The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) said unilateral declarations on protected areas had in some countries led to the forced resettlement of indigenous tribes.

This in turn meant the loss of sustainable traditional practices and knowledge.

Violations are rampant in Africa, where an estimated half a million indigenous peoples have been displaced, and in Asia, South America and Europe, where national laws recognising indigenous rights are absent or weak, IIFB officials said.

They were speaking on the sidelines of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference, which has drawn some 2,000 government officials, scientists and activists to the Malaysian capital.

"It is unacceptable for protected areas to be established on our land and ancestral territories without prior consent because it leads to forced displacement of our people, the loss of sacred sites and culture, and contributes to impoverishment," said Sinfasi Makelo Adrien from Congo.

For instance, he said, indigenous pygmies in Congo had been expelled without compensation from forests that had been gazetted as protected parks.

"We are linked to the land that we call our mother. We cannot be displaced for money or for other compensation. It's a question of preserving our culture and the life of future generations," he said.

IIFB co-chairman Fred Fortier said there had been progress on international policies in countries like Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia but the process had been very slow.

"Countries are not focusing on the need to protect, maintain and preserve knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples but just on accessing our land and knowledge," he said.

"Until our rights are protected and respected in the CBD process, it is premature to enter into discussions on access and benefit sharing."

Joseph Ole Simel, from the World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples representing some 360 nomadic tribes, charged that governments gazetted lands as protected areas "for their own interest and for tourism."

Simel, who is from the Masai tribe in Kenya, said indigenous peoples must not be subjected to conservation regimes concocted by governments or experts, or be forced to settle in one area, because it would undermine their identity and livelihood.

He said their nomadic lifestle had enhanced transfer of seeds and insects, and created habitat pathways now known as "biological corridors" and highlighted by experts as essential for conservation.

"We, the mobile indigenous peoples, have our own institutions, leadership, decision-making mechanisms, sanctions and laws and have proven to be careful managers in some of the world's most difficult environment conditions," he said.

The CBD, which grew out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, aims to protect diversity of life on earth. The IIFB is one of its advisory bodies.

TERRA.WIRE