Extractive and industrial projects threaten the future of indigenous peoples

O extractive and industrial development projects threaten the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples, according to the results of a Scientific study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) which quantifies the negative impacts that these activities have on the livelihoods, rights and lands of these communities.

The research, carried out in collaboration with nine other universities around the world, shows violation of indigenous rights thanks to the largest quantitative analysis carried out to date worldwide.

The study, published in the journal advances in science, is based on data collected in the last decade by the Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), an initiative coordinated by ICTA-UAB that identified and mapped a total of 3,081 socio-environmental conflicts all around the world.

Although indigenous peoples represent only the 6.2% of the world’s population and their lands occupy a quarter of the planet’s land surface, are affected by 34% of all documented environmental conflicts over extraction projects and industrial development.

The study documents more than 740 different indigenous communities affected by this type of activity, which represents 15% of the nearly 5,000 existing groups in the world.

The Quechua, Mapuche, Gond, Aymara, Nahua, Ijaw, Munda, Kichwa, Guaraní and Karen communities are the ten indigenous groups that appear most frequently in the EJAtlas dataset.

However, they consider that the real number of affected indigenous groups could be much higher, as “there are still important data gaps, especially in Central Asia, Russia and the Pacific, where data coverage is more limited”, he explains. Arnim ScheidelICTA-UAB researcher and co-author of the study, which highlights the great effort of indigenous and non-indigenous researchers and hundreds of collaborators who have collected relevant information for the EJAtlas since its creation.

Eight out of ten environmental conflicts concern just four sectors, and it is the mining the sector that most impacts the indigenous population (24.7%), ahead of the fossil fuel sector (20.8%), agriculture, forestry, fishing and livestock (17.5%) and the construction and operation of dams hydraulics (15.2%).

According to the data collected, the loss of landscapes (56% of cases), the loss of livelihoods (52%) and the expropriation of their lands (50%) are the main conflict situations that occur most frequently as a result of development projects.

It should be noted that conflicts surrounding projects related to agriculture, forestry, fishing and livestock have particularly high impact rates. Compared to other sectors and the world average, the logging (74% of cases), land expropriation (74%), loss of livelihoods (69%) and loss of biodiversity (69%) are much more frequent in this particular sector.

Violations of the rights of indigenous peoples

“Land grabbing caused by agribusiness and other extractive sectors continues to be a major threat to indigenous peoples,” he says. Alvaro Fernandez-Llamazares, ICTA-UAB scientist and co-author of the study. “That’s why indigenous communities around the planet have been mobilizing for decades to have their rights recognized and respected,” he adds.

For the research team, the conclusions show the enormous magnitude of the violations of indigenous rights associated with the industrial lifestyles and we recall that international instruments such as the International Labor Organization’s Convention C169 on Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples play an important role in promoting their rights. “However, the current levels of ratification, application and enforcement are insufficient to guarantee respect for these rights”, they observe.

Therefore, they emphasize the need for governments to apply measures that promote indigenous rights and support the environmental justice ensuring real compliance with existing agreements and the protection of rights over their lands. “Governments should apply a zero-tolerance policy towards violations of indigenous rights and pursue trade agreements that are conditional on the companies involved fulfilling the responsibilities of the United Nations Declaration.”