A/77/514 holders express concerns that its verification process may further racial discrimination and stereotyping if potentially based on "Indian" appearance or blood quantum.71 32. Rather than being forcibly evicted for specific projects, some indigenous peoples are displaced from traditional lands by living in regions prone to natural disasters or embroiled in conflict, typically resource-rich areas.72 With the scant immediate prospect of return, indigenous internally displaced persons and refugees may hold fears for their "cultural loss," compounding or exacerbating psychological distress.73 33. Nature's vitality is at the heart of many indigenous cultures and spirituality, as well as their daily survival, with over 60 million indigenous peoples materially reliant upon forest resources.74 Consequently, indigenous peoples frequently "bear an unfair share" of costs arising from activities damaging nature. 75 This extends to their disproportionate suffering from climate change, despite being amongst those who contributed the least to this historically,76 which furthers their socio-economic marginalization, food insecurity,77 and displacement from increasingly uninhabitable lands.78 In a landmark decision adopted on 22 July 2022, the Human Rights Committee has found that Australia’s failure to adequately protect indigenous Torres Islanders against adverse impacts of climate change violated their rights including to enjoy their culture, while observing a “strong cultural and spiritual link between indigenous peoples and their traditional lands.”79 34. Experts have asserted that the "best way" to protect nature typically is to protect the rights of those living there.80 Compelling evidence indicates that indigenous peoples are often "custodians of biological diversity within ancestral territories," especially where they enjoy secure land rights, given their rich reservoir of knowledge of nature and behavioural adaptation to maintain ecological balance.81 Disregarding indigenous peoples and the loss of their languages—as a source and conduit of knowledge—misses valuable opportunities for biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and sustainability,82 especially considering that indigenous peoples are only 6% of the global population yet protect 80% of its biodiversity. 35. The Special Rapporteur is concerned at reports of some conservation and climate mitigation measures violating indigenous peoples' rights. Several States and nature protection groups have embraced "fortress conservation," blocking their access to indigenous lands— including sacred sites—in the name of "environmental protection," without FPIC and even where they live sustainably in keeping with their spirituality. Having denied their formal permit requests, some interlocutors claim that Kenyan park rangers have extracted bribes from indigenous persons seeking to conduct spiritual ceremonies on their lands in conservation zones. According to Sami peoples in Scandinavia and Baka in Congo and Cameroon, specific conservation measures unduly restrict their sustainable hunting and fishing activities. Interlocutors particularly emphasize that the IUCN's goal to protect 30% 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 10 https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2022.2101140,(pp.8-9,14); https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Call/IndigenousAlliance WithoutBorders.pdf. A/HRC/49/44; https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/P0073_Indigenouspeoples_BP.pdf. Also A/HRC/32/35/Add.3,(para.90). https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/P0073_Indigenouspeoples_BP.pdf,(p.3). https://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2012/05/forest-peoples-numbers-acrossworld-final_0.pdf A/75/161,(para 52). A/HRC/36/46,(para.6). https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/22787/9781464806735. pdf?sequence=13&isAllowed=y,(pp.2-6). A/HRC/36/46,(para.90). Also A/HRC/4/32,(para.49). CCPR/C/135/D/3624/2019. https://news.trust.org/item/20210603135601-wshfn/. https://iwgia.org/doclink/iwgia-book-the-indigenous-world-2021eng/eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJpd2dpYS1ib29rLXRoZS1pbmRpZ2V ub3VzLXdvcmxkLTIwMjEtZW5nIiwiaWF0IjoxNjI4ODM5NjM2LCJleHAiOjE2Mjg5MjYwMzZ9. z1CuM7PcT5CPkV0evx8ve88y6v0vmwDu_51JQ_lwAkM,(p.665). A/HRC/36/46,(paras.16-24); https://rightsandresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Corneredby-PAs-Brief_RRI_June-2018.pdf.