CBD COP11 (8/10/2012) – Vanessa Reid of the ICCA Consortium outlines her goals for the conference, which revolves around better recognition and protection of Indigenous Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) by national governments and in the text outcome of COP11.

Reid explains different approaches to protecting these areas, arguing that her organisation’s approach of empowering communities to document their own ICCAs and identify themselves where support is needed is more effective than an external NGO identifying and potentially misrepresenting the needs of indigenous people.

Reid singles out the Indonesian government for criticism for prioritising economic expansion over the protection of indigenous communities. She ends by powerfully asserting that “you can’t put economic gain over human rights.”