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Environmental Governance

Definition(s)

Considering the diversity of indigenous peoples, an official definition of 'indigenous' has not been adopted by any UN-system body. For practical purposes the commonly accepted understanding of the term is that provided in the Jose R. Martinez Cobo's study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations]: unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. They strive for recognition of their identities, their ways of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources but lack of political representation and participation especially related to the protection of their rights. (UN fact sheet)

Hierarchy

Related terms:
local community

In other languages

French
peuple autochtone
Russian
коренные народы
Spanish
población indígena
Chinese, Simplified
土著人民
Arabic
الشعوب الأصلية

Explore content

Follow up the links below to see InforMEA content related to indigenous peoples coming up from several external sources.

Multilateral environment agreements tagged with indigenous peoples

You can see below a list of multilateral environment agreements. Use the links on the right to view the content tagged with indigenous peoples. This includes official treaty texts, decisions, recommendations, and other related informational documents such as publications, annuals, meetings, documents or reports.
Convention on Biological Diversity
Convention on Migratory Species
Stockholm Convention
Nagoya Protocol
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Specially Protected Areas and Biodiversity Protocol
Noumea Convention
Minamata Convention on Mercury
Carpathian Convention
United Nations Environment Assembly

Multimedia

Compliance under biodiversity - related conventions - Nagoya Protocol

Traditional Knowledge