and large-scale agriculture. All of these projects could bring benefits, but at the same time they can also cause some
negative impacts. This is one instance in which we can refer to the FPIC guide to ensure we are on the right track when
it comes to understanding all that is involved and how we can truly represent our people.
Mining is another activity that takes place on our lands, especially our ancestral lands. This guide offers good
information on how a community can make decisions in relation to saying “Yes” or “No” to mining activities.
FPIC can apply to these and all other projects, policies and programmes that could affect us. It means that we must
participate in all decisions affecting our lives. For Indigenous Peoples, “effective participation” (one of the terms we
will learn in this guide) means having opportunities to participate at all stages of a project. It also means having the
information and time we need to participate in meaningful ways, and having the decisions that result respect our
concerns, plans and rights. This FPIC Guide contains examples from international law, “best practices” in business, and
Guyanese laws and policies that we can use to make our case for FPIC.
The guide is one of a three-part series that all complement each other. The other two guides are the “Environmental
and Social Impact Assessments: A Practical Guide for Indigenous Peoples in Guyana” (called the ESIA guide), and
“Negotiating Impact and Benefit Agreements: A Practical Guide for Indigenous Peoples in Guyana” (called the IBA
guide).
The ESIA Guide deals with how Indigenous Peoples can participate in Environmental and Social Impact Assessments
or ESIAs. ESIAs are studies that have to be undertaken before projects that might have negative impacts on our people
and environment can go ahead. They are very important for our communities because their purpose is to identify
impacts and make plans to “mitigate” (lessen) these impacts. ESIAs are a key way to get information about a project or
programme so that we can decide whether or not it is what our communities want.
The IBA Guide deals with how our communities can negotiate agreements that provide benefits, compensation for
negative impacts and opportunities for our people to participate. An Impact and Benefit Agreement, or IBA, is a way of
saying, “Yes, we’ll allow the project to go ahead, but you have to follow the conditions and rules that we have agreed
to.” All three guides have important lessons for Free, Prior and Informed Consent and explain how we can participate
effectively to make sure our FPIC rights are respected.
The guides are for all the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana. They contain important information, including suggestions
for how we should conduct the business of our communities. We encourage you to read and reread them until you
feel you understand them enough to share them with others in the communities. Sharing does not have to start with
a big audience – it can start in the home or with a similar small group of people and then continue with a bigger group
later on. Sharing can also be done in stages so that we can truly understand its contents and are not overwhelmed
with too much information all at once. The guides contain some practical examples that come from our own
Indigenous Peoples and we can add to them by using experiences from our own communities.
The three guides were produced as part of a joint project between the Amerindian Peoples Association, The
North-South Institute of Canada and the Forest Peoples Programme of England. The project is called “Indigenous
Perspectives on Consultation and Decision-making about Mining and other Natural Resources.” The first phase
in Guyana ran from 2000 to 2002 and the second phase from 2004 to 2010. The project began with a focus on
Indigenous rights around mining; so many of the examples in these guides deal with how Indigenous communities
can try to achieve FPIC when dealing with mining companies. But we can use also the lessons they share to help
us defend our rights, people, lands and resources in the face of pressures from forestry, protected area plans and
other conservation measures, like the Low Carbon Development Strategy and REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus). It is about getting organised, knowing our rights and demanding that
they be respected!
Jean La Rose
Programme Adminstrator
The Amerindian Peoples Association
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Free, Prior and Informed Consent