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ICCA 101
Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas
Living territories. Indigenous governance. Community-led conservation.
Across the Philippines, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have long protected forests, watersheds, and other ecosystems through their own knowledge, customary laws, and governance systems.
Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs), often called territories of life, recognize the enduring relationship between communities, their territories, and the natural world.
What is an ICCA?
An ICCA is a territory or area conserved by Indigenous Peoples and/or local communities through their own governance systems, customary laws, knowledge, and practices, resulting in the conservation of biodiversity and other natural and cultural values.
In the Philippines, ICCAs are often found within ancestral domains and may include sacred forests, burial grounds, hunting and gathering areas, watersheds, and other places essential to community life.
An ICCA is more than a conservation area. It is a living territory shaped by relationships, responsibilities, culture, and collective governance.
What an ICCA is NOT
An ICCA is not necessarily the same as a government-declared Protected Area.
Protected Areas are designated through national laws and government conservation frameworks. ICCAs are defined by the relationship between a community and its territory, the community's governance system, and the conservation outcomes of its practices.
The two may overlap, but government recognition or protected-area designation should not replace Indigenous and community governance.
An ICCA is not necessarily an area without people or resource use.
Some ICCAs include sacred or strictly protected zones, while others allow hunting, gathering, harvesting, and other activities regulated through customary laws. Conservation and sustainable livelihoods can coexist within territories governed by communities.
The Three Characteristics of ICCAs
A deep relationship between communities and their territories
The territory is closely connected to community identity, culture, livelihoods, spirituality, and well-being.
Functioning community governance
Indigenous Peoples or local communities have institutions, customary laws, or other decision-making systems that guide how their territories and resources are governed.
Positive conservation outcomes
Community governance and practices contribute to conserving biodiversity, ecosystems, and the natural and cultural values of the territory.
Why ICCAs Matter
Protecting biodiversity
ICCAs contribute to conserving forests, watersheds, wildlife, and other ecosystems through community knowledge, practices, and stewardship.
Sustaining livelihoods and life-support systems
These territories provide food, water, medicine, forest products, and other resources that sustain community livelihoods, cultures, and well-being.
Upholding Indigenous rights and governance
Recognizing ICCAs affirms the rights and responsibilities of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to govern and care for their territories according to their own knowledge, institutions, and customary laws.
Strengthening climate resilience and cultural continuity
ICCAs help sustain ecosystems and the intergenerational knowledge and practices that communities draw upon to respond to environmental change.
ICCAs, Protected Areas, and OECMs: What's the Difference?
Protected Areas (PAs)
Areas formally designated and managed for conservation under government-recognized legal frameworks. In the Philippines, these may involve Protected Area Management Boards and other legally established management arrangements.
Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs)
Territories and areas conserved through the governance systems, customary laws, knowledge, and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs)
Geographically defined areas outside formally recognized Protected Areas that achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for biodiversity conservation.
These concepts are related but not interchangeable. Some ICCAs may also qualify as Protected Areas or OECMs, depending on their characteristics and applicable recognition processes.
How ICCAs Are Documented
ICCA documentation is a community-led process that can help strengthen governance, record conservation practices, support community planning, and build evidence for recognition.
Depending on community priorities and context, the process may include:
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Community research and profiling: Documenting history, governance systems, conservation practices, and challenges.
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Participatory mapping: Identifying territorial boundaries, conservation zones, and culturally significant areas.
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Resource assessment: Documenting biodiversity and forest or ecosystem conditions.
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Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) documentation: Recording knowledge and practices that communities agree can be documented.
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Community validation: Reviewing and confirming information through community decision-making processes.
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Community Conservation Planning (CCP): Identifying priorities, responsibilities, and actions for conserving and managing the territory.
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Declaration and voluntary registration: Where appropriate and collectively agreed upon by the community.
Documentation and information-sharing must respect community protocols, collective decision-making, and the protection of sensitive cultural and territorial information.
Explore the Global ICCA Registry
The Global ICCA Registry is an international platform documenting territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world.
Managed by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the Registry helps increase awareness and recognition of community-led conservation.
Participation is voluntary. Communities decide whether and how information about their territories is shared, subject to appropriate safeguards and consent processes.
Safeguards: FPIC, Data Governance, and Peer Review
Recognizing ICCAs must respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to make decisions about their territories, knowledge, and information.
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
Communities must be able to make informed, collective decisions about participation and the sharing of information concerning their ICCAs.
Community control over information
Sensitive knowledge, sacred places, territorial information, and cultural practices must be documented and shared only in accordance with community decisions and protocols.
Peer review and validation
Community-led validation and appropriate peer-review processes can help ensure that ICCA information is accurate, credible, and shared with proper consent.
Registration should support community rights and governance, not impose external control over territories.
ICCA in Practice: Patagonan daw Bahaw-bahaw, Bukidnon
In Bukidnon, the Higaunon Indigenous community of Agtulawon Mintapod Higaunon Cumadon (AGMIHICU) protects its ancestral territory through customary governance and conservation practices.
Their ICCA, known as Patagonan daw Bahaw-bahaw, demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge, spirituality, livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation are interconnected.
Patagonan
Sacred and Strictly Protected Areas
Bahaw-bahaw
Regulated Resource-Use Areas
Patagonan refers to areas protected under strict customary rules, including sacred forests and places reserved for future generations. Hunting, gathering, and other resource extraction are prohibited in these areas.
Bahaw-bahaw refers to areas where community members may hunt, gather, and harvest forest resources for food, medicine, and livelihoods, subject to customary laws and practices.
Together, these areas cover approximately 10,900 hectares of forest landscape conserved through Higaunon governance. The community's conservation practices demonstrate that forest protection is not separate from cultural identity, ancestral responsibility, and sustainable livelihoods.
ICCA Stories
ICCA Bill Tracker — Philippines
Recognizing community conservation through national legislation
The proposed ICCA legislation seeks to strengthen recognition and protection of territories and areas conserved by Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the Philippines.
Under the 20th Congress, the House proposals include:
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House Bill No. 1586, principally authored by Rep. Maximo Y. Dalog Jr.
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House Bill No. 5761, principally authored by Rep. Leila M. de Lima
Latest documented deliberation featured here
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March 5, 2026 - Second Technical Working Group Meeting: The Technical Working Group continued discussions on the proposed ICCA legislation, including recognition procedures, governance, customary laws, prohibited acts, and the proposed National ICCA Registry.
Earlier milestones
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December 2025 - First Technical Working Group Meeting: Initial technical deliberations on the ICCA legislation under the 20th Congress.
Legislative Status
The House of Representatives' public legislative records continue to list HB 1586 and HB 5761 as pending with the Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples.
Legislative records reviewed: October 16, 2026. This tracker highlights publicly documented developments and will be updated as further milestones are verified.
Why the ICCA Bill Matters
The ICCA Bill seeks to strengthen the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' contributions to biodiversity conservation through their own governance systems and practices.
For NTFP-EP Philippines, advancing ICCA recognition means supporting conservation that upholds ancestral rights, customary governance, cultural continuity, and community leadership.
How You Can Support ICCAs and Indigenous Peoples
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Learn and share: Explore this ICCA 101 hub and help others understand why community-led conservation matters.
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Listen to community voices: Read stories and experiences shared by Indigenous Peoples and local communities about their territories, livelihoods, and conservation practices.
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Follow policy developments: Stay informed about the ICCA Bill and initiatives advancing rights-based conservation in the Philippines.
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Support community governance: Recognize that lasting conservation must respect Indigenous rights, customary laws, knowledge systems, and community decision-making.
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Follow NTFP-EP Philippines for updates, stories, and advocacy developments.
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