Preface & Introduction
No one has more at stake than Indigenous Peoples when it comes to outside pressures to develop lands and
resources. Over 60 per cent of the world’s mineral resources are in the traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples.1
Our forests are sought for logging. But increasingly our forests are also being looked to for their role in conservation,
as people all over the world start to realise the damage years of pollution and deforestation have done to their own
environments. In Guyana, among other uses, our lands are being considered for large-scale agriculture projects and
our waters could be drained to feed those projects. At the same time, outsiders are making decisions about our
development and well-being without even considering our plans and priorities.
As Indigenous Peoples, we have certain rights that must be respected. One of our most important rights is the right to
give or withhold our Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to projects, policies and programmes that will affect our
people and traditional territories. FPIC is how our right to self-determination is achieved in practice. It is how the full
range of our rights, including our rights to land, culture and development, are protected.
FPIC and other Indigenous rights are inherent. That means they do not
depend on a government recognising them. Left to their own will, few
governments or companies have respected the right of Indigenous Peoples to
Free, Prior and Informed Consent. This means it is up to us, our communities
and our allies to push to have our FPIC and other rights respected. Indigenous
Peoples in Guyana and in many other parts of the world have made some
important gains this way. We can also do the same.
They think they can plan for
us, but a few years down the
road see what has happened.
We are best to decide what is
best for us!”
—
Amerindian trainer, Region 7
“Free, Prior and Informed Consent: A Practical Guide for Indigenous Peoples
in Guyana” (called the FPIC guide) shares lessons from our own Indigenous
Peoples as well, as from those in other parts of the world. Its main purpose
is to provide information on what is meant by the concept “Free, Prior and
Informed Consent” as simply as possible. It is also meant to assist us and our leaders in making competent decisions
on behalf of our communities and in so doing making our right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent a reality. It is
intended to be used as a resource or reference tool when projects are being considered for our communities and
before they are actually started. It is just one tool to help us to defend our rights. It came about mainly as a result of
some of our leaders and community members attending training sessions and workshops and agreeing on the content
and language of the guide.
As we have been made aware to some extent, the Government of Guyana is promoting its Low Carbon Development
Strategy (LCDS), a project that seeks to keep our forests standing while the country receives funding for doing so.
Many of us have been told of the benefits we can get from supporting this strategy, but we have not heard the full
extent of what the LCDS involves or how we could be negatively impacted. Under the LCDS there is the possibility that
a number of new projects will start, including, among other things, road building and expansion, hydro-power projects
1
”The Manila Declaration of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples.” Legend Villas, Metro Manila,
Philippines. March 23-25, 2009. Available on the Internet at http://www.tebtebba.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4
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A practical guide for Indigenous Peoples in Guyana
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