PRINCIPLE #3: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognised and respected.
The rights of indigenous peoples to use NTFPs for subsistence needs must be protected.NTFPs play central roles in cultural and religious ceremonies for indigenous communities and their protection may promote cultural survival and positive relations between stakeholders.Certification should seek to minimize any potentially
negative impacts of market forces on traditional local use and management of forests and forest products. Certification should also avoid creating dependency relationships that may disrupt cultural balance, integrity, and belief systems, and that exploit indigenous-related knowledge and image.
3.1 Indigenous peoples shall control forest management on their lands and territories unless they delegate control with free and informed consent to other agencies.
3.2 Forest management shall not threaten or diminish, either directly or indirectly, the resources or tenure rights of indigenous peoples.
3.3 Sites of special cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance to indigenous peoples shall be clearly identified in co-operation with such peoples, and recognised and protected by forest managers.
Culturally and religiously significant sites, groves, plants and animals of cultural or religious importance are identified and protected from NTFP harvesting activities.
3.4 Indigenous peoples shall be compensated for the application of their traditional knowledge regarding the use of forest species or management systems in forest operations.This compensation shall be formally agreed upon with their free and informed consent before forest operations commence.
Indigenous communities receive fair and adequate benefits for any use of their name or image in marketing of NTFPs.
When indigenous knowledge is the basis of an NTFP-related patent, informed consent is obtained and the affected community receives fair and adequate benefits.