UNESCO should promote a model of conservation based on the full recognition of Indigenous land rights.

What people think Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex looks like vs the reality for the Karen

Hello Jack,

Humanity’s most precious creations, such as the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, or the Great Wall of China, are recognized by UNESCO as being of “outstanding universal value,” and given World Heritage Site status to help protect them.

Not all of these sites are physical creations – some, which UNESCO calls “Natural World Heritage Sites”, are places which they probably think of as “natural” environments, such as rainforests or savannah.

However, as with so many so-called “wildernesses”, these are, in fact, people’s homes.

The vast Ngorongoro region in Tanzania, or Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Congo, are two such examples.

But these are not peaceful places. The Indigenous people whose knowledge, skill and care helped create them are being brutally evicted to create a false idea of “pristine nature.” Their lands have become war zones.

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In Ngorongoro, for example, this world-famous tourist hotspot is now the scene of intimidating security operations and the denial of basic services, as the Tanzanian government tries to evict thousands of Maasai people from lands they’ve lived on for generations. UNESCO has explicitly backed removing the Maasai.

Or Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Congo: this was given World Heritage Site status by UNESCO just last year, even though the park was already notorious for appalling abuses being committed against the Indigenous Baka hunter-gatherers by the park’s rangers – the Baka having previously been evicted from the forest, which had been their home since time immemorial.

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In other words, the abuses being committed against the rightful Indigenous owners of these places by governments and big conservation groups are being given a veneer of legitimacy by UNESCO.

We think that’s wrong. We think places like these, where houses are being burned down; people are being evicted at gunpoint; and women and children are raped or abused; should have their World Heritage Site status revoked. And we think UNESCO should instead promote a model of conservation based on the full recognition of Indigenous land rights – it’s the only thing that will really make a difference in the long term.

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If you agree with us, please share our new video - if you’re on social media, please share it widely, tagging UNESCO. If you’re not, please send this email to anyone you think may be interested.

With thanks,

Fiore Longo
Head of Survival's Decolonize Conservation campaign

P.S. Please visit our website if you want to know more.

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