The Rights and Resources Initiative supported four indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ communities in Belize fighting illegal oil exploration on their ancestral lands in Sarstoon-Temash National Park:

• In 2013, RRI provided timely support to Sarstoon-Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) in gathering evidence, organizing a national media campaign, holding a legal strategy workshop, and documenting the case to serve as an example for future land rights challenges in the region.

• In April 2014, the Supreme Court of Belize ordered the Government of Belize to obtain the free, prior and informed consent from the claimants with respect to any contract, permit or license that falls within the National Park.

• This victory reaffirmed the both land rights and the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Indigenous Peoples in Belize at a moment when the potential for rollback of rights is gaining ground, both within Belize and throughout the region.

On the morning of April 3, 2014, representatives from four Maya communities from the Sarstoon area in southern Belize crowded into the courtroom of Supreme Court Justice Michele Arana, many wearing white t-shirts printed with the slogan “’No’ to oil drilling until our rights to land, resources, culture, identity, and equality are recognized.” The scene was the culmination of a year-long legal battle that pitted the American energy exploration company US Capital Energy and the Government of Belize against indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ communities struggling to maintain rights to their ancestral lands within Sarstoon-Temash National Park (STNP).

The communities of Conejo, Midway, Crique Sarco, and Graham Creek were rewarded with a monumental ruling that will have far-reaching implications for Indigenous Peoples in Belize. Speaking on behalf of the Supreme Court, Justice Arana declared that the government’s granting of permission to the Texas-based US Capital Energy to drill and build roads within the park was “irrational and unreasonable,” as it was obtained without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Maya communities who hold customary title to land in and around the park. Furthermore, Justice Arana ruled, these illegal permissions violated Belize’s ratification of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Justice Arana ordered the Government of Belize to obtain the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent from the claimants with respect to any contract, permit or license that falls within the National Park.

“The world has long suffered the indignities of oil development on indigenous cultures,” said Gregory Ch’oc, who retired as the Executive Director of SATIIM in August 2014. “It is time to draw a line in the sand […] SATIIM and the Indigenous People are saying, not here, not now, not this way.”

This ruling is the result of a protracted legal battle that is only the latest entry in a long-running conflict between US Capital Energy, the Government of Belize, SATIIM, and the indigenous communities of the Sarstoon-Temash National Park. The current conflict began in 2012, when the Government of Belize granted access to US Capital Energy to begin building roads and drilling within the park. This permission flies in the face of previous court rulings, such as the 2006 court ruling that instructed the Government of Belize to execute a policy decision should they decide to carry out oil drilling exploration inside the Sarstoon-Temash National Park. In both 2007 and 2010 the court affirmed Maya customary title to lands they traditionally use and occupy, and acknowledged that oil drilling exploration is in direct violation of laws that ban oil extraction in national parks. Sarstoon-Temash National Park, the second largest national park in Belize, was established in 1994 on customary lands of the Maya and Garifuna.

According to the American advocacy group Cultural Survival, by August 2013 US Capital had already cleared 200 miles of trail and destroyed at least 400 acres of forest during its exploratory activities, having given only cursory attention to obtaining FPIC from the four affected communities. As reported by SATIIM park rangers, these activities led to increased illegal logging, disruption to the park’s wildlife, and the burning of 205 acres of irreplaceable sphagnum moss bog, the only example of this ecosystem in Central and South America. The community leaders, SATIIM, Rights and Resources Initiative, and the American law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter, and Hampton LLP pooled their efforts to drum up national interest in the conflict and assembled a body of incontrovertible evidence, ultimately permitting the communities to successfully argue their case in court.

The ruling sets a powerful precedent in decision-making processes with respect to lands, territories, and resources traditionally owned, occupied, or otherwise used or acquired by Indigenous Peoples in Belize. By requiring the Government of Belize to obtain the FPIC of Indigenous Peoples before issuing contracts, permits, or licenses within indigenous territories, the decision effectively institutionalizes the FPIC as a legal standard of practice. As such, the decision affirms and reinforces the legal authority of Indigenous Peoples to decide, first and foremost, whether certain activities can take place within their lands, strengthening the depth to which Indigenous Peoples can exercise their access, management, and exclusion rights to land. Moreover, the legal victory altered the national discourse on land and resource rights. It repositioned Indigenous Peoples as deserving of recognition and capable of defending themselves against seemingly more powerful and well-positioned parties.

The ruling builds regional support for the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples across Central and South America at a moment when the potential for rollback of rights is gaining ground. Despite regional achievements in land and forest tenure reform, the increasing demand for natural resources has led a number of governments across Central and South America to bypass the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in favor of extractive resource investments.

The ruling, while a tremendous victory, is but a stepping stone in the long and contentious struggle of Belize’s Indigenous Peoples for recognition and legal protection of their land and territories. US Capital Energy has vowed to continue its oil drilling activities, arguing that while consent from the Maya was not obtained, the permits and licenses granted to the company were nonetheless legitimate. Continued vigilance and legal action will remain necessary to safeguard the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Sarstoon-Temash National Park and across Belize.