Guest Post by Survival International:

“If the indigenous people haven’t given their consent, then WWF has no business being there”

Themes: Conservation, FPIC, Human rights, Indigenous people, Parks, Policy

For decades, alarm bells have been ringing over the human rights abuses that WWF is contributing to in the Congo Basin. In its attempt to defend itself (14 October), WWF shows that it is still deaf to these concerns, and prepared to mislead the public.

What works?

Protected areas, indigenous territories, and conservation concessions in Peru.

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people, Parks, Policy

“State-controlled protected areas (PAs) have dominated conservation strategies globally, yet their performance relative to other governance regimes is rarely assessed comprehensively. Furthermore, performance indicators of forest PAs are typically restricted to deforestation, although the extent of forest degradation is greater.”

WWF Violating Indigenous Rights – Complaint Abandoned

Stephen Corry of SI explains how the process unwound.

Themes: Human rights, Indigenous people, Parks, FPIC, Policy, Poverty, Conservation

Survival International has today abandoned trying to get a resolution to our formal complaint that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is violating international standards about corporate responsibility, and is reverting to using public pressure to try and stop the abuses.

Criminalising Forest-Dwellers Has Not Helped India’s Forests or Wildlife.

It’s Time for a New Deal.

Themes: Conservation, Parks, Policy

Instead of evicting forest-dwelling communities for engaging in traditional activities in protected areas and reserved forests, the government should use them for co-management.

India’s Kaziranga national park and the Streisand effect.

Chris Lang from Conservation Watch reviews the debate surrounding Kaziranga's shoot on sight policy.

Themes: Conservation, Policy, Parks

The controversy over Kaziranga National Park’s brutal anti-poaching policy continues. Over the past 20 years, 106 people have been killed in the park in north-east India. Shockingly, almost half of those people were killed in the past five years.

India’s militant rhino protectors are challenging traditional views of how conservation works.

In Kaziranga, a national park in north-eastern India, rangers shoot people to protect rhinos.

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people, Parks, Policy

A thematic analysis of conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples' rights

Report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli Corpuz

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Indigenous people, Parks, Policy

"Protected areas have the potential of safeguarding the biodiversity for the benefit of all humanity; however, these have also been associated with human rights violations against indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. The complex violations that have been faced by indigenous peoples in the wake of evermore expanding protected areas have been raised by respective special rapporteurs during numerous country visits and communications to governments."

Conservation today, the old-fashioned way.

Part 3 of Conservation, Divided: Mongabay’s four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years.

Themes: Conservation, Policy

Despite the widespread embrace of a philosophy dubbed “new conservation” that focuses on human needs and economics, numerous conservationists still remain focused on traditional methods to protect important places and creatures. Jeremy Hance asks can they survive in an age that is asking them to be all things to all people and creatures?