Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Commission DECLARATION

International Indian Treaty Council

CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

	“WORKING FOR THE RIGHTS AND RECOGNITION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES"

Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Commission
DECLARATION

from the International Indian Treaty Council
25th Anniversary Gathering
Mato Paha (Bear Butte)
Lakota Nation Territory

June 26, 1999

PREAMBLE

The Commission on Environmental Protection and Biodiversity, at the 25th International Indian Treaty Council Conference, endorses by consensus the following principles as a statement of our beliefs and a guide to our actions.

As Indigenous Peoples from throughout the world, we express our profound indignation that, at the mid-point of the United Nations Decade on the World's Indigenous Peoples, our lands, natural resources, cultures and genetic material continue to be exploited, commodified and/or destroyed by government agencies, transnational corporations and projects funded by international lending institutions through the process of globalization.

Despite existing international environmental protection, human rights and other international instruments, including those endorsed by over one hundred heads of state at the 1992 Earth Summit, our inherent rights as self-determined Peoples continue to be violated.

PRINCIPLES

The principles we endorse by concensus are as follows:

- As affirmed in the Heart of the Peoples Declaration adopted in 1997 at the North American Indigenous Peoples Summit on Biological Diversity and Biological Ethics, and U.N. Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities' Resolution 1996/36 on "Religious Freedom of Indigenous Peoples", all life on Mother Earth is sacred and interconnected. Furthermore, Indigenous Peoples have a unique spiritual relationship with the natural world, especially the land. Therefore, protection of the environment is essential for the continued cultural survival of the world's Indigenous Peoples.

- As sovereign Peoples and Nations, we have an inherent right to self-determination, affirmed through treaty rights and other agreements. As such, we must be equal participants through prior and fully informed participation at local, national and international levels, regarding any and all appropriation, commercial use and/or intrusion onto our lands, ecosystems, waters, other natural resources, and our human bodies. We affirm and assert our right to say "no" to any of these activities.

- Human beings are not separate from the natural world, but are created to live in a harmonious relationship with it. From the comprehensive cultural and spiritual perspective of Indigenous Peoples, "biodiversity" includes all life forms, both seen and unseen.

- Environmental destruction, therefore, is equal to the cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples.

ACTIONS

1. We call on the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to recognize the comprehensive rights of Indigenous Peoples, including that of prior informed consent, and to ensure their effective input to the CSD through the training of Indigenous community members to fully understand the scientific and ethical impacts of development.

2. We call for the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to enforce protection of Indigenous Peoples and their traditional knowledge, which includes the use of all biological resources within their traditional territories, as per Article 8(j) of the CBD.

3. We call on the governments of nation states to change national legislation to allow Indigenous Peoples to participate in CBD Article 8(j) consultations and in all phases of Article 8 (j) implementation.

4. We call for a ban on the patenting of all life forms, including human, animal and plant cells, seeds, genetic material and micro-organisms, until the human rights concerns of Indigenous Peoples -- including the full adoption of the current text of the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples -- have been adequately addressed.

5. We demand that an information clearing house be established for all human, plant, animal and microbe collection, research, experimentation and use on Indigenous Peoples or in our communities.

6. We call for the U.N. to commit to the dissemination of information in appropriate local languages, and to provide assistance to Indigenous Peoples and traditional leaders regarding these vital issues to assure the widest possible participation in global policy making.

7. We call on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to provide a mechanism through which Indigenous Peoples can be full and effective participants in any WTO decision making processes which will have direct or indirect impacts on Indigenous Peoples' territories and cultures.

8. We call on the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to provide for the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in their consultation and decision making processes.

9. In order to protect Mother Earth and Indigenous Peoples, we call upon IITC to oppose all destructive and dangerous practices, which include: militarization of Indigenous territories; nuclear and biological testing; transportation and storage of nuclear and toxic wastes; oil exploration and drilling; mining; clear-cutting and mono-culture reforestation practices; and industrial or other activities which result in persistent organic pollutants.

10. We support Indigenous Peoples' efforts to determine and define concepts such as "sustainable development" and "benefits sharing" from their own perspectives. We therefore call on IITC to support the definitions developed by Indigenous Peoples at conferences such as the First International Workshop on Indigenous Self-Development, convened in Guatemala in 1998.

11. We call upon IITC to disseminate information and provide technical assistance to Indigenous Peoples and traditional leaders facing environmental exploitation and degradation to help assure their full and effective participation in policy making at local, national and international levels.

12. We call upon the IITC to work in partnership with grass roots communities to disseminate concise information that will clarify U.N. and other international processes relevant to our concerns.

13. We call upon the IITC to disseminate concise information on specific actions it can take in support of grass roots efforts to protect the natural world.