Logging and Indigenous peoples' well-being: an overview of the relevant international human rights jurisprudence

Abstract

Logging activities worldwide occur on lands that are already inhabited and used by Indigenous peoples and other local communities and often cause negative impacts on those communities. International human rights law provides one framework within which to understand these impacts. In particular, a discrete body of rights within international human rights law pertain to Indigenous peoples. Encroachments on Indigenous lands, such as through logging or other forestry operations, often run up against the full spectrum of Indigenous peoples' rights, all of which are interdependent and interconnected. Numerous human rights bodies, including the United Nations treaty bodies and regional human rights courts, have addressed Indigenous rights in the context of logging and other extractive activities. This article reviews existing jurisprudence elaborating the scope of these rights and explains how respect for land and participation rights can help prevent impacts on other rights. International human rights jurisprudence outlines three steps as core components of Indigenous peoples' participation rights and as safeguards to protect other rights: conduct environmental and social impact assessments; engage in consultations with the affected Indigenous peoples with the aim of obtaining free, prior, and informed consent; and agree on benefit sharing, compensation, prevention, and mitigation measures with the affected Indigenous peoples. However, these requirements, and respect for Indigenous peoples' rights more broadly, remain to be effectively implemented and observed in practice.