The newsletter highlights that in Madagascar, after a series of national workshops focused on experiences in governance and sustainable management of natural resources, a National Network of Local Communities Managing Natural Resources has been created, in consultation with 482 communities, from 17 Malagasy Regions.
According to the newsletter, the work of the Network will be guided by the principles set out in the Anju Declaration.
October 2012: The Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs) Forum published its September 2012 newsletter, focusing on ongoing work and events hosted by ICCA. It includes articles on: the First National Conference on ICCAs in the Philippines; ICCA activities on sustainable management of natural resources in Madagascar; and a workshop in Panama on connecting indigenous and scientific knowledge systems.
According to the newsletter, the First National Conference on ICCAs in the Philippines convened in March 2012, and led to an agreed Declaration asserting the need for appropriate recognition and support to ICCAs in the Philippines. The Declaration asks the government to “support the indigenous peoples’ capability to manage their ICCAs [and] to not invent new systems or processes from somewhere else that will undermine them,” and asks NGOs to “simplify things” and “respect spiritual relationships of the Indigenous peoples.”
In Madagascar, the newsletter notes, after a series of national workshops focused on experiences in governance and sustainable management of natural resources, a National Network of Local Communities Managing Natural Resources has been created, in consultation with 482 communities, from 17 Malagasy Regions. According to the newsletter, the work of the Network will be guided by the principles set out in the Anju Declaration.
In Guna Yala, Panama, the Government of Sweden convened a workshop on indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge, science and the process of connecting diverse knowledge systems. The workshop, held in April 2012, discussed and prepared recommendations for the second plenary meeting on creating the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
ICCA is run by the ICCA Consortium, an international association dedicated to promoting the appropriate recognition of and support to ICCAs, nationally, regionally and globally. The Consortium comprises members from indigenous people organizations, community-based organizations, and civil society organizations. The Consortium collaborates with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as well as research and advocacy organizations. [Publication: The ICCA Consortium Newsletter, September 2012] [ICCA Forum Website]