A/HRC/61/49/Add.1 they aspire to. The possible impact on ways of life is not fully considered, on the assumption that people will always sacrifice their traditional ways to happily embrace modern ways of life, with no possible middle ground. There is no acknowledgement of the sacrifices made or of the sacrifices likely to be required, and thus no possibility to address and mitigate them. Rather, people are trained to transition to new occupations created by development projects. This is also a missed opportunity, overlooking what local communities have to offer on the road to development. 2. Using free, prior and informed consent as a tool for agreement-building: the Hin Nam No National Park example 77. The Special Rapporteur visited the Hin Nam No National Park, located in Boualapha District, Khammouane Province. Initially established as a national biodiversity conservation area in 1993, the area became a national park in 2020. It is surrounded by 20 villages, with 1,803 families belonging to six ethnic groups; the Special Rapporteur visited one of the villages – Nong Ping. 78. At the time of the visit, the Park was on the tentative list for recognition as a world heritage site. Following its official nomination, the Park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List one year later, in November 2025. The Park, an exceptional limestone karst landscape, is a transboundary property located along the border between the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam. It is an area of high ethnic diversity and there is a wealth of intangible cultural heritage, including traditional land- and resource-use practices. For the authorities, the aims of the nomination included protecting species, flora and fauna and their habitat, preserving the cultural landscape, enhancing tourism and scientific study and contributing to the livelihood of people through sustainable development. 79. As a result of long-term efforts, supported by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the German Agency for International Cooperation, and collaboration with local authorities, the nomination process was an opportunity to include a free, prior and informed consent approach. This approach was a foundation of the Government’s submission for the nomination and is reflected in detail in the UNESCO nomination text.16 The Special Rapporteur visited the Park to better understand this important initiative, which could be replicated elsewhere in the country. 80. In 2016, a collaborative management system was established for the Park, including a district-level collaborative management committee of 14 representatives and 19 village committees;17 a twentieth village has since been added, following the split of one village into two. From 2019 to 2023, a free, prior and informed consent programme was in place for surrounding villages as part of the nomination effort. As many stakeholders confirmed to the Special Rapporteur, this constituted a significant upgrade of the process, which lasted three and a half years and culminated with an approved action plan on free, prior and informed consent. The action plan, structured around 21 themes, commits the Province to undertake participatory zoning; recognize Indigenous and local communities, recognize customary use areas and ensure land tenure security; and, in service of wider collective ambitions, to ensure equitable tourism, gender inclusivity, targeted development support and improved food security.18 The process was documented in a report and the decision was endorsed by the District Governor, in decision No. 1542/Gov BLP (July 2022), and by the Provincial Governor, in decision No. 1542/Gov KM (Sept 2022).19 16 17 18 19 GE.26-01463 Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nomination of Hin Nam No National Park of Lao PDR as Transboundary Extension to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park World Heritage Site of Vietnam (2024), pp. 200–214. Available at Phttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/951/documents/. Lao People’s Democratic Republic, “Information handout, nomination of Hin Nam No National Park of Lao PDR as transboundary extension to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park World Heritage Site of Vietnam”, 2024. Available at https://hinnamno.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/13/hnn-executivesummary-English-3.pdf. See also Peter Bille Larsen and Chantaly Chanthavisouk, “Free, prior, and informed consent, local officials, and changing biodiversity governance in Hin Nam No, Laos”, Conservation Biology, vol. 38, No. 6 (2024). Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nomination of Hin Nam No National Park, p. 201. 15