A/HRC/34/49 biodiversity, they must act in accordance with the human rights of those who have longstanding, close relationships with their ancestral territories.80 59. Protecting the rights of those who live closest to nature is not just required by human rights law; it is also often the best or only way to ensure the protection of biodiversity. The knowledge and practices of the people who live in biodiversity-rich ecosystems are vital to the conservation and sustainable use of those ecosystems. It has been estimated that territories and areas conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities (called, for historical reasons, ICCAs, for indigenous and community conserved areas) cover at least as much land surface as protected areas administered by Governments. 81 Protecting the human rights of indigenous peoples and local communities has been shown to result in improved protection for ecosystems and biodiversity. 82 Conversely, trying to conserve biodiversity by excluding them from a protected area typically results in failure. 83 In short, respect for human rights should be seen as complementary, rather than contradictory, to environmental protection.84 60. International and national institutions have recognized the importance of respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities who closely depend on natural resources and of supporting their efforts to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity. 85 In particular, article 8 (j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity requires each party, “subject to its national legislation”, to “respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity”, to promote their wider application and to encourage the equitable sharing of benefits. Article 10 (c) urges parties to protect and encourage the customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements. The parties to the Convention have built on these provisions, including through the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the Convention, which, among other things, provides for “the prior informed consent or approval and involvement of indigenous and local communities” in relation to access to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources (art. 7), and requires that the parties take steps to ensure 80 81 82 83 84 85 See African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, No. 276/2003 (2010); Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v. Suriname, judgment of 25 November 2015. Ashish Kothari and others, Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, 2012), p. 30. See, e.g., World Resources Institute, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon (2016). See Marc Galvin and Tobias Haller, eds., People, Protected Areas and Global Change: Participatory Conservation in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe (2008). See Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v. Suriname, para. 173. See, e.g., the revised World Bank Environmental and Social Framework, whose safeguards, including the requirement of free, prior and informed consent, cover “sub-Saharan African historically underserved traditional local communities” as well as indigenous peoples; the statement in September 2016 by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that it will give particular consideration to prosecuting Rome Statute crimes that are committed by, or that result in, “the destruction of the environment, the illegal exploitation of natural resources or the illegal dispossession of land”; the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage; the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security; and the Indian Forest Rights Act of 2006. 19