The term “ICCA” is an abbreviation of the diverse manifestations and names of the cultures and locations in Nepal. These include sacred natural sites, pasture lands, ramsar sites, simsar sites, different forms of forest areas, ancestral lands, ponds, lakes, community conserved areas, and many others. These diverse names and places are value in themselves. We believe that these places are bond of livelihood, energy and health of all beings. They are sources of identity and culture, autonomy and freedom. They produce connecting tie among generations, preserving memories from the past, and connecting those to the desired future. These places are form of the ground on which communities learn, identify values and develop self-rule. Moreover, we believe that these places are sources of connection between visible and invisible realities, and material and spiritual wealth. With these all, we believe that these places have three characteristics as identifiers of the ICCA:
a) There is a close and deep connection between a territory or area and an indigenous people or local community. This relationship is generally embedded in history, social and cultural identity, spirituality and/or people’s reliance on the territory for their material and non-material wellbeing.
b) The custodian people or community makes and enforces decisions and rules (e.g., access and use) about the territory, area or species’ habitat through a functioning governance institution.
c) The governance decisions and management efforts of the concerned people or community contribute to the conservation of nature (ecosystems, habitats, species, natural resources), as well as to community wellbeing.
We value to recognize three forms of ICCAs. They are “defined ICCAs” (the one that fulfills above mentioned three characteristics); “disrupted ICCAs” (the one which is known to have fulfilled them in the past but fail to do so today because of disturbances); and “desired ICCAs” (the one which have the potential of developing the three characteristics, and their custodian communities are ready to work for this).