Demarcation and preservation of Indigenous Lands, actions at COP 30 and protection of women were solutions presented in the debates
The importance of the unity of indigenous peoples around the world in the face of climate emergencies was the central theme of the plenary debates “International Articulation of Indigenous Peoples: defending our rights in the climate and biodiversity agendas”, held on the third day of the 20th Camp Terra Free (ATL).
Leaders from different countries, who work together with the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) and other Brazilian organizations, brought up the challenges and consequences of climate change around the world, which affect, above all, the territories and lives of people. indigenous people.
"If we are to think about the economy of biodiversity, we have to talk about preserving our lands", stated federal deputy Célia Xakriabá (PSOL-MG), who arrived accompanied by Maxacali women|Lucas Landau/ISA
Kleber Karipuna, executive coordinator of Apib, highlighted the urgency of joint international action by indigenous organizations to prevent policies that put their rights at risk. “The ATL is once again bringing relatives from other countries to know our reality, and us to know their reality, so together, in this global alliance of indigenous peoples, we can fight for the improvement of our rights, in our territories and throughout the world ”, he highlighted.
Representing the Mesoamerican Alliance of Forest Peoples, Levi Sucre, from Costa Rica, demanded that the knowledge of indigenous peoples be recognized in the fight against climate change and highlighted the right to prior, free and informed consultation.
“We demand consultations with our people for all projects, all rights and all laws. And we want our knowledge to be recognized and respected to combat the problems of climate change. As a global alliance, we believe in the message brought by Apib here in ATL: our time is ancestral, not temporal”.
Find out more about the right to prior, free and informed consultation.
Rukka Sombolinggi, representing around 20 communities in Indonesia, emphasized that indigenous peoples around the world face the same challenges when the issue is their rights and the serious consequences of the climate crisis.
“Our wealth and our lands are being stolen. The victimization of our people has today led to what we call the climate crisis. And while global leaders are trying to find agreements on these issues, our people remain at risk,” said Rukka, who also spoke on behalf of the Global Alliance of Land Communities.
The Indonesian leadership recalled that COP 2025 will take place in 30, in Belém (PA), and that indigenous organizations and leaders need to work together, “to ensure that this event is capable of turning the tables on this issue”.
Find out more about COP 30, which will take place in Belém
The director of the Museum of Indigenous Peoples, Fernanda Kaingang, gave a powerful speech in defense of Brazilian biodiversity and against the kidnapping of the intellectual property of products extracted from the forests, denouncing the enrichment of large industries based on the knowledge of indigenous peoples.
“Our wise men must be heard and valued as masters of knowledge. It is necessary that the science of indigenous peoples is recognized and valued, that free, prior and informed consent is requested, that payment is made for the use of the knowledge of indigenous peoples and that the benefits are shared for the environmental roles that we have played in the conservation of biodiversity that the world needs to survive”, he highlighted.
She recalled that biodiversity plays an important role in the fight to face the climate emergency. Forests, for example, protect large carbon stocks that, if released into the atmosphere, could worsen global warming.
Gender and socio-environmental tragedies
On the afternoon of the second day of the ATL (23/04), the climate agenda was also present in the plenary session “Women Biomes in the construction of agendas towards COP 30”, organized by the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (Anmiga).
Led by the organization's executive secretary, Joziléia Kaingang, the debate included the participation of women leaders from different peoples.
In the plenary, reports of serious cases of violence against indigenous women in the territories were also made. Many emphasized that it is not possible to talk about the fight against the climate crisis without guaranteeing the protection of the bodies and lives of those who preserve territories and biomes.
“Our bodies and leaders are being criminalized and indigenous women are the ones who die the most. I ask that you accept the complaints from our relatives about the violence we experience in our communities”, stated Marinete Tukano, from the Makirae'ta organization, after reading a letter signed by Makirae'ta and Anmiga about the reality of indigenous women in the State.
Elisa Pankararu, leader of Pernambuco and coordinator of the Department of Indigenous Women of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo (Apoinme), spoke of the importance of recognizing biomes as a space for resistance and denounced environmental racism as structure of the climate crisis.
"Climate changes are not predictions, they already exist and are in place. And those who suffer are our people who live on the outskirts and in the countryside. We who are not responsible, we who do not pollute the rivers, we are the ones who are paying the bill Everyone else will also be affected", he denounced.
The representative of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southeast Region (ArpinSudeste), Neusa Martine, from the Guarani Nhandeva people, from Paraty (RJ), brought the voice of indigenous women from the Atlantic Forest, highlighting the struggle for land demarcation, combined with the struggles against the climate emergency and violence against indigenous women.
“We have to raise awareness among young people, men, women and society as a whole that we need to protect our bodies to continue protecting our environment. 80% of protected biodiversity is within Indigenous Lands. We need to implement, strengthen and take projects to our territories and to the Atlantic Forest”, she pointed out.
Braulina Baniwa, former executive secretary of Anmiga, highlighted the participation of indigenous women in organizing the bioeconomy in indigenous territories and, as a consequence, in facing the climate emergency.
“I invite you to learn about women's indigenous science and the bioeconomy that we produce within our territories. The bioeconomy that needs to be recognized and valued. Income needs to reach the territories and recognize our manual work as indigenous women. Our product, which competes for markets, needs to be considered an ancestral product, which carries our collective knowledge as indigenous peoples,” she said.
Map of indigenous women's organizations
During the biome women's plenary, Anmiga's executive secretary, Joziléia Kaingang, also spoke about the construction of the 2nd edition of the Map of Indigenous Women's Organizations in Brazil, organized by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) in partnership with Anmiga.
The work, which is expected to be launched in the second half of the year, updates the first edition, launched in 2020 also by ISA.
To update the data, Anmiga called on all leaders to fill out a form with information about their organizations and, during this ATL, researchers from ISA and Anmiga also carried out a data checking action.
“In 2020, ISA identified 92 indigenous women’s organizations. At this point, we already have more than twice as many organizations in this new survey. So this, for us indigenous women, is very important for us to think about each region, how we dialogue, build and update our needs and demands and our constructions as Anmiga, based on the map”, explained Joziléia. According to her, the map includes different types of organizations, collectives, associations or articulations.
According to Luma Ribeiro Prado, analyst for ISA's Indigenous Peoples in Brazil program, the 2nd edition of the map is a collaborative production between ISA and Anmiga and proves a marked growth in indigenous women's organizations in Brazil.
“Organizations that understand themselves in various ways, as a movement, as a commission, as a committee, as a collective. And this is very important because it shows the diversity of the way these women organize themselves,” she highlights.
“Climate emergency: indigenous people call for healing of the Earth”
The cultural night on the first day of Acampamento Terra Livre (22/04) opened with the launch of the work “Climate emergency: indigenous people call for healing of the Earth”, from the 2024 Indigenous Peoples Week notebook, authored by Ju Kerexu, coordinator of Apib, and Cristiane Julião Pankararu.
In the material, the writers point out alternatives that indigenous peoples have been bringing for some time as a way of adapting and mitigating the effects of the climate emergency.
“Emergency because the earth has been screaming and asking for help for a long time. We believe that nature has total autonomy and it talks to us. So, when we look for this connection, it gives its signals. We have entered a line that is emergency and we need to act”, highlighted Cristiane Julião Pankararu.
The notebook is produced by FLD Projetos de Vida and the Mission Council between Indigenous Peoples (Comin) and illustrated by indigenous artist Wanessa Ribeiro.