A/HRC/61/49 V. Building a cultural rights-based approach to nature conservation: ways forward 36. Cultural rights protect the development and expression of cultural identities. At their core, they empower individuals and groups to express their humanity, world views and the meanings that they attribute to their existence and development through various forms of human expression. This includes the arts, cultural heritage, languages, sciences, knowledge, convictions, religions and beliefs, sports and games, rites and ceremonies, production methods, technology, institutions and livelihoods, connections with nature and the environment, food and dress and ways of life. A cultural rights-based approach to nature conservation essentially requires a radical shift to centre human cultures in the overall project of protecting natural environments.62 A. Acknowledging the diversity of definitions of nature and conservation 37. People relate to nature in diverse ways based on their unique cultural understanding of the world, traditions, education, access to scientific knowledge and histories. Neither “conservation” nor “nature” is conceptualized and understood in a uniform manner between and within regions and countries.63 For many, the terminology of nature conservation itself is a foreign concept, is not in their cultural lexicon and does not neatly fit in their world views. Therefore, the way in which nature is used and protected is grounded in cultural viewpoints that reflect a specific relationship between humans and nature. Ultimately, it is about different world visions and cultural frameworks. 38. Regrettably, the global environmental and conservation movements have historically subscribed to a rather narrow and exclusionary ideology around the conservation of nature, coalesced around the idea that humans are incompatible with, and superior to, nature. Accordingly, nature can be protected only if separated from human presence, and nature conservation measures are designed to protect nature from human involvement and practices that are predatory, extractive and exploitative. 64 In this context, communities have been overlooked or marginalized.65 The legacy of racist and colonial ideologies, which reinforced the divisions between nature and humans, has also contributed to a separation between human rights and nature conservation, to the detriment of the cultural rights of many individuals and groups. Cultural rights require us to depart from this single narrative and adopt a multi-perspective approach. B. Nurturing the link between cultural diversity and biodiversity 39. Nature conservation requires a cultural inscription. It is because people have developed awareness for, and a relationship of care with, their environment that they take steps to protect it.66 It is imperative to strengthen the understanding that the conservation of nature and cultural rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing objectives. This starts with understanding the concept of nature and the presence or absence of rich biodiversity in a manner that includes cultural aspects and human influences. 62 63 64 65 66 GE.26-01310 Submission from Colombia, p. 5, where it is stated that what is required is a transition towards a new cultural compact that redefines well-being beyond consumption and places respect for life in all its forms as a guiding principle for collective decisions. See Luca Coscieme and others, “Multiple conceptualizations of nature are key to inclusivity and legitimacy in global environmental governance”, Environmental Science and Policy, vol. 104 (2020). Submissions from Uzbekistan; and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), p. 3; and submissions from Mahdi Kolahi, Dolly Wong, Red Española para el Desarrollo Sostenible and the United Cities and Local Governments Committee on Culture. Submission from International Union for the Conservation of Nature. For examples, see submissions from Myanmar; Paraguay; and Uzbekistan, paras. 15–17; and submission from Kryštof Novotný. 11