Description:

This methodology is developed to contribute to the achievement of “Result 1” of the Sustainable Wildlife
Management (SWM) Programme, namely, “improve the institutional and legal frameworks for sustainable
wildlife management”. It is designed to facilitate the use of the “diagnostic tool for assessing customary law
applicable to wildlife”, here also referred to as annex 3.

This tool provides an opportunity to identify, understand and document the rights of indigenous peoples and
local communities (IPLCs) to land1 and associated natural resources, such as wildlife, as well as the multiple
challenges associated with promoting the recognition of customary rights.2

Download the tool (annex 3).

1 Up to 50 percent of the world’s land is de facto managed by indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) (Land Portal
Foundation, 2019).
2 Drawing on seminal work on tree tenure by Berry, Fortmann and Rocheleau (Berry 1988; Fortmann, 1985; Fortmann and
Rocheleau 1985; Rocheleau and Edmunds, 1997), several insights into wildlife tenure can be drawn:
- Land and wildlife tenure are distinct but entangled.
- Rights to wildlife are multiple and overlapping.
- Wildlife tenure is flexible and dynamic.