Exploring the Development And Use Of Biocultural Community Protocols To Help Secure Community Interests And Rights In Relation To Extractives

This report summarizes a February 2015 midterm review meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, regarding an international project led by Natural Justice and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The project, which began in July 2013, examines the development and use of biocultural community protocols (BCPs) to help Indigenous peoples and local communities safeguard their rights and interests when engaging with extractive industries and infrastructure development.

• The project pilots the use of community protocols in four countries—Kenya, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and India—to help communities document their identity, link customary laws with legal frameworks, and engage with external parties.
• In Kenya, communities in Lamu County are developing a protocol to address a large infrastructure project and related oil, gas, and coal exploration, focusing on issues such as inadequate impact assessments, lack of consultation, and missing resettlement plans.
• In Zimbabwe's Manicaland Province, a community facing threats from diamond mining is using a protocol to engage government and mining companies, specifically regarding land use rights and compensation for both land and natural resources.
• In Argentina, communities in the northwestern region are developing a protocol to counter lithium mining, aiming to establish community-led standards for consultation and participation to be integrated into the national legal framework.
• In the state of Odisha, India, the protocol process has expanded from forest-dependent communities to include mine workers, aiming to systematically manage mining, recover lost traditions, and obtain land titles.
• Participants identified several uses for BCPs, including internal peace-building, revitalizing community values, building consensus on land and compensation, and providing written records of rights like free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
• The project faces significant challenges, including political issues like a lack of legal status for protocols, corruption by power brokers, threats of violence, and the difficulty of defining the 'community' in non-homogenous groups.

APA

Natural Justice (2015). Exploring the Development And Use Of Biocultural Community Protocols To Help Secure Community Interests And Rights In Relation To Extractives. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Exploring-BCPs-Extractives.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. Exploring the Development And Use Of Biocultural Community Protocols To Help Secure Community Interests And Rights In Relation To Extractives. 2015. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Exploring-BCPs-Extractives.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Exploring the Development And Use Of Biocultural Community Protocols To Help Secure Community Interests And Rights In Relation To Extractives |date=13 February 2015 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Exploring-BCPs-Extractives.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2015exploring, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Exploring the Development And Use Of Biocultural Community Protocols To Help Secure Community Interests And Rights In Relation To Extractives}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2015}, month = feb, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Exploring-BCPs-Extractives.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }