A/71/229 13. Protected areas have the potential of safeguarding biodiversity for the benefit of all humanity; however, these have also been associated with human rights violations against indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. For over a century, conservation was carried out with the aim of vacating protected areas of all human presence, leading to cultural destruction and large -scale displacements of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands in the name of conservation. Past conservation measures caused complex and multiple violations of the collective and individual human rights of indigenous peoples. 14. The expanse of protected areas nearly doubled over a period two decades, from 8.7 million square kilometres in 1980 to 16.1 million square kilometres in 2000. 2 There is significant spatial overlap between the traditional lands of indigenous peoples and areas which retain the highest levels of high -biodiversity. Traditional indigenous territories encompass around 22 per cent of the world ’s land surface and they coincide with areas that hold 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity. 3 It has been estimated that 50 per cent of protected areas worldwide has been established on lands traditionally occupied and used by indigenous peoples and that this proportion is highest in the Americas, where it may exceed 90 per cent in Central America. Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, as well as Canada and the United States of America, all have a high percentage of protected areas on indigenous traditional territory. Overlap is also significant in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the protected areas in India, Nepal and the Philippines include the territories of indigenous peoples. Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania are among the African co untries in which large parts of the protected areas are located on indigenous peoples ’ ancestral domains. 4 15. Indigenous peoples retain strong spiritual links with the plants, trees and animals on their lands and protecting their lands is a sacred duty. Yet, indigenous peoples may not refer to themselves as conservationists and this has resulted in a considerable lack of acknowledgement within the conservation community of indigenous peoples’ contribution to conservation. 5 There is increasing recognition that the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples contain the most intact ecosystems and provide the most effective and sustainable form of conservation. 6 Studies have demonstrated that the territories of indigenous peoples who have been given land rights have been significantly better conserved than the adjacent lands. 7 Yet, to date, the important role played by indigenous peoples as environmental guardians has still failed to gain due recognition. According to the United Nations Environment __________________ 2 3 4 5 6 7 16-13163 Jenny Springer and Fernanda Almeida, “Protected areas and land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities” (Washington, D.C., Rights and Resources Initiative, 2015). Claudia Sobrevila, “The role of indigenous peoples in biodiversity conservatio n: the natural but often forgotten partners” (Washington, D.C., World Bank, 2008). Stan Stevens, ed., Indigenous Peoples, National Parks and Protected Areas: A New Paradigm Linking Conservation, Culture and Rights (Tucson, Arizona, University of Arizona Press, 2014). Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend and Rosemary Hill, “Governance for the conservation of nature”, in Graeme Worboys and others, eds., Protected Area Governance and Management (Canberra, Australia National University Press, 2015). Stevens, Indigenous Peoples; Aili Pyhälä, Ana Osuna Orozco and Simon Counsell, “Protected areas in the Congo Basin, failing both people and biodiversity? ” (London, Rainforest Foundation United Kingdom, 2016). Sobrevila, “The role of indigenous peoples”; Pyhälä, Orozco and Counsell, “Protected areas in the Congo Basin”. 7/25