A/62/286 study regarding best practices carried out to implement the recommendations contained in his annual reports, submitted at the request of the Commission on Human Rights (Add.4). 7. In his most recent report, the Special Rapporteur sought to draw the attention of the Human Rights Council and the international community as a whole to the new challenges affecting the survival of indigenous peoples’ as peoples, with a view to guiding the efforts of Governments, international human rights bodies and civil society to better protect the rights of these peoples. 8. One trend that has gained momentum in recent years is the steady decline in indigenous territories, including indigenous peoples’ loss of control over their natural resources. This process has been intensified by the dynamics of the globalized economy and, in particular, by the spread of new ways of exploiting energy and water resources. 9. The Special Rapporteur’s report to the Human Rights Council also contains an analysis of the situation of communities that are particularly vulnerable as a result of various processes that cause them to lose control over their traditional lands and resources. This is the case, in particular, of forest peoples, which are deprived of their traditional living spaces with virtually no compensation or economic alternatives. Of special concern is the situation of the few communities that remain isolated in remote areas of tropical forests, which are now in danger of losing their traditional territories to powerful economic interests and are at serious risk of disappearing completely. Also in jeopardy is the existence of pastoral peoples in arid and semi-arid regions, owing to the privatization and division of their traditional grazing lands or the creation of nature reserves, which are gradually reducing their traditional living areas. 10. Extractive activities, large commercial plantations and unsustainable consumption patterns have led to widespread pollution and environmental degradation, which have been decried by world public opinion. These processes have a particularly serious impact on indigenous peoples, whose way of life is closely linked to their traditional relationship with their lands and natural resources. A breakdown in this relationship often leads to the forced displacement of indigenous communities; this, in turn, increases poverty and seriously undermines these peoples’ nutrition, health and well-being. 11. To defend their rights and express their needs, indigenous people turn to various forms of organization and social mobilization that often represent the only means of making their demands heard. All too often, however, social protest is criminalized, giving rise to additional and sometimes serious human rights violations. 12. Increased migration by indigenous people is another reflection of globalization and of the inequality and poverty it engenders. Indigenous migrants are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations if they work in the agricultural or mining sectors, move to urban areas or emigrate to other countries. Forced migration of indigenous peoples is the result of the often desperate circumstances they experience in their places of origin. 13. Lastly, this year’s report draws the Human Rights Council’s attention to the persistently disadvantageous situation of indigenous women in many parts of the world. In the course of his six-year mandate, the Special Rapporteur has personally 4 07-48664

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