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The aim of this paper is to illustrate the particularities and challenges associated with creating municipal environmental governance institutions in the Peruvian Amazon.

A case‐study approach based on qualitative research, document analysis and interviews is used based on field research between 2007 and 2009.

Findings reveal the limitations of municipal governance institutions to reflect local environmental concerns illustrated by the example of oil exploration. Whereas municipal institutions put in place resulted in environmental plans and policies, they failed to effectively address major sustainability concerns within their territorial boundaries. On the one hand, policy ambiguities about the meaning of “local” action reflect longstanding divides between centralised policy making and local agenda setting. On the other hand, findings point to the flexibility of local environmental processes easily neglecting core environmental problems.

The conclusions justify reinforcing policy efforts to strengthen the mandate and competencies of municipalities on broader environmental matters. They also reinforce the need for more locally responsive and socially inclusive environmental agenda setting.

The study sheds light on poorly described environmental governance aspects from an area of global significance. Amazonian affairs are emblematic for environmental conflicts related to deforestation, extractive industries and ecological complexity. Analyzing the importance of municipal processes is critical in this respect.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reasons why the human rights-based approach should be used in the preservation of cultural heritage.

The article is a combination of an essay and illustrative case studies. The thesis is based on experience in heritage protection on national and international level and the discussions of the “Heritage and Human Rights” training in Estonia 1.-6.05.2019.

Cultural heritage is the common good regardless of its ownership. The protection of something, especially in living environments, includes compromises in the rights of one or another counterpart. Restrictions are often ground for conflicts that can be settled with good communication, but sometimes just communication is not enough. In these cases, human rights-based approaches enable to identify the problems, scale the rights of different stakeholders and thus enable discussion to reach consensus.

The research is useful for heritage conservationists, policy makers and urban planners with regards to management and implementation of human rights-based approach and community involvement in heritage protection on World Heritage, national and local levels.

The research is a part of a series of discussions, trainings and project reports of the Our Common Dignity – Rights Based Approaches (OCD-RBA) working group of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and contributes to the follow-up activities worldwide.