Summary
On July 17, 2022, representatives of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities from more than 40 African nations convened in Kigali, Rwanda at the IUCN’s first Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) and delivered the Africa Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), Kigali Declaration “We Are Nature”. The Declaration states, “Despite how vilified African people are in conservation discourse, the truth is that wildlife exists in Africa because African people are nature.” (5).
Among other things, the declaration commits to “Adopt and promote Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ skills, knowledge and practice in preservation of nature” (5).
The primary objective of the Declaration is recognizing and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the recognition of land tenure rights of IPLCs, and implementing a process of ‘decolonizing conservation’ (5). IPLCs continue to face land appropriation and struggle to secure legal recognition of their land, resources, waters, “territories of life”, and other human rights (1).
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2026. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/africa-protected-areas-congress-apac-2022-kigali-declaration-we-are-nature-2/.
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