A/HRC/21/47 38. In February 2012, the Special Rapporteur also participated in and gave a keynote speech at a conference on indigenous peoples, corporations and the environment, which was held in Kirkenes, Norway, and organized by the Working Group of Indigenous Peoples of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Barents Regional Council, a consultative body comprising representatives of the Nenets, Sami and Vepsian peoples within the Barents region in the northern parts of Finland, Norway and the Russian Federation. The conference featured presentations by representatives of indigenous peoples, Governments and industry about the implications for indigenous peoples of strategies and proposals for new natural resources extractive activities in the Barents region. In his keynote speech, the Special Rapporteur emphasized that there was a need to implement a new development model in which indigenous peoples would have the opportunity to be genuine partners, in particular in the context of natural resource extractive activities taking place in or near their traditional territories. 39. In April 2012, the Special Rapporteur visited Madrid to meet representatives of the Government of Spain, members of the Congress of Deputies, business enterprises and nongovernmental organizations in relation to the impact of transnational companies based in Spain on the rights of indigenous peoples around the world, in particular in Latin America where such companies have a significant presence. The visit, which was facilitated by the Government of Spain and Almáciga, a non-governmental organization, allowed the Special Rapporteur to gather information and views on programmes and policies of the Government and business enterprises in relation to indigenous peoples’ human rights. 40. The Special Rapporteur was in Jokkmokk, Sweden, in June 2012, where he participated in a conference on mining and other natural resource extraction in Sápmi, the Sami territory that traverses the northern parts of Finland, Norway, the Russian Federation and Sweden. The conference, which was organized by the National Association of Swedish Sami, afforded him an opportunity to listen to the concerns of Sami representatives, in particular with regard to the impacts of extractive industries on Sami reindeer herding, and to hear the perspectives of Government and industry representatives. In his presentation, the Special Rapporteur emphasized that there was a need for effective domestic legislation, along with corporate social responsibility policies, to protect indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of proposed or existing extractive activities. 41. At the time of writing the present report, the Special Rapporteur was finalizing plans to engage in consultations in Australia with representatives of indigenous peoples, federal and state Governments and companies based in Australia about the activities of those companies, both in Australia and abroad. These consultations, which are scheduled to be held in August 2012, are being planned by the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, in cooperation with representatives of companies. B. Cooperation with the Expert Mechanism 42. After the Special Rapporteur finalized his previous report to the Human Rights Council, in which he stated his intention to devote special attention to the issue of extractive industries during the remainder of his mandate, with a view towards possibly developing guidelines on the subject, at its fourth session, in July 2011, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples announced that it would also focus on the issue as part of its follow-up to its thematic study on the right of indigenous peoples to participate in decisions affecting them. The Special Rapporteur met the Expert Mechanism at its fourth session to discuss its anticipated thematic work on extractive industries, and later discussed that work with members of the Expert Mechanism as it proceeded. 43. The Expert Mechanism has recently proposed to the Special Rapporteur to jointly develop guidelines to implement the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of 11