Forest Peoples, Customary Use and State Forests: The Case for Reform

Abstract

"Worldwide an estimated 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their daily livelihoods. Though sound data are lacking, about half of these are long term residents who manage their lands and forests according to customary law. Forestry laws tend to classify and zone forests as State forest areas and ignore or deny customary rights in forests or subordinate customary use to the interests of concessionaires and large scale users. However, international human rights laws, forest policies, conservation norms and environmental laws now place significant obligations on governments to revise their forest management regimes to accommodate the claims of customary law communities. Moreover, widespread mobilization of forest-dependent peoples pressing for recognition of their rights, has triggered significant legal reforms in some countries. Drawing on five long-term case studies carried out by the Forest Peoples Programme with indigenous peoples' organisations in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Cameroon, and Thailand, the paper summarises new field data which reveal the remarkable complexity of customary law systems and how the narrowing gap, between countries' obligations under international law and national laws, can be bridged. All these countries are party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a relatively new piece of international law that is not yet well understood or implemented. The study thus looks in particular at what these countries need to do to meet their obligations under CBD Article 10c, by which States party to the treaty should 'protect and encourage the customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices.' Drawing on these practical experiences, the paper proposes a methodology for identifying customary use, strengthening traditional practices to ensure sustainable use and ensuring that State laws, policies and practices align with countries' obligations under the CBD and other relevant international treaties."