The initiative, which aims to train indigenous peoples to better understand and uphold their rights, enabling their participation in responsible forest management, is led by FSC in partnership with Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and is funded by the FAO-EU FLEGT programme.
While the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) is an important stakeholder group in the Congo Basin forest, it is often marginalized due to poverty, illiteracy and discrimination. Its ability to engage freely in negotiations or consultations is limited, leaving it susceptible to being manipulated, exploited or influenced.
Of the 10 FSC principles, a fundamental basis for obtaining certification for sustainable forest management requires upholding Indigenous Peoples rights.
The programme, which started six months ago in Brazzaville, Congo, includes the participation of 20 candidates from five countries of the Congo Basin. Of these, five candidates were selected for further training in Douala. The programme aspires to groom a younger generation of Indigenous advocates and to promote gender balance.
The session in Douala, held between 21 to 29 May 2019, focused on the difference between common law and official law, on Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and on different ways to facilitate the process of community engagement (including information sharing, community consultation, participation in policy development, and decision‐making processes in forest management).
The training was led by FSC’s Senior Expert on Forest Governance, Dr Olivia Rickenbach. She was assisted by Forest Peoples Programme lawyer, Lassana Kone, and Venant Messant, a local NGO representative, himself a Baka from Cameroon. Liberate Nicayenzi, one of the first Indigenous women to be elected to the Burundi senate, also joined the training as a guest speaker.
In October 2019, the group met again in the Republic of Congo for an on-site training session at CIB Olam, an FSC-certified concession in Pokola. This module focused on engagement skills and experiential learning, where participants also put into practice what they learned from earlier training in Brazzaville and Douala.
This FSC/FPP project will be ongoing, aiming at making the indigenous expert group a permanent structure in the Congo Basin.