The following is a
reproduction of the letter of Tebtebba Foundation’s Joji Carino to
Achim Steiner, IUCN’s Director General, on the IUCN-ICMM partnership.
4 September 2002
Mr. Achim Steiner
Director General
World Conservation union
Re: IUCN-ICMM
Partnership on Mining and Biodiversity
IUCN’s announcement of its
partnership with ICMM on Mining and Biodiversity has come as an
unwelcome surprise for indigenous peoples this week at the WSSD. As
you may know, the whole issue of mining and sustainable development
has been a very controversial issue, similar to that of large dams and
their disproportionate impacts on indigenous communities.
On behalf of the Indigenous
Peoples s Caucus at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, I am
forwarding a copy of the public statement issued by the Caucus on the
subject of IUCN’s partnership with the ICMM.
We feel that this
partnership has put into question the commitment of IUCN to the rights
of indigenous peoples in every aspect of its work. For many years,
indigenous peoples’ organizations have worked hard to make IUCN
responsive to our rights and perspectives on the critical issues of
protected areas, biodiversity conservation and indigenous peoples
rights. This hard work has borne fruit in the recent policies of IUCN
on this theme.
It would seem that on the
matter of corporate accountability, indigenous peoples rights and
biodiversity, there remains a big gap to be bridged in terms of IUCN’s
position and that of indigenous peoples, mine affected communities,
and broader civil; society.
I look forward to your
response on this matter. Please contact Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous
Environmental Network,
ien@igc.org, Victoria Tauli Corpuz, Tebtebba Foundation,
vco@skyinet.net and myself, Joji Carino, Tebtebba Foundation,
tongtong@gn.apc.org
Thank you very much for
your attention,
Yours sincerely,
SGD: Joji Carino
Tebtebba Foundation in
behalf of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus (WSSD)
