A/78/162 knowledge about the administrative and commercial aspects of the tourism industry. 99 Indigenous tourism companies may be disadvantaged by restrictive eligibility requirements that exclude sole-proprietor, unincorporated, community-owned or nontaxable businesses. There may be difficulty meeting financial requirements such as repayment of loans or accessing interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions. 100 With respect to government programming, Indigenous organizations have underscored the need to develop Indigenous-led solutions to provide them with easier access to government programmes outside of the federal bure aucratic system and for Indigenous co-development of funding programme criteria and Indigenousled delivery of funding. Government programming should ensure adequate time for Indigenous engagement, which is essential to the success of programme development and implementation. 58. Even though Indigenous Peoples can overcome challenges in accessing funding, there may be other barriers, such as a lack of infrastructure to implement tourism projects, in particular for communities located in rural and remote are as with limited access to transportation networks and Internet coverage. There may also be insufficient marketing activities and investments to promote public awareness about Indigenous-led tourism. Lastly, Indigenous Peoples may experience hesitation in inviting visitors onto their lands and into their communities for fear that it may not bring benefits but rather be more exploitative than regenerative. B. Examples at the global, regional, national and local levels 59. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that Indigenous Peoples outperform government and conservation organizations in protecting the natural world, their lands and their territories, which are home to 80 per cent of the world ’s biodiversity. Indigenous Peoples possess scientific kn owledge and adopt holistic approaches for the sustainable management of resources to ensure that biodiversity is maintained for future generations. For that reason, and to respect Indigenous Peoples ’ right to self-determined development, States should include Indigenous Peoples in ecotourism ventures to achieve global and national conservation targets. 60. Networks have been formed at the global, regional, national and local levels to further Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the context of tourism. The World Indigenous Tourism Alliance is an Indigenous-led global network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders who seek to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through tourism. In 2012, the Alliance adopted the Larrakia Declaration on the Development of Indigenous Tourism, a partnership framework for Indigenous human rights in tourism based on the United Nations Declaration, which recognizes the rights to Indigenous legal systems, knowledge, lands, cultural heritage, self-determination, participation in decision-making and free, prior and informed consent. To further implement the Larrakia Declaration, the Alliance developed tools, including checklists, best practices and guidelines for the tourism industry. In Chile, the Alliance promoted the School of Indigenous Tourism and its International Quality Assurance Framework for Indigenous Community Tourism (2019). 101 61. At the regional level, the Organization of American States, in partnership with the International Institute of Tourism Studies at George Washington University and the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior, hosted the first Indigenous Tourism Forum of the Americas in October 2020. That led to the creation __________________ 99 100 101 23-13642 Submission by Plurinational State of Bolivia. Submission by Canada. Submission by Chile. 17/25