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The "Biocultural Community Protocols: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators" is a guide published by Natural Justice to help Indigenous peoples and local communities document their customary laws, values, and decision-making processes. These protocols serve as instruments to manage interactions with external actors—such as governments, researchers, and companies—ensuring that community rights and stewardship of their territories are respected. The toolkit provides a comprehensive framework for facilitators to lead communities through the process of endogenous development, legal empowerment, and strategic advocacy.

This guide provides a framework for Indigenous peoples and local communities to use biocultural community protocols as tools for engaging with external actors, participating in decision-making, and resolving conflicts. It details strategies for proactive communication, raising awareness through participatory media, and navigating national and international legal processes to protect customary rights and territories.

This guide from Natural Justice provides a framework for communities to monitor, evaluate, and revise biocultural community protocols. It details methods for assessing internal community changes, managing relationships with external stakeholders, and updating the protocol as a living document to reflect evolving visions and priorities.

This briefing by Natural Justice introduces Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs), which are community-determined frameworks used by Indigenous peoples and local communities to articulate their values and rights when engaging with external actors such as governments and companies.

A statement submitted on 13 December 2024 by a coalition of civil society organizations, including Natural Justice and SAFCEI, providing critical comments on South Africa's Draft Article 6 Framework. The coalition argues that carbon markets are fundamentally flawed and risk enabling human rights abuses, land grabs, and the evasion of actual emission reductions.

This August 2016 discussion paper by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Natural Justice proposes a set of draft conservation standards to protect the human rights of indigenous peoples. The authors argue that while international law provides a broad framework, there is a lack of practical, rights-based guidance for conservation actors, leading to documented cases of evictions and abuses in the name of biodiversity protection.

This report by Natural Justice and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative provides lessons and case studies on the development of community protocols in Africa to facilitate Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (aTK) under the Nagoya Protocol.

This report by Natural Justice and Kalpavriksh analyzes the legal and institutional frameworks affecting Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ conserved territories and areas (ICCAs). It identifies systemic threats to these areas, including a lack of legal recognition for customary land rights and the imposition of exclusionary conservation models. While noting positive developments in international law and specific national initiatives, the report argues that state institutions often continue to undermine ICCAs through discriminatory legislation and inaccessible judicial systems. It provides comprehensive recommendations for governments and international bodies to recognize the self-determination of Indigenous peoples and support the integrity of ICCAs through both legal reform and non-legal support mechanisms.

This briefing by Natural Justice analyzes the legal and institutional frameworks affecting Territories and Areas of Conservation by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (TICCAs). It examines the gap between international human rights standards and national implementation, highlighting how fragmented laws and a lack of recognition for customary land rights undermine the ability of Indigenous and local communities to maintain the ecological integrity of their territories.

This guide provides an introduction to the United Nations human rights system, detailing the organs of the UN, the International Bill of Human Rights, and the specific mechanisms available for the protection and advocacy of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

This guide, published by Natural Justice, provides an introduction to the United Nations human rights system, specifically tailored for indigenous peoples and local communities. It explains the structure of the UN, the evolution of international human rights law, and the specific mechanisms available for the protection of indigenous rights.

A letter dated February 24, 2014, addressed to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim from a coalition of 168 organizations and individuals, urging the revival of B-SPAN, the Bank's Internet-based webcasting system.

The ABS Picture Box is a communication tool developed by Natural Justice and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative to explain Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) to indigenous peoples and local communities across Africa. It uses a narrative-driven set of eight picture cards to simplify complex legal and technical concepts regarding genetic resources and traditional knowledge for audiences with low literacy levels or language barriers.

This document is a presentation by Natural Justice (NJ), an African organization dedicated to social and environmental justice. It outlines the organization's mission to protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples and local communities through a "Litigation Plus" approach, which integrates legal empowerment, research, policy influence, and strategic litigation. The document details NJ's activities in 2024, highlighting legal victories against extractive industries, efforts to secure land tenure, and the protection of environmental defenders across Africa.

This document is a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, provided by a coalition including Natural Justice and Forest Peoples Programme. It outlines the critical role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in biodiversity conservation, highlighting successful local practices, systemic barriers such as 'fortress conservation' and non-recognition of land rights, and the increasing risks faced by environmental defenders.

This guide by Natural Justice outlines a Just Energy Transition (JET) framework for African communities based on the "Three Ps": Principles, Policies and laws, and Practicalities. It advocates for energy democracy, community-owned renewable energy, and the application of environmental and restorative justice to ensure that the transition to clean energy does not repeat historical patterns of exploitation. The framework emphasizes the necessity of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), the right to a healthy environment, and the need for climate reparations and grants from the Global North to address energy inequality and historical carbon emissions.

This guide by Natural Justice explains the development and application of community protocols—codified rules and procedures used by communities to manage interactions with external actors, such as governments and investors. It details the facilitation process, guiding principles for empowerment, and strategies for using these protocols in advocacy, negotiation, and conflict resolution, particularly in the context of extractive industries.

The Community Protocols Toolbox is a comprehensive guide published by Natural Justice designed to assist NGOs, civil society groups, and community-based organizations in helping indigenous peoples and local communities develop community protocols. These protocols serve as frameworks for communities to document their identity, link customary laws with national and international legal frameworks, and engage effectively with external parties, particularly in the context of extractive industries and large-scale infrastructure projects.

This report by Natural Justice details trends in threats against environmental defenders in Africa from January 2022 to December 2024, based on data from the African Environmental Defenders Fund. It highlights a high prevalence of non-lethal attacks, particularly in East Africa, driven by extractive industries and government interests, and examines the specific gendered violence faced by women defenders.

This December 2016 report by Natural Justice and Public Eye analyzes discrepancies between the European Union's Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) regulation and the national legislations of provider countries implementing the Nagoya Protocol. The authors argue that the EU's narrow scope regarding temporal triggers, the definition of associated traditional knowledge, and the 'import loophole' creates legal uncertainty and undermines fair benefit sharing.