (on the right hand-top corner) links to the GBO Handbook in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish, English and Portugese. Page 40-41 are the most relevant pages to community conserved areas: 

' Indigenous and local communities play a significantrole in conserving very substantial areas of high biodiversity and cultural value.' p. 40 

'In addition to officially-designated protected areas, there are many thousand Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) across the world, including sacred forests, wetlands, and landscapes, village lakes, catchment forests, river and coastal stretches and marine areas.' p.40 

'Biodiversity is at the centre of many religions and cultures..this is particularly true for

 'Some studies show that levels of protection are actually higher under community or indigenous management than under government management alone.' p. 41 

SBSTTA, Nairobi, 2010 

The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), Fourteenth Meeting. Please see, from the SBSTTA document, sections highlighted in yellow addressing the roles and participation of Indigenous people. Such as: 

'((to) Recognize the role of indigenous and local community conserved areas and conserved areas of other stakeholders  in biodiversity conservation, collaborative management and diversification of governance types' p. 7 

CBD COP 9 Decision IX/18 on Protected Areas, Bonn, 2008 

World Conservation Congress, Barcelona, 2008 

Resolution 4.048 ‘Indigenous Peoples protected Areas and implementation of the Durban Accord’ 

Resolution 4.049 ‘Supporting Indigenous conservation territories and other indigenous peoples and community conservation areas’

Resolution 4.050 ‘Recognition of of Indigenous conserved territories’

CBD COP8 Decision VIII/24 on Protected Areas, Curitiba, 2006 

Decision VIII/24.18(g) 'To support institutional strengthening and improved governance of protected-areas management authorities including those of indigenous and local communities'

Decision VIII/24.22(e) 'To support community conserved areas, ensuring the immediate, full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the development of relevant activities'

World Conservation Congress, Bangkok, 2004 

Resolution 3.012 ‘Governance of natural resources for conservation and sustainable development’ p.11-13

Resolution 3.049 ‘Community Conserved Areas’ p.55-56

Resolution 3.081‘Implementation of principle 10 by building comprehensive, good governance systems’ p. 95-96

Programme of Work on Protected Areas, approved at COP 7, Kuala Lumpur, 2004 

The Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) was approved at COP 7 in Kuala Lumpur in 2004. The programme consists of an introduction followed by four main 'elements'. 'Element 2' is directly linked with the issues of Governance and ICCAs, however, the whole document still contains useful references to them.  

The areas highlighted in yellow in the CEESP Briefing Note no.8 are excerpts from PoWPA most relevant for governance and ICCAs. 

The World Parks Congress (WPC), Durban, South Africa, 2003:

The Durban Accord

Crucial excerpts from the Accord: 'We urge commitment to recognize, strengthen, protect and support community conservation areas’.

The Durban Action Plan

'Outcome 5- The Rights of Indigenous People, including mobile indigenous peoples, and local communities are secured in relation to natural resources and biodiversity conservation' p. 244

'Outcome 6- Younger Generations are empowered in relation to protected areas' 

'Outcome 8- Improved forms of Governance are in Place' p. 257

Recommendations

Recommendation V:16 'Good Governance of Protected Areas' p.175-176

Recommendation V:17 'Recognising and Supporting Diversity of Governance for Protected Areas' p.177-178 

Recommendation V:26 'Community and Conserved Areas' p.202-204

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention no. 169, 1989 

This convention revises the Indigenous and Tribal populations Convention of 1957