A/HRC/61/49 instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, also protect Indigenous land rights and require States to seek the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples when activities taking place on their lands have an impact on their rights. 20. Regional human rights jurisprudence has confirmed the cultural rights obligations associated with conservation under regional instruments. Following its judgment of 6 February 2020 in Indigenous Communities of the Lhaka Honhat (Our Land) Association v. Argentina, in which it confirmed the link between the Indigenous right to a healthy environment and cultural identity, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its historic advisory opinion 32/25 of 29 May 2025, confirmed that States had the obligation to refrain from violating cultural rights in their attempts to adopt measures for climate mitigation or adaptation. In Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on Behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that the creation of a game reserve on the ancestral land of the Endorois, which denied their community access, violated their cultural rights. 43 In 2017, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that forest conservation measures did not supersede the obligations of Kenya to give effect to the rights of the Ogiek, including their right to remain on their lands.44 In 2022, the Commission also found that the Democratic Republic of the Congo had violated the Indigenous Batwa’s cultural rights through the creation and management of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park.45 The Commission condemned the practice of fortress conservation. 21. The preamble to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas explicitly recognizes the contributions of peasants to conserving and improving biodiversity worldwide. The Declaration provides that States are to take appropriate measures to support peasant agrobiodiversity and to prevent the depletion and ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in order to promote and protect the full enjoyment of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (arts. 19 (6) and 20 (1)). 22. International human rights law has recognized that not only States and public bodies, but also private and associative conservation organizations need to apply these standards. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights apply to non-governmental conservation organizations and funders, and some leading organizations have integrated them.46 These actors have a baseline duty to avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved. This responsibility exists independently of States’ abilities and/or willingness to fulfil their own human rights obligations.47 Implementation continues to be elusive. 23. The Core Human Rights Principles for Private Conservation Organizations and Funders, which were developed by the United Nations Environment Programme through a participatory process, clarify how human rights standards apply to conservation organizations and donors. The principles apply norms already contained in human rights instruments. 48 24. Cultural rights are an integral part of universal human rights, which constitute a system that also protects the rights to water, food, health, housing and a clean environment, and the right to work. All these rights are relevant when it comes to nature conservation. The principles of universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights demand that human rights be considered simultaneously. In accordance with article 4 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in particular, States may subject rights 43 44 45 46 47 48 GE.26-01310 Communication No. 276/2003, Decision, November 2009, para. 251. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya, Application No. 006/2012, Judgment, 26 May 2017, paras. 216 and 217. Submission from International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, para. 43. For example, Embedding Human Rights in Forest Conservation: From Intent to Action: Report of the Independent Panel of Experts of the Independent Review of Allegations Raised in the Media Regarding Human Rights Violations in the Context of WWF’s Conservation Work (2020), p. 150. Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights, principle 11 and commentary thereto. See https://wedocs.unep.org/items/821a4898-5e7b-4ad7-9900-c071e0335fc6. 7