Indigenous Rights Entwined With Nature Conservation

With an increasing loss of biodiversity, the call for effective nature conservation becomes louder and louder. Most remaining biodiversity-rich areas are inhabited or used by indigenous peoples and local communities. In recent years, a new paradigm of nature conservation, with respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, was put forward. Two questions arise: What does this policy shift exactly mean in terms of international human rights law? And how has this new paradigm been translated at the national and local level? Taking a human rights and legal anthropological perspective, this study investigates how nature conservation initiatives interact with the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. The book is distinctive in that it provides a comprehensive review of international human rights law in the context of nature conservation. It also offers a critical appraisal of Peruvian nature conservation legislation in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. Additionally, it includes a thorough analysis of the interaction between three levels of regulation: the international level of human rights, the national level of Peru, and the local level of a specific protected area (the Gueppi Reserved Zone). It will be of interest to academics and practitioners alike, who are working in the fields of nature conservation, human rights, or indigenous peoples' rights.

Ellen Desmet is an assistant professor of migration law at Ghent University. She teaches migration law, coordinates the migration law component of the Human Rights and Migration Law Clinic, and co-lectures legal anthropology. Her research program analyses how migration law functions in a globalised world and interacts with changing realities of - among others - refugee flows, increasing inequalities and an ageing population in Europe. Until September 2016, Ellen was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University (50%) and the Law and Development Research Group of the University of Antwerp (50%). She was the Project Manager of the Interuniversity Attraction Pole (IAP) "The Global Challenge of Human Rights Integration: Towards a Users' Perspective" (UGent) and the methodological advisor of the Localising Human Rights research program (UAntwerpen).Ellen Desmet complemented her law studies (KU Leuven) with a master in Cultures and Development Studies (KU Leuven) and a master in Development Cooperation (Ghent University). She holds a PhD in Law from the KU Leuven. She previously worked as a senior research and policy advice officer at the Children's Rights Knowledge Centre (KeKi), and was a substitute lecturer in anthropology of law at KU Leuven.