the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, which means that the land is not the subject matter of the Applicants’ complaint. 254. The Respondent State also argue that the community has been holding consultations with Corby Ltd., as evidence by the agreement between them is a clear manifestation of the extent to which the former participants in the decisions touch on the exploitation of the natural resources and the sharing of the benefits emanating therefrom. 255. The African Commission notes that in The Ogoni case the right to natural resources contained within their traditional lands is also vested in the indigenous people, making it clear that a people inhabiting a specific region within a state could also claim under Article 21 of the African 145 Charter. The Respondent State does not give enough evidence to substantiate the claim that the Complainants have immensely benefited from the tourism and mineral prospecting activities. 256. The African Commission notes that proceeds from the game reserve have been used to finance a lot of useful projects, ‘a fact’ that the Complainants do not contest. The African Commission, however, refers to cases in the Inter-American Human Rights system to understand this area of the law. The American Convention does not have an equivalent of the African Charter’s Article 21 on the Right to Natural Resources. It therefore reads the right to natural resources into the right to property (Article 21 of the American Convention), and in turn applies similar limitation rights on the issue of natural resources as it does on limitations of the right to property. The “test” in both cases makes for a much higher threshold when potential spoliation or development of the land is affecting indigenous land. 257. In the Saramaka case and Inter-American case law, an issue that flows from the IActHR assertion that the members of the Saramaka people have a right to use and enjoy their territory in accordance with their traditions and customs is the issue of the right to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources that lie on and within the land, including subsoil natural resources. In the Saramaka case both the State and the members of the Saramaka people claim a right to these natural resources. The Saramakas claim that their right to use and enjoy all such natural resources is a necessary condition for the enjoyment of their right to property under Article 21 of the Convention. The State argued that all rights to land, particularly its subsoil natural resources, are vested in the State, which it can freely dispose of these resources through concessions to third parties. 258. The IActHR addressed this complex issue in the following order: first, the right of the members of the Saramaka people to use and enjoy the natural resources that lie on and within their traditionally owned territory; second, the State’s grant of concessions for the exploration and extraction of natural resources, including subsoil resources found within Saramaka territory; and finally, the fulfilment of international law guarantees regarding the exploration extraction concessions already issued by the State. 259. First, the IActHR analysed whether and to what extent the members of the Saramaka people have a right to use and enjoy the natural resources that lie on and within their traditionally owned territory. The State did not contest that the Saramakas have traditionally used and occupied certain lands for centuries, or that the Saramakas have an “interest” in the territory they have traditionally used in accordance with their customs. The controversy was the nature and scope of the said interest. In accordance with Suriname’s legal and constitutional framework, the Saramakas do not have property rights per se, but rather merely a privilege or permission to use and occupy the land in question. According to Article 41 of the Constitution of Suriname, and Article 2 of its 1986 Mining Decree, ownership rights of all natural resources are vested in the State. For this reason, the State claimed to have an inalienable right to the exploration and exploitation of those resources. On the other hand, the customary laws of the Saramaka people give them a right over all natural resources within its traditional territory. 260. The IActHR held that the cultural and economic survival of indigenous and tribal peoples and their members depends on their access and use of the natural resources in their territory that are related to their culture and are found therein, and thatArticle 21 of the Inter-American Convention protects their right to such natural resources. The Court further said that in accordance with their previous jurisprudence as stated in the Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa cases, members of tribal and indigenous communities have the right to own the natural resources they have traditionally used within