Conservation standards: from rights to responsibilities

Although conservation interventions aim to protect biological and cultural diversity, they can affect communities in a number of ways. The vast body of international law, norms and standards protecting human rights offers little rights-based, practical guidance for conservation initiatives. Focusing on indigenous peoples, this paper aims to provide a set of draft conservation standards that outline: how indigenous peoples’ rights are enshrined in international law; how conservation interventions can infringe these rights; which rights conservation actors need to be most aware of — and why — and conservation actors’ responsibilities in upholding these rights.