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Indigenous and community conserved area
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Indigenous and community conserved area
ICCAs are territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, i.e., natural spaces de facto governed by Indigenous peoples or local communities with evidently positive outcomes for the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. ICCA is an abbreviation for "territories and areas governed, managed and conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities". Since about 2020, a term commonly used intercheangebly with ICCAs is 'territories of life'. In ICCAs, the continuation, revival, or modification of traditional practices (some of which are of ancient origin) and/or new initiatives succeed in protecting and restoring natural resources and cultural values in the face of new threats or opportunities. Some ICCAs are situated in remote ecosystems that have had minimum human influence, while others encompass areas of various regulations and magnitudes within regions strongly affected or modified by human occupation. ICCAs may or may not fit the IUCN definition of “protected area” but, when they do, they can fall into any IUCN protected area categories.
The following three characteristics are used to identify an ICCA:
The IUCN World Parks Congress of 2003 defined ICCAs as:
natural and/or modified ecosystems containing significant biodiversity values and ecological services, voluntarily conserved by (sedentary and mobile) indigenous and local communities, through customary laws or other effective means.
At the 4th World Conservation Congress, indigenous peoples and local communities and supporting NGOs formed the ICCA Consortium, an association that continues to support the global movement for Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' collective territories of life.
This definition is recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) who manage the ICCA Registry, a database dedicated to promoting ICCAs and their custodians conservation practices. The data in the ICCA Registry is voluntarily provided by ICCA custodians, or through their supporting organisations. It is not yet comprehensive but continues to grow each year, providing a much-needed evidence base to promote the recognition and support of ICCAs worldwide.
The ICCA Consortium and UNEP-WCMC are working as part of a broader global effort to highlight the vital contributions that Indigenous Peoples and local communities have made to conservation throughout history and continue to make today.
A crucial feature of ICCAs is their diversity. The conservation practices of indigenous peoples and local communities depend on an astonishing variety of meanings and values underpinned by the relationship between humans and the natural environment, and find their expression in different ICCAs all over the world. While all ICCAs by definition embody precious bio-cultural diversity in a voluntary and self-organised way, the related beliefs, practices, and institutions are all context-specific. Moreover, as lively sociocultural phenomena, ICCAs change in correspondence with history and society. Some disappear, others survive in old or new forms, and some will emerge anew. Most systems by which contemporary indigenous peoples and local communities govern and manage their natural resources are a blending of old and new knowledge, practices, tools and values of different origin.
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Indigenous and community conserved area
ICCAs are territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, i.e., natural spaces de facto governed by Indigenous peoples or local communities with evidently positive outcomes for the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. ICCA is an abbreviation for "territories and areas governed, managed and conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities". Since about 2020, a term commonly used intercheangebly with ICCAs is 'territories of life'. In ICCAs, the continuation, revival, or modification of traditional practices (some of which are of ancient origin) and/or new initiatives succeed in protecting and restoring natural resources and cultural values in the face of new threats or opportunities. Some ICCAs are situated in remote ecosystems that have had minimum human influence, while others encompass areas of various regulations and magnitudes within regions strongly affected or modified by human occupation. ICCAs may or may not fit the IUCN definition of “protected area” but, when they do, they can fall into any IUCN protected area categories.
The following three characteristics are used to identify an ICCA:
The IUCN World Parks Congress of 2003 defined ICCAs as:
natural and/or modified ecosystems containing significant biodiversity values and ecological services, voluntarily conserved by (sedentary and mobile) indigenous and local communities, through customary laws or other effective means.
At the 4th World Conservation Congress, indigenous peoples and local communities and supporting NGOs formed the ICCA Consortium, an association that continues to support the global movement for Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' collective territories of life.
This definition is recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) who manage the ICCA Registry, a database dedicated to promoting ICCAs and their custodians conservation practices. The data in the ICCA Registry is voluntarily provided by ICCA custodians, or through their supporting organisations. It is not yet comprehensive but continues to grow each year, providing a much-needed evidence base to promote the recognition and support of ICCAs worldwide.
The ICCA Consortium and UNEP-WCMC are working as part of a broader global effort to highlight the vital contributions that Indigenous Peoples and local communities have made to conservation throughout history and continue to make today.
A crucial feature of ICCAs is their diversity. The conservation practices of indigenous peoples and local communities depend on an astonishing variety of meanings and values underpinned by the relationship between humans and the natural environment, and find their expression in different ICCAs all over the world. While all ICCAs by definition embody precious bio-cultural diversity in a voluntary and self-organised way, the related beliefs, practices, and institutions are all context-specific. Moreover, as lively sociocultural phenomena, ICCAs change in correspondence with history and society. Some disappear, others survive in old or new forms, and some will emerge anew. Most systems by which contemporary indigenous peoples and local communities govern and manage their natural resources are a blending of old and new knowledge, practices, tools and values of different origin.