Humanists International
61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (23 February – 31 March 2026)
Interactive Dialogue: The Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights
Speaker: Leon Langdon
Thank you, Mr Vice President, and we thank the Special Rapporteur for her important report.
As noted therein, there is no tradeoff between cultural rights and nature conservation, and decisions presented as zero sum seldom are. The protection of the natural world can be ensured while respecting universal human rights, including cultural rights.
One area in which we would like to see further discussion is land ownership and accountability.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, faith-based organizations own 8% of the world’s habitable land and 5% of commercial forests.[1] This concentration grants these organizations outsized influence over the climate and the cultural landscapes they inhabit, as well as far beyond that, given that the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss are felt by all.
While many of these organizations espouse good practices, others fall short. In the Amazon and Southeast Asia, the expansion of religious missions and agricultural enclaves has led to the systematic erasure of indigenous lands. In Colombia, for example, the Mennonite community have cleared vast forests, directly threatening the ancestral territories of the local tribes.[2]
These cases illustrate a dangerous accountability gap, where private or religious property rights, often protected by tax exemptions and special statuses,[3] are used to shield organizations from their duty to protect the biodiversity and heritage these lands sustain.
Special Rapporteur, we would like to ask, how can we ensure that private landholders, particularly religious organizations, acknowledge their duty to conserve land as a prerequisite for a fulfilment of cultural rights.
Thank you.
[1] https://g20land.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/G20-GLI-Faith-Stocktake.pdf
[2] https://earthjournalism.net/stories/indigenous-community-in-peruvian-amazon-resists-deforestation-caused-by-mennonites; https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/19/world/americas/peru-amazon-mennonite-colonies.html
[3] https://fot.humanists.international/ratings-system/
'Cultural Rights and Nature', Humanists International