ABSTRACT

Indigenous peoples have a special relationship with their traditional territories and resources, which not only represent their main means of subsistence but also form an integral part of their cultural identity. 2 For indigenous peoples, the land is the home of the ancestors, the provider of everyday material needs and the future held in trust for coming generations (Zhora Ksentini 1991, para. 25). It follows that respecting the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples is vital for the survival of these groups as distinct societies. 3 The indigenous approach to lands and resources, however, is at odds with a global economic model that promotes the constant exploitation of natural resources and expansion of supportive infrastructures. Since many of these resources are found on lands traditionally owned and controlled by indigenous peoples, an inevitable conflict between competing claims and interests erupts (Tauli-Corpuz 2006, 20). Given the disparity of power of the parties to the dispute, economic and industrial development has traditionally taken place without recognition of and respect for indigenous peoples’ cultural attachment to their lands (Daes 2001, para. 132). The criticality of this ‘conflict’ has been recently highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Special Rapporteur), who noted that the question of development projects affecting indigenous lands ‘has become one of the foremost concerns of indigenous peoples worldwide, and possibly also the most pervasive source of the challenges to the full exercise of their rights’. (Anaya 2011, para. 57).