Cultural Heritage and Sacred Sites: World Heritage from an Indigenous
Perspective
15 May 2002 - New York University
Presentation by Henrietta Marrie (transcript by Marie-Danielle Samuel
from audiotape) Dr. Henrietta Marrie is a member of the Yidindyi nation of
Australia. She is currently an officer in the Secretariat of the
Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations in Montreal,
Canada.
I
am a little bit mixed in that when you talk about the World Heritage area,
my people's country belongs to the rainforest people of Farnsworth,
Queensland which now is about 900,000 hectares of rainforest which
includes the Yidindyi peoples of North Queensland, within the vicinity of
the rainforest.
My involvement in the World Heritage area has been for quite some years
when I actually was the spokesperson for the peoples of the rainforest in
the early 1990s before I began my position with the Secretariat for the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
Now I will speak as a member of the Secretariat in terms of the issues of
sacred sites and biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples. Sacred sites,
particularly for the world's Indigenous peoples, generally have two
interrelated and interdependent dimensions:
Firstly, they are places of particular spiritual and religious
significance, as we heard tonight, and the continued performance of the
rituals and ceremonies associated with those sites are fundamental to the
spiritual well being of the individuals and communities associated with
those sites. Secondly, the vast majority of these sites are associated
with particular animal, plant species and embody all a symbol of the
relationship or connection between those species and the particular
communities to whom they are significant.
Both dimensions are recognized as being important in the context of the
Convention on Biological Diversity as the relationship between biological
diversity and cultural diversity is well established. A loss in biological
diversity of a region traditionally occupied or used by Indigenous peoples
and local communities will inevitably lead to a loss of traditional
knowledge and practices associated with particular components of that
biological diversity. If local indigenous communities are unable to
maintain customary management, conservation and sustainable use practices
regarding the ecosystem which they depend on for their livelihood, the
biological diversity of the ecosystem will suffer.
For example, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) in its recent
report on the course of the loss of genetic diversity of plant species for
food and agriculture, cited the introduction of a new high yielding
variety of traditional food species such as rice, wheat and potatoes and
the displacement of traditional food staples with new introduced species
as the leading cause for the diminution in the number of local varieties
and species used by local farmers and indigenous communities and hence a
loss in genetic diversity.
Sacred sites that are associated with biological diversity or components
of it are a particular concern to the Convention and its processors. From
the perspective of the Convention, many sacred sites serve particular
functions that promote the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity. For example, as wild life refuges, places where particular
plant species essential for human health and well being, including
spiritual well being, are maintained and the habitat of locally rare and
possibly endangered species, habitats for migratory species of animals,
birds, fish and insects and a unique habitat such as wetlands or mountains
within the local environment.
The Sacred Sites share many of the functions of protected areas for the
Institute of Conservation of Biological Diversity. Some sacred sites are
listed as World Heritage Sites under the World Heritage Convention while
others are protected under national, provincial or local laws governing
the protection of cultural heritage. The Convention is not only concerned
with respecting, protecting and maintaining traditional biodiversity
related knowledge, including that which is associated with sacred sites,
but is also concerned to maintain the cultural practices that are of
relevance to biological diversity or particular components of it,
including those practices associated with sacred sites.
This concern was addressed in Task 9 of the first phase of the Programme
of Work adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its fifth meeting in
Nairobi in May 2000 under decision 516. In this task the Ad Hoc open ended
Working Group on the implementation of article 8j led provisions which
includes 10c is to develop in cooperation with the indigenous and local
communities, guidelines or recommendations for the conduct of cultural,
environmental and social impact assessment regarding any development
proposed to take place on sacred sites and on lands and waters occupied or
used by Indigenous and local communities. The guidelines and
recommendations should insure the participation of Indigenous and local
communities in the assessment and review. The (COP) Conference of the
Parties has requested that the Ad Hoc Working Group continues further work
on guidelines for the conduct of cultural, environmental and social impact
assessment regarding its development proposed to take place in or which
are likely to impact on sacred sites and on land and waters traditionally
occupied by Indigenous and local communities.
The Working Group produced a set of recommendations based on the draft
guidelines for consideration at the 6th meeting of the COP held in The
Hague last month. The COP substantially adopted in Part D of the decision
610 the recommendations for the conduct of cultural, environmental and
social impact assessment regarding development. However, at this stage,
these recommendations should only be considered as interim recommendations
as the Working Group on article 8j is to carry out further work on the
state of guidelines for the conduct of such cultural, environmental and
social impact assessment at its 3rd meeting which will take place in early
2004 and for the consideration of COP7.
To summarize, the purpose of the recommendation is to help facilitate
appropriate participation and involvement of Indigenous and local
communities in the assessment process and taking into account the
cultural, environmental and social concerns and interests of such
communities and the inclusion of traditional knowledge innovations and
practices, including technologies and customary methods as part of the
impact assessment process.
The recommendations allow for the consideration of integration of
cultural, environmental and social impact assessment as a single process
and pay special attention to cultural and socio-economic considerations.
With regard to the cultural impact assessment component, the
recommendations state that, thru the cultural impact assessment process,
issues, that are of a particular cultural concern, should be identified
such as inter alia beliefs and religious customary practices, systems of
natural resources including patents, patents of land use, places of
cultural significance, sacred sites and ritual ceremonies and customary
law systems.
There is a need to respect both the custodian and the holder of the
traditional knowledge and the knowledge itself. And possible impact of all
aspect of culture including sacred sites should be taken into
consideration while developing cultural impact assessment.
In summary, the Convention recognizes the importance of those sacred sites
that are relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity or components of it. In many instances, such recognition will
occur within the context of the protected areas, irrespective of such
recognition. The Convention under articles 8j and 10c is also concerned to
insure that traditional biodiversity related knowledge is respected,
preserved and maintained and that customary practice regarding the
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or its components
continues.
Thank you.
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