First published on 01/11/2013, and last updated on 03/11/2018
By Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh (Member) and ICCA Consortium Steering Committee member
One question that we are often asked is: what is the extent of ICCAs in your country, or in the world? We have no comprehensive answer to this, for several reasons: lack of documentation on ICCAs, some fuzziness about what constitutes an ICCA, the fact that many ICCAs are ‘hidden’ within official protected areas, etc. There is also the need for caution in applying this term to a wide diversity of local practices and names that indigenous peoples or local communities themselves use. ICCA must be understood to be only a convenient term denoting some essential similarities amongst various territories and areas, rather than in any way subsuming their diversity and self-definition.
Within these limitations, some of us attempted to put together available information on ICCA extent, resulting in Table 2.3 (‘Number and extent of ICCAs in select countries’) in the new publication on ICCA Recognition and Support. The data here, even if from a very limited number of countries and submitted to various caveats, clearly show that ICCAs are widespread, numerous, and substantial in area coverage.
The Consortium has initiated a follow up to the above compilation, by seeking information on the number and extent (in hectares/acres/sq.km) of sites that could come under the definition of ICCAs. Readers are encouraged to write to us if they have such information, or know of persons/resources that could help, especially from countries not covered in the above-mentioned table. If you are sending data and information, please do mention the source, with a full reference citation as appropriate. As a small incentive, we would be happy to send you a printed version of the above study on ICCA Recognition and Support, if you would like to get a copy. Thanks!
