When conserving nature violates people's rights.

For many, there is no doubt that indigenous and tribal peoples around the world are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world, especially in those areas that may be considered conflictive due to extractive or other interests.

But what happens when these indigenous peoples are being forced to leave their ancestral lands in the name of “conserving” nature?

This is precisely the question raised by Stephen Corry, director of Survival International (a global movement for the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples).

In an analysis published in the Huffington Post, Corry alleges that there are governments, with the support of conservation organizations, that are carrying out illegal expulsions of tribal peoples in India, torture and abuse committed against the Baka "pygmies" in Cameroon and mistreatment of the Bushmen in Botswana among others that are mentioned in the campaign. Parks need indigenous people that this organization carries out.

This campaign is based on the premise that “Conservation must wake up and accept the fact that indigenous and tribal peoples care for the environment better than anyone else.”

According to Corry: “[Conservation] needs to stop claiming that indigenous lands are wilderness and pristine when in fact they have been managed and shaped by indigenous and tribal peoples for millennia. It needs to stop accusing indigenous and tribal peoples of ‘poaching’ when in fact they hunt to feed their families.”

Corry even accuses the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of contributing to the illegal treatment of indigenous and tribal peoples in countries such as Botswana, whose president is guilty of trying to eradicate Bushman hunters.