Leaders of the world's 350 million aboriginal people, gathered at the United Nations to discuss ways to protect their culture and environment, are demanding that multinational corporations accept legal responsibility for policies that destroy indigenous lands and lifestyles.

''Industries o­n indigenous lands were meant to bring development, economic growth and reduced poverty,'' Victoria Tauli of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus o­n Sustainable Development told a meeting at the Permanent Forum o­n Indigenous Issues that started this week. ''Rather than bringing development, however, they have brought more poverty and misery to indigenous people.''