Effective Collaborations for Human Rights and Conservation

Panelists:Michael Painter, Jenny Springer, Justin Kenrick and Peter Kitelo Moderator:Adrienne McKeehanIn the last decade, governments, donors, UN agencies, grassroots organizations and non-governmental organizations have... [ view full abstract ]

Panelists:Michael Painter, Jenny Springer, Justin Kenrick and Peter Kitelo 

Moderator:Adrienne McKeehan

In the last decade, governments, donors, UN agencies, grassroots organizations and non-governmental organizations have increasingly understood that healthy environments are necessary to realize many fundamental human rights, and that realizing human rights is essential for achieving durable conservation outcomes. Nonetheless, progress on translating this insight into consistent action has been fitful. While organizations in both the conservation and rights communities have undertaken initiatives to promote rights-based approaches to conservation, these efforts have rarely produced the sustained collaboration and action that is necessary to see measurable improvements for both communities and conservation. 

Introductory discussion: For the introductory panel discussion, there will be an intro by the moderator, followed by four speakers with 7 minutes each:

• Introduction by IP partner setting the stage and giving examples of successes and challenges
• Second speaker to discuss obstacles that need to be overcome in order to work together and collectively take action and influence others.
• Third speaker to share examples of specific on-the-ground collaborations between communities, HRs and conservation partners
• Fourth speaker to introduce a new CEESP/TGER Task Force that aims to advance a human rights-based approach to conservation, including by fostering increased collaboration.

Small group discussions will address the three areas of work identified the Task Force proposal, with instructions that each group should consider “how can indigenous, HRs, conservation orgs work together on this issue, if we aren’t already? If we aren’t, what are the barriers to working together on this issue, and how do we overcome them?” The topics for the three small group discussions are:

• What can we do to overcome the slow pace of national policy and institutional reforms and implementation? How can more active collaboration among conservation and human rights actors influence change on the part of governments and other powerful actors?
• There is a lack of a consolidated set of standards that clearly articulates the human rights obligations of conservation actors (government and non-government), as a basis for their implementation and monitoring. What would good practice look like, and what are examples you have already seen or experienced?
• How do we address the lack of sufficiently effective mechanisms to resolve conflicts, particularly around protected areas? Are there any that already work well? How could they be improved upon?