167. Given the intrinsic connection that indigenous and tribal peoples have with their territory, the protection of property rights and the use and enjoyment thereof is necessary to ensure their survival. This connection between the territory and the natural resources that indigenous and tribal peoples have traditionally used and that are necessary for their physical and cultural survival and the development and continuation of their worldview must be protected under Article 21 of the Convention to ensure that they can continue their traditional way of life, and that their distinctive cultural identity, social structure, economic system, customs, beliefs and traditions are respected, guaranteed and protected by the States. 204 168. This Court’s consistent case law has repeatedly recognized the right of indigenous peoples to ownership of their traditional territories and the duty of protection arising from Article 21 of the American Convention in light of the provisions of ILO Convention No. 169, 205 the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the rights recognized by the State in its domestic laws or in other relevant instruments and international decisions, 206 thereby constituting the corpus juris that defines the obligations of the State Parties to the American Convention, in relation to the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. Therefore, when examining the meaning and scope of Article 21 of the Convention in this case, the Court will take into account, in light of the said general rules of interpretation established in Article 29(b) of this instrument and as it has done previously, 207 the aforementioned special significance of communal ownership of the land for indigenous peoples, as well as the alleged measures taken by the State to ensure that those rights are fully effective. 208 B.2 The guarantee of the use and enjoyment of collective property 169. The Court has interpreted Article 21 of the Convention establishing that the State obligation to take measures to ensure the right to property of indigenous peoples necessarily entails, based on the principle of legal certainty, that it must demarcate, delimit and title the territories of indigenous and tribal communities. 209 In addition, the Court has explained that it is necessary to materialize the territorial rights of indigenous peoples by the adoption of the legislative and administrative measures required to create an effective delimitation and demarcation mechanism that recognizes such rights in practice. The foregoing, taking into account the recognition of indigenous rights to communal property, must be ensured by granting a formal title to property or another similar form of State recognition, which provides legal certainty to 204 Cf. Case of the Yakye Axa Indigenous Community, supra, paras. 124, 135 and 137, and Case of the Kuna Indigenous People of Madungandí and the Emberá Indigenous People of Bayano and their members, supra, para. 112. 205 Cf. ILO, Convention No.169 on indigenous and tribal peoples, supra, Article 18. 206 Inter alia, UN, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; UN. Human Rights Committee; UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; UN. Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; UN Office of the United Nations High Commissioner; IACHR, IACHR Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. 207 Cf. Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community, supra, para. 148, and Case of the Kuna Indigenous People of Madungandí and the Emberá Indigenous People of Bayano and their members, supra, para. 113. 208 Cf. Case of the Yakye Axa Indigenous Community, supra, para. 124, and Case of the Kuna Indigenous People of Madungandí and the Emberá Indigenous People of Bayano and their members, supra, para. 113. 209 Cf. Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community, supra, paras. 153 and 164, and Case of the Kuna Indigenous People of Madungandí and the Emberá Indigenous People of Bayano and their members, supra, para. 119. 50