First published on 12/31/2008, and last updated on 07/20/2022
The 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 9), held in Bonn, Germany, in 2008, was significant in its acknowledgement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) – including in Decisions IX/2, IX/5, IX/7, IX/12, IX/13, IX/18 and IX/20, and Annex III (COP 9 President’s conclusions of the high-level segment) – which had been adopted by the UN General Assembly the previous year. This marked a turning point for indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of the CBD and provided a clearer policy basis for invoking the connections between indigenous peoples’ rights (a key aspect of ICCAs de facto) and the aims of the CBD.
ICCAs were explicitly recognised twice in the COP 9 Decision on protected areas. Concerning the review of implementation of PoWPA, Parties were invited to recognise the contribution of ICCAs (inter alia) within the national protected area system through national legislation or other effective means (Decision IX/18/A, para 6(b)). This was a welcome addition to the COP 8 provisions for financial support for ICCAs, however, some indigenous peoples and local communities have significant concerns with their ICCAs being incorporated into national protected area systems. As of COP 9, the CBD did not provide for recognition of ICCAs outside of national protected area systems.
Furthermore, after expressing concern that insufficient financial resources continued to be one of the main obstacles to implementation of PoWPA by developing countries, the Parties urged multilateral donors and other funding organisations to make available adequate, timely and predictable funding for developing countries in order to (inter alia) improve management of existing protected areas, including ICCAs (Decision IX/18/B, para 6(a)). As with COP 8 decisions on financing, this is an important facet of recognising and supporting ICCAs but it is arguably not sufficient.
Although it did not refer explicitly to ICCAs in doing so, the Decision on protected areas also recognised the need to promote full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities in implementation of PoWPA at all levels and noted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Decision IX/18/A, preamble). It also invited Parties to pay special attention to implementation of PoWPA’s Element 2 (Decision IX/18/A, para 4(c)), which itself references ICCAs (see ICCAs in CBD COP 7 Decisions) . The same COP 9 Decision also encouraged Parties to establish multi-sectoral advisory committees, including representatives of indigenous and local communities (among others), to assist with implementation of PoWPA (Decision IX/18/A, para 5(b)). At the time, this was a very welcome provision, though it is unclear to what extent it has been implemented in practice.
All COP 9 Decisions are available online.
