The selective precision of language is a characteristic of legal documents and statements. This is due to the need to be legally exact whilst accommodating political sensitivities amongst signatories through the use of anodyne language whose meaning may be widely interpreted. For example, the final wording in the CBD avoided the term 'Indigenous peoples' by using the generalised term, 'Indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles'. Thus, the very language customarily used in these documents may, at times, force a wedge between Indigenous peoples and farmers groups. At the same time, however, the fact that Indigenous peoples include farmers amongst their numbers requires that Indigenous peoples should have the opportunity to be involved in debates over farmers' rights.
Territoriality is a vital aspect of identity and of self-determination for Indigenous peoples.
In referring to territorial rights, Indigenous peoples refer to a far more all-embracing conception of rights than implied by words 'land' and 'tenure'. These are not the same as the right to self-determination as expressed in international law and claimed by Indigenous peoples. This is an issue of critical sensitivity which must be taken into account in any alliances which may be formed. Indigenous peoples are aware that many governments would find it highly convenient to deny Indigenous territorial rights by construing these as tenurial or usufruct rights only. These resources are often shared among individuals and social and corporate groups, each of which may have 'bundles' of graded rights to the same resources within a given area.