A/HRC/61/49 29. In 2024, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to establish a new, permanent subsidiary body on article 8 (j), to include Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This represented a big step, among others, in enhancing the engagement and participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in all Convention processes. 30. Influential standards regarding conservation and human rights have also been developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Resolutions adopted by the Union, which has over 1,400 members, can have a significant influence on conservation standards. Recommendation No. 24 of the Union’s 2003 World Parks Congress included the recommendation that involuntary evictions be ended and that protected areas be established only with “prior social, economic, cultural and environmental impact assessment, undertaken with the full participation of Indigenous Peoples”. The 2003 Durban Accord and Action Plan determined important targets (not obligations) relating to the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in conservation and led to a series of outputs by the Union, focused on rights-based approaches to conservation. The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) also strengthens participatory approaches in conservation issues and deserves to be more widely ratified. 31. The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, which entered into force in 2026, stresses the need to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the common heritage of humankind in biodiversity governance on the high seas. More broadly, although not directly making the link with human rights, the Agreement covers the protection of cultural values (art. 17), the inclusion of cultural impacts in environmental impact assessments (art. 31), prior consultation with all that have relevant knowledge, including Indigenous Peoples, local communities, civil society and the scientific community (art. 32) and an inclusive approach to knowledge (arts. 35 and 44). C. International law relating to the protection of natural and cultural heritage 32. The work of UNESCO in the field of heritage has gradually shifted towards the integration of natural and cultural resources, especially with the recognition of “cultural landscapes”, contributing further to the understanding that culture and nature are intertwined. UNESCO-designated biosphere reserves, world heritage sites and global geoparks serve to ensure the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of its components. There is no doubt that the biggest challenge for UNESCO is to avoid contributing to fortress conservation. The protection of cultural rights is an overarching principle underpinning all UNESCO culture conventions, including the implementation mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention and the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the Policy Document for the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention.52 The implementation of the World Heritage Convention is governed by the World Heritage Committee, with advice provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. A great deal of work is also being carried out to support sustainable development and nature conservation through the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.53 52 53 GE.26-01310 Submission from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), pp. 3 and 4. Submission from Agnieszka Pawłowska-Mainville, UNESCO Chair in Living Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods, University of British Columbia, Canada. According to the submission, the intangible cultural heritage framework “encourages viewing land not merely as a resource but as a living repository of knowledge, memory, and belonging. Through this lens, intangible heritage provides a means to integrate conservation and cultural policy, affirming culturally-led approaches to territory can serve as exemplars of sustainability and symbiotic human-nature relationships.” See also 9