A/77/238 61. In the United States of America, the Bears Ears National Monument is to be co-managed with five Native American tribes. One elected officer from each tribe will sit on the Bears Ears Commission, tasked with the planning, management, conservation, restoration and protection of the sacred lands and the protection of ceremonies, rituals and traditional uses that are part of the tribal nations’ way of life. 47 The Special Rapporteur is particularly encouraged by this development because the previous mandate holder expressed concerns about the Bears Ears site in 2018. 48 62. In Australia, under a federal indigenous rangers programme, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are employed in land and sea management around the country. Some 2,000 indigenous rangers are employed under more than 80 projects that support them in combining traditional knowledge with conservation training to protect and manage their land, sea and culture, including through bushfire mitigation and the protection of threatened species. 49 63. In July 2019, the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in Victoria, Australia, was included in the World Heritage List in recognition of the significance of the complex aquaculture system developed by the Gunditjmara people for trapping, storing and harvesting eel. 50 The nomination was prepared by the traditional owners themselves. The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is Aboriginal-owned and is managed with respect for the customary and legal rights and obligations of the Gunditjmara traditional owners. The site is protected and managed through an adaptive and participatory framework of overlapping and integrated customary, governance, legislative and policy approaches. 51 64. In the Russian Federation, the Bikin National Park was included in the World Heritage List in 2018 after years of advocacy by the Udege, Nanai and Orochi indigenous peoples. The legislative framework governing the Park explicitly protects their rights to hunting, harvesting and the use of natural resources for traditional economic activities in almost 60 per cent of the Park. 52 65. In Sweden, the Laponia Area is an example of a World Heritage site whose outstanding universal value is based on recognition of indigenous cultural values, not only ensuring that those values are considered in conservation d ecisions, but also institutionalizing indigenous peoples’ primary role in decision -making and site management processes. The area was initially nominated as a natural site, but the application was denied and it was then renominated and designated a mixed s ite in 1996, in recognition of both its natural features and the significance of the Sami reindeer herding culture in the area. Following successful advocacy by Sami leaders, a new management organization, Laponiatjuottjudus, was established in 2012 with a Sami majority on the basis of consensus decision-making, allowing for integrated management of the indigenous cultural values and natural values of the site. 53 The management stakeholders are the nine Sami villages in Laponia, two municipalities (Gällivare and Jokkmokk), the Norrbotten County Administrative Board and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. __________________ 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 22-11289 See www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/docs/2022-06/BearsEarsNationalMonumentInterGovernmentalAgreement2022.pdf. Communication OL USA 1/2018 addressed to the United States, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23594 . See www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/environment/indigenous-ranger-programs. See www.budjbim.com.au/; and https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1577/. Submission by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs to the Special Rapporteur. Ibid. See https://laponia.nu/om-oss/laponiatjuottjudus/; and https://laponia.nu/wp-content/uploads/ 2014/08/Laponia-forvaltningsplan-eng-web-150327_2.pdf. 17/20