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Segovia Declaration
La Granja, Segovia, Spain, 14 September 2007 Draft 4 We, over two hundred nomadic and transhumant pastoralists representing some 50 tribes and peoples of Africa, America, Asia and Europe, gathered in La Granja, Segovia, Spain in September 2007 to analyze our present situation and find solutions for our problems. We regard migratory pastoralism as an adaptive production strategy assuring the economic survival of hundreds of millions of people, as well as a way of life contributing to the sustainable management of natural resources and the conservation of nature. Pastoral livelihoods are based on seasonal mobility and common property of natural resources (particularly rangelands), regulated by customary law and practices, customary institutions and leadership, all making use of local and indigenous knowledge. In many societies, governments have “nationalised” and confiscated rangelands, forests and other natural resources on which pastoralists depend, removing them from community care, control and property and alienating nomadic pastoralists from their natural rights. In the meantime, current neoliberal economic and social policies globally impose the privatization of natural resources– including life itself. These have resulted in an unprecedented concentration of economic and political power in the hands of very few elites throughout the world. These policies are destroying the livelihoods, environment, nature and culture, including the spiritual values and dignity of pastoralists and other rural communities. Our rural areas are faced with conflict and war and are becoming empty as our people migrate to cities and other countries. We see these disasters in both the North and the South. Our first commitment as migratory pastoralists is to organize ourselves and to defend our rights. We must rely first on ourselves and our own rich capacities and traditions to ensure our own survival. We are the guardians of strong traditions of sharing collective resources with other communities peacefully and of living in balance with nature. We see that in these times where profit is the only priority of the global elite our knowledge and experience must be valued and shared with the world. Despite the crucial contribution of nomadic and transhumant pastoralism to livelihoods and to national economies, and its role in preserving the fragile ecosystems of the planet, in many countries we are not receiving the necessary attention and support. We are subject to discrimination and social exclusion. In some countries we are subject to dispossession of natural resources, forced or induced sedentarisation and displacement, ethnic cleansing and ethnocide, in direct violation of human rights, and as a consequence of conflicts and adverse and ill-designed policies, legislation and development programmes. Both privatization and government confiscation (“nationalisation”) of common resources usually lead to land use change having dramatic effects on the overall viability of pastoral systems and on the environment— both in terms of land degradation and pollution. These policies and changes exacerbate poverty, force people into migration and deprive our peoples of their subsistence basis, cultural values, spirituality and dignity. Pastoralists do not enjoy equal rights of access to education, health and other crucial services and facilities. They are excluded from fair access to and control of markets, information and knowledge that are necessary for their well-being and development, and are marginalized in the political field. We are in solidarity with one another, regardless of distinctions of class, gender, religion, ethnicity, caste, nationality and culture, as well as with other indigenous, nomadic and farming communities. We commit ourselves to finding ways to solve conflicts over land and other natural resources with other communities, including farmers. We will work together to participate in international policy making related to land and food production and wish to collaborate with international bodies whose purpose is to promote the integrity of livelihoods, cultures and nature including FAO, IFAD, UNESCO, WHO, GEF, IUCN and other suitable international agencies We welcome the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the UN—the result of a generation of struggle by indigenous people including pastoralists, which took place during our meeting in Segovia. We invite all governments and other relevant actors to give due recognition to the rights of mobile indigenous peoples, including migratory pastoralists, and their special capacities and needs, by putting into practice the principles contained in this Declaration, as well as in other relevant international legal and policy instruments including ILO Convention 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in the UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity, in the DANA Declaration on Mobile Peoples and Conservation (Jordan, 2002), in the IUCN’s Bangkok Resolution on Mobile Indigenous Peoples and Conservation (2004), and in the Wilderswil Declaration on Livestock Diversity (Interlaken, Switzerland, which upholds food sovereignty and collective rights). We invite the national governments, the governing organs of UN agencies and family, and other relevant international and regional organisations, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the European Union, donors, and our own customary leaders to:
Message of the representatives of pastoralists attending the World Gathering of Nomadic & Transhumant Pastoralists to the delegates to the Eighth Session of the Convention of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (Madrid, 3- 14 Sept.)
La Granja, Segovia, 9 September 2007 We, over hundred representatives of pastoralists from 38 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe, call the attention of the delegates to the 8th Convention of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to recognize the important role of pastoralism as a sustainable way to use the natural resources in the arid and semi-arid eco-systems of the world. There is a growing body of scientific evidence showing that the mobile people’s use of natural resources is in harmony with nature, and promotes environmental integrity and conservation of both wild and domestic biodiversity. This has been confirmed by environmental experts in international meetings resulting in the DANA Declaration (Jordan, 3-7 April 2002) and Recommendation V.27 on “Mobile Indigenous Peoples and Conservation” (Vth IUCN World Park Congress, 2003, Durban, South Africa). Pastoralism is both an adaptive production strategy assuring the economic survival of hundreds of millions of peoples, and a way of life contributing to the sustainable management of natural resources. Pastoral livelihoods are based on mobility, on common property of natural resources, regulated by customary law and practices, customary institutions and leadership making use of local and indigenous knowledge. In order to maintain its positive environmental impact, pastoralism as a way of life and as an integrated system needs to be recognized and sustained, by simultaneously developing new economic opportunities, securing access to services, education, technology, information and knowledge and building capacities that are specifically designed for pastoralists. Despite a growing international awareness of the contribution of pastoral systems to drylands development, pastoralism is still in many countries not receiving the necessary attention and support. Policies and legislation are often formulated without the full and informed participation and empowerment of pastoralists, both men and women, leading to processes of land and resource alienation, forced or inappropriate sedentarization of the pastoralists and ultimately to a change of land use, often leading to land degradation and desertification. Pastoral systems are best adapted to climate change. Despite this fact more and more grazing lands are being allocated to the growing of crops or agrofuels. Building on the outcomes and statements of the 4th meeting of the Committee for the Review of Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 4, Bonn, 2004), of the “Manyatta” side event of the COP 7 of the UNCCD (Nairobi 2005), and of the “Pastoralist Dialogue” side event of the CRIP 4 (Buenos Aires 2007);, the participants in the World Gathering of Nomadic & Transhumant Pastoralists invite the delegates to the 8th Convention of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, officers of the international organizations, NGOs and other attending experts to:
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La Granja. Segovia.
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