About

ICCA sounds like an acronym, but it is not. It is an abbreviation for ‘territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ or territories of life (https://www.iccaconsortium.org/discover/). It is an umbrella concept to facilitate global communication about a grass roots level phenomenon that has many diverse manifestations and names in cultures and locations around the world. The ICCA and territories of life terms should never be imposed, replace or obscure local and nationally appropriate terms.

The content of the ICCA abbreviation has changed over the years. In 2003, IUCN recognized ‘Community Conserved Areas and Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas and Indigenous–owned and managed protected areas’ at the 5th World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. The concept was subsequently adopted by CBD parties in 2004 and since that time CBD Parties have recognized different iterations of this concept, from ‘community conserved areas’ to ‘Indigenous and community conserved areas’ to ‘territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities’. The evolution of the ICCA phrase in COP decisions is because the ICCA Consortium were advocating for different iterations as they evolved the language that they were using in the association.

The ‘territories of life’ iteration started to be used in 2017. This phrase resonates more with some Indigenous Peoples and local communities because it’s words, rather than letters, and invokes a better sense of the territory and area. Some Indigenous Peoples and local communities might prefer to use the ICCA abbreviation, this may be a result of advocacy efforts in their country resulting in the ICCA term being known and recognised for their value.

In general, every country context has a different iteration of a term or concept of territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities that resonates more with them, and every community context has a different name for their territory or area that holds important value. Uniting behind the common terms of ICCA – territories of life has been important for general or inter-cultural communication and gaining international recognition for ICCAs, but local / customary names should always be preferentially used.

Although Indigenous Peoples and local communities are often considered together in the context of their, in some cases, close relationships between their cultures and territories and areas, there are clear differences between them under international law. Refer to Annex 3 (“The legal distinction between Indigenous peoples’ rights and local communities’ rights”) of the global spatial analysis of this report. Available online at: https://report.territoriesoflife.org/global-analys... .