COMMUNITY RIGHTS

The briefing defines community rights as ancestral, collective, and sovereign rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, rooted in their sustainable management of nature and customary law. It positions these rights as 'Third Generation human rights' that serve as a defense mechanism for biological and cultural diversity, specifically opposing the monopolistic intellectual property framework of the WTO TRIPS agreement. The document emphasizes that these rights should be defined from a gender perspective to acknowledge women's roles in conservation and argues against the codification of these rights into formal laws to avoid rendering cultural practices static or imposing a hegemonic legal order.

• Community rights are characterized as 'Third Generation human rights' or 'Solidarity rights' that are collective, universal, indivisible, interdependent, and sovereign. They function as a resistance against the 'monopolistic intellectual property rights' established by the WTO TRIPS agreement.
• These rights serve as a legal framework to protect the interaction between cultural and biological diversity, based on the knowledge of biodiversity held by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. They are customary rights rather than property rights and do not provide exclusive rights.
• The definition of community rights must incorporate a gender perspective to recognize the leading role of women in the knowledge, improvement, and conservation of biological diversity. Furthermore, the document argues against creating new laws to regulate these rights, as codification risks making cultural practices static and imposing a hegemonic legal order over customary law.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2008). COMMUNITY RIGHTS. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. COMMUNITY RIGHTS. 2008. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=COMMUNITY RIGHTS |date=2008 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2008community, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{COMMUNITY RIGHTS}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2008}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }