News: Draft concept note for pilot Whakatane Assessments now open for feedback

Update 3rd August 2011

The concept note for pilot Whakatane Assessment has been finalized. You can download it here

As mentioned in Forest Peoples Programme’s February E-Newsletter, a meeting was held at the IUCN CEESP Sharing Power conference in Whakatane, New Zealand, January 2011, between indigenous representatives, the chairs of three IUCN commissions (CEESP, WCPA and SSC) and sub-commissions (TILCEPA and TGER), key staff of the IUCN secretariat (the Director of the Environment and Development Programme and the Senior Adviser on Social Policy), and other staff from IUCN, Conservation International and Forest Peoples Programme.

The main outcome of the meeting and subsequent follow-up discussions was an agreement to implement a series of measures to review the implementation of resolutions related to indigenous peoples adopted at the 4th World Conservation Congress (WCC4) in 2008 and to advance their implementation should there be a gap.

As part of this agreement, the IUCN committed itself to implement Whakatane Assessments of protected areas at the local level, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations (IPOs), the Forest Peoples Programme, CEESP, TILCEPA and TGER. It was decided that FPP would draft a concept note, which will be used to guide pilot Whakatane Assessments.