Indigenous and Community Conserved Area

Indigenous and community conserved areas (ICCAs), or indigenous peoples’ and community conserved territories and areas, are spaces de facto governed by indigenous peoples or local communities with evidently positive outcomes for the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. 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 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".

This definition is recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and is elaborated on in the UNEP-WCMC ICCA Registry Handbook as a type of Protected Area (including Marine Protected Areas) in which native peoples initiate the creation and/or are owners and managers.

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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 socio-cultural 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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