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Presently, Indigenous Peoples are the keepers of biodiversity especially because, since their origins, they have succeeded in developing techniques and mechanisms in harmonic co-existence with their environment.

In the present evolving process of humanity, the need to respect the relationship between human development and a environmental sustainability is seen as the only way to assure the future of the planet, after centuries of applying a development philosophy that has been detrimental to nature. At the same time, international standards and national legislation have unfolded on diverse ecological issues, with the purpose of regulating economic activities that destroy the environment. Nonetheless, legal implementation is not, in reality, free of contradictions that hinder the effective advancement in the field of environmental protection.

Considering the aforementioned reasons, the Earth Council, with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Small Grants Program of the World Bank, held a technical consultation on Indigenous Rights, Environmental Legislation and Sustainable Development. The conference took place last June in San Jose, Costa Rica and gathered indigenous lawyers and experts from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Peru.

Objectives

The present document, resulting from the information compiled during the technical consultation, aims to achieve the following objectives:

To contribute to the treatment of environmental issues from different perspectives and approaches, especially as they relate to Indigenous Peoples.

To determine the relationship between domestic and international law as put into practice in different Central and South American countries.

To identify, through concrete case studies, gaps and contradictions between the content of specific laws and their application.
To present suggestions within the framework of the National Councils on Sustainable Development (NCSD), in order to facilitate the implementation of such legal systems and to limit possible errors and contradictions in the future.