The concept of FPIC is an international concept and practice which is rooted in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 2007 (Articles 10, 11.2, 19, and 28.1)[1] . The concept seeks to incorporate effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities[2] in ensuring that their rights are upheld during implementation of development activities.
Getting FPIC for the forest management activities that will affect forest dependent communities, or the forest management activities that will be affected by the communities, is vital for achieving RFM. This consent is especially important at the FMU level. In the past, FMIs have depended on law enforcement to maintain the integrity of FRs, but this has failed to curb the quiet civil disobedience of the forest dependent communities.
This is because the communities were not happy with the forest management activities, or they were misled by unethical persons because the communities were not adequately informed about the importance of the forest in their midst. Therefore, consulting communities should be done as a matter of principle in routine forest management work. While the objective of community consultation processes aim to reach an agreement (consent) between the relevant parties, it does not mean that all FPIC processes will lead to the consent of, and approval by the rights-holders (communities) in question. If this should be the case, the FMIs should be prepared to adjust their activities in a given location.
The elements of FPIC listed below are based on the UNREDD Programme FPIC guidelines[3] .
Free
• Stakeholders determine the process, timeline and decision-making structure;
• Information is transparently and objectively offered at the stakeholders’ request;
• The process is free from coercion, bias, conditions, bribery or rewards;
• Meetings and decisions take place at locations and times, and in languages and formats determined by the stakeholders; and
• All community members are free to participate regardless of gender, age or standing. This can be through representatives chosen by the communities themselves.
• The affected rights holder is aware of their right to grant, withhold or withdraw their consent to the proposed management activities that affect their legal and/or customary rights
Prior
• Adequate time is provided to understand, access, and analyze information on the proposed activity. The amount of time required will depend on the decision-making processes of the affected communities;
• The decision-making timeline established by the communities must be respected, as it reflects the time needed to understand, analyze, and evaluate the activities under consideration in accordance with their own customs.
• Information must be provided before activities can be initiated, at the beginning or initiation of an activity, process or phase of implementation, including conceptualization, design, proposal, information, execution, and following evaluation; and
Informed
The information should be:
• accessible, clear, consistent, accurate, constant, and transparent;
• delivered in an appropriate language and culturally appropriate format (including radio, video, graphics, documentaries, photos, oral presentations);
• objective, covering both the positive and negative potential of forest management activities and consequences of giving or withholding consent;
• complete, covering the spectrum of potential social, financial, political, cultural, environmental impacts, including scientific information with access to original sources in appropriate language;
• delivered in a manner that strengthens and does not erode indigenous or local cultures;
• delivered by culturally appropriate personnel, in culturally appropriate locations, and include capacity building of indigenous or local trainers;
• delivered with sufficient time to be understood and verified;
• delivered in a such a way that it reaches the most remote, rural communities, women and the marginalized; and
• Provided on an ongoing and continuous basis throughout the FPIC process.
Consent
• A freely given decision that may be a “Yes” or a “No,” including the option to reconsider if the proposed activities change, or if new information relevant to the proposed activities emerges;
• A collective decision determined by the affected peoples (e.g. consensus, majority, etc.) in accordance with their own customs and traditions;
• An expression of rights (to self-determination, lands, resources and territories, culture); and
• Given or withheld in phases, over specific periods of time for distinct stages or phases of a forest management programme. It is not a one-off process
• Consent is embedded in an iterative process that requires continual monitoring, maintenance, and reaffirmation
• Once consent is given and written in an agreement in good faith[4] , and a culturally appropriate engagement process, it cannot be withdrawn arbitrarily. However, if changes are proposed to management activities, or if new information becomes available, the affected rights holder may reconsider their decision to grant or withhold consent
Instruction 521: Each FMU shall establish in the FMP the legal, de facto and customary rights held by indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities so that during the FPIC process, which rights will be affected by which forest management activities are documented and monitored after consent is obtained
Instruction 522: FMIs should, to the fullest extent possible, engage the forest dependent communities during the planning for, and management of forest resources in their areas. In practice, this should mean that the processes of preparing FMPs, DFDPs, and Catchment Management Plans do not do cursory consultations but truly engage the communities by adapting the process in the UNREDD Guidelines to the local situations.
Instruction 523: For all forest management activities that affect the forest dependent communities, their consent shall be obtained through an FPIC process before implementation of the activities can proceed. This consent shall be recorded in minutes of meetings that are signed by the affected community members, or their representatives who are authorised in a culturally appropriate way.
In practice, the FPIC process goes through the following main steps[5] :
(i) Identify the rights holders and their rights through culturally appropriate engagement
(ii) Prepare for further engagement and agree on scope of the FPIC process agreement
(iii) Participatory mapping and assessments
(iv) Inform affected rights holders about any adjustments in management activities
(v) Prepare for rights holder deliberations on the FPIC agreement
(vi) Verify and formalize the FPIC agreement
(vii) Implement and jointly monitor the FPIC agreement
The FSC Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, 2021 and the UNREDD+ provide more detail on how to implement each of the steps.
Instruction 524: through a participatory process, FMIs shall develop and keep updated their own FPIC guidelines by adapting the FSC and REDD+ Guidelines to their own socio-cultural context. The guidelines shall be designed in such a way that each FMU can adapt them to the unique social-cultural conditions that obtain in the local area.
Instruction 525: Once the FPIC agreement is formally signed by the two parties, the FMI shall be duty bound to uphold it, and the subsequent revisions. Should the affected rights holder wish to withdraw their consent, a conflict resolution process built into the agreement shall be triggered.
United Nations, 2013. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Resolution 61/295 adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007 ↩︎
For purposes of the SFPs, indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities shall be collectively referred to as “forest dependent communities ↩︎
UN-REDD Programme, 2013. Guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent; Forest Stewardship Council, A.C., 2021. FSC-GUI-30-003 V2.0 – EN Guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent; FSC Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) ↩︎
Good faith implies that the parties make every effort to reach an agreement, conduct genuine and constructive negotiations, avoid delays in negotiations, respect agreements concluded and applied, and give sufficient time to discuss and settle disputes. This can be verified through meeting records and stakeholder interviews ↩︎
ibid ↩︎