Conservation policy and indigenous peoples

Exclusionary models of land management can be traced back to the first millennium B.C. Conservation through the establishment of ‘national parks’, pioneered in USA and applied world-wide, has violated the rights of indigenous peoples causing impoverishment and social problems. International laws now recognise indigenous peoples’ rights and new conservation policies accept that indigenous peoples may own and manage protected areas. Participatory field research shows that these new principles are not yet widely applied in Latin America, Africa and Asia as national policies, laws and institutions have yet to be revised in conformity with international law. Recommendations are made on how conservation agencies should change their ways if future conservation initiatives are not to create further poverty.