Purpose: To inform the 2026 thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, on demarcation, registration and titling of Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories and resources, to be presented at the UN General Assembly.
Background
Indigenous Peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources are foundational to their self‑determination, cultural identity, food systems, livelihoods and spiritual continuity, and have long been recognised as central to overcoming historic injustices and securing a dignified future for present and future generations. This importance is reflected in the international legal and normative framework protecting these rights: the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirms collective rights to lands, territories and resources (articles 25–32) and requires free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) before measures affecting them (articles 10, 19, 29 and 32) UNDRIP. The ILO Convention No. 169 (1989) sets binding standards on recognition of land tenure, consultation/participation, and protection of institutions and customary system, operational guidance further details FPIC’s elements and implementation across sectors.
These protections are rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which affirms non‑discrimination and equality before the law (articles 2 and 7), the right to an effective remedy (articles 8), the right to own property and not be arbitrarily deprived of it (article 17), the right to an adequate standard of living (article 25), and the right to participate in cultural life (articles 27); these are core guarantees that underpin the recognition and safeguarding of Indigenous lands, territories and resources. The human rights and environmental context is reinforced by the UN General Assembly’s recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (A/RES/76/300), which underscores States’ duties to respect, protect and fulfil enabling rights. This body of law and guidance provides the authoritative baseline for recognising, delimiting, titling and safeguarding Indigenous lands, territories and resources, ensuring decisions are anchored in rights, consent, accountability, and environmental integrity.
In his 2025 and interim report to the 80th session of the General Assembly (A/80/181), the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples examined current global challenges to Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their lands, territories and resources, stressing the importance and his intention to focus on identification, demarcation, registration and titling processes. The report also addresses the criminalisation of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights defenders and the interplay between ancestral territories and international security, calling for Indigenous Peoples to be considered as partners in safeguarding international peace.
Objectives
This call for inputs and the follow-up questionnaire below seek to collecting comparable and concrete information on how States recognise, delimit, title and protect Indigenous Peoples’ lands, in law and in practice, including for mobile Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation or initial contact, and in coastal and marine territories, and by documenting barriers, risks and promising practices.
Please provide information for the country or region covered by your submission, noting regional or sub‑national variation where relevant. Include the current legal framework and practice over the past 10 years, while referencing earlier milestones where needed to explain contemporary realities. Where possible, attach or link to laws, policies, court decisions, cadastral layers, administrative manuals, budget lines, annual reports, protection protocols, and independent monitoring or academic studies. If citing sensitive cases, please anonymise personal data and indicate any confidentiality constraints. Respondents may wish to answer some but not all of these questions.
Please submit your response in English, French or Spanish using an accessible Word (.docx) format. The total length should be no more than 4,000 words, excluding annexes. Structure the submission under the headings of this questionnaire, and feel free to use bullet points within each section.
Kindly cite the relevant legal sources—including titles, instrument numbers and promulgation dates—and, where available, provide links to official gazettes or repositories. Attach maps/ files or describe their official status and authority. Where data exist, disaggregate by people, community, sex, age, disability, rural/urban, and by territorial category (e.g., titled territory, protected area with co‑governance, communal tenure, coastal/marine area).
When sharing sensitive cases, anonymize names and precise locations and state whether the information may be made public.
Please submit your response by 15 February 2026 to hrc-sr-indigenous@un.org, using the subject line: “Submission for the report to the 81st Session of the General Assembly – Country/Region/Indigenous Peoples concerned/Entity.”
Key questions and types of input/comments sought
QUESTIONS AND INFORMATION SOUGHT
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Legal recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ lands:
– Are Indigenous Peoples’ land rights (land, territories and resources) legally recognised in a constitution, law, or policy?
– What is the scope of these recognised rights (full property/ownership, access, use, control, exclusion, sub‑surface rights, benefit‑sharing)?
– Are customary territories, including waters/marine areas, and traditional governance institutions legally recognised as pre‑existing rights?
– Do those recognised land rights include restitution or compensation for historical dispossession?
– Would you consider that the current local legal recognition is aligned with the UNDRIP? If not, what are the elements that are missing or not aligned?
– If there is no legal recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights, what are the current practices that are in place instead?
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Physical marking of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights:
– Are Indigenous Peoples’ lands demarcated and titled?
– How is the demarcation done?
– When filing the claim for demarcation and titling, what is the documentation and other requirements needed, what institutions are involved and how accessible are these to Indigenous Peoples?
– What is the average duration of such demarcation/titling processes, and what are the fees or costs involved?
– Which entity is the legally recognised holder of the title deed?
– What are the legal and technological tools used for demarcation and titling?
– What role do Indigenous People play in the demarcation and/or titling process? Is their role determinant?
– How do you assess the adequacy of these procedures vis-à-vis Indigenous Peoples’ internationally recognised rights?
– What are the main obstacles or obstructions to demarcation and titling?
– Are there cases in which inadequate titling processes (including, for instance, incomplete demarcation, delays in titling procedures, ineffective title clearing) may have originated violence and criminalisation of Indigenous Peoples?
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Balancing Indigenous Peoples’ land rights with other interests:
– How strong is the protection of demarcated or titled Indigenous Peoples’ lands?
– How strongly are these titled rights upheld, in the context of other competing interests: do sectoral laws on energy, mining, environmental conservation and others recognise and respect Indigenous Peoples’ specific rights? Are these laws and their implementation consistent with the State’s human rights responsibilities and international obligations regarding Indigenous Peoples’ rights?
– Which institutions play a key role in the protection and safeguarding of these titled lands (courts, NHRIs, State entities, etc)?
– What is the role and situation of land defenders who actively protect Indigenous Peoples’ lands? Are there mechanisms to protect Indigenous Peoples’ land rights defenders from intimidation or reprisals, including rapid response, legal aid, and prosecution of threats? Kindly provide case examples.
– Are there cases of violence and criminalisation of Indigenous Peoples and their communities related to their protection of their traditional lands after titling?
– Is Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) required and implemented when Indigenous Peoples’ land rights are affected (boundary changes, protected areas, concessions, climate/biodiversity projects, infrastructure, relocation)?
– Are there measures to prevent encroachment or dispossession of Indigenous Peoples’ lands (patrols, sanctions, compliance monitoring)?
– May the State declare protected areas or impose environmental restrictions over customary use within Indigenous Peoples’ lands or territories (including in the context of conserving biodiversity and combating climate change)?
– May the State access and use Indigenous Peoples’ lands for military or national security reasons? Is consent needed in these cases?
– Are there any other restrictions to Indigenous Peoples’ jurisdiction inside their traditional lands and territories (rights of way, others)? May the State develop economic activities within Indigenous Peoples ‘lands and territories (exploitation of natural resources, infrastructures)? Is consent required?
– Are Indigenous Peoples’ lands affected by security or international geopolitical issues? And if yes, how and what kind of challenges do they face?
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Mobile Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation or initial contact and in marine/coastal territories
– Please describe how the land rights of mobile Indigenous Peoples (pastoralists, hunter‑gatherers, nomadic/seafaring communities) are recognized and protected.
– Please describe measures to demarcate and protect the territories of Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation or initial contact.
– Please indicate whether demarcation and registration processes include coastal and marine areas.
How inputs will be used?
All submissions will be published on the mandate’s website unless explicitly marked as confidential by their authors.
In line with the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council and Manual of Operations of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, mandate holders operate based on objective, reliable information and verifiable facts. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur reserves the right not to publish submissions that may not meet this threshold, as well as information containing personal data or that could put the submitters or others at risk of reprisals or intimidation.
