Photograph by: Enric Sala, National Geographic
April 28, 2020
The Wyss Campaign for Nature released a new report this morning spotlighting the critical leadership indigenous and local communities are providing to safeguard the planet’s vulnerable lands, oceans, and wildlife. The report documents the unique perspective of four community leaders who are immersed in successful, indigenous- and community-led conservation projects in four different countries.
April 10, 2020
[…] As top predators, harpy eagles play a crucial ecological role, keeping populations of prey species in check; their presence in a forest is indicative of a healthy, functioning environment. No one knows how many remain in the wild, but scientists do know that they’re disappearing. The giant raptors once lived from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, but since the 19th century their range has declined by nearly half, leaving the Amazon with 93 percent of the species’ remaining occupied habitat. Deforestation—the primary threat to harpy eagles’ survival—shows no signs of slowing. Last year, the world watched as massive tracts of the Amazon went up in flames, and right now 45 acres of Brazilian Amazon are being razed every hour.
March 24, 2020
As the COVID-19 catastrophe has unfolded, a significant broadening of the landholdings of Indigenous Australians has taken place, with about 88,000 hectares of beautiful, rich Murrumbidgee floodplain country in south-western NSW handed back to its traditional custodians, the Nari-Nari people.
No figure for the value of the land has been given by Nature Conservancy, which facilitated the complex sale and handover process with the NSW government. However, an earlier federal estimate put it at $44 million.
March 13, 2020
The same forest destruction that accelerates climate change can also encourage the emergence of diseases such as the coronavirus, Indigenous Peoples’ leaders said March 13 in New York, as they criticized Cargill and other multinational companies for replacing forests with soy, palm and cattle plantations.
“The coronavirus is now telling the world what we have been saying for thousands of years—that if we do not help protect biodiversity and nature, then we will face this and worse future threats,” said Levi Sucre Romero, a BriBri indigenous person from Costa Rica who is the Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests.
February 23, 2020
In October 2020, the Convention on Biological Diversity will adopt a strategy — the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework — to replace the Aichi Targets. The Framework is intended as a step towards meeting the vision of a world ‘living in harmony with nature’ by 2050.
In order to reach that vision, there must be recognition of the interdependency of human rights and a healthy planet. As the Framework is negotiated, Forest Peoples Programme is therefore collaborating with a number of allies (including those listed below) to highlight the importance of human rights for biodiversity stewardship.
February 22, 2020
As climate change deepens, forests –– those lush, abundant, mysterious stands of trees that for millennia have quietly produced the air we breathe and the water we drink –– have never been more critical to our survival. It’s become clear that, as leading scientists have said, “Our planet’s future climate is inextricably tied to the future of its forests.” For a climate stable future, we must keep forests standing, as they are one of the most effective tools we have to combat climate change. Thankfully, the basic prescription for saving much of the world’s forests is refreshingly simple: hold corporations accountable for their role in driving deforestation and uphold Indigenous rights to their ancestral lands.
February 14, 2020
Species are being lost at about a thousand times the natural rate of extinction. This is faster than at any other period in human history. Ecosystems — the vital systems on which all life depends — are being degraded across the globe.
This crisis of biodiversity loss is finally getting some attention. But its connection to another loss – that of indigenous cultures – is rarely mentioned. From animals to insects and plants, biodiversity loss cannot be effectively addressed without tackling the rapid disappearance of indigenous cultures. The two are inextricably linked.
February 11, 2020
With their deep ties to the land and reliance on fishing, hunting, and gathering, indigenous tribes are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Now, native communities across North America are stepping up to adopt climate action plans to protect their way of life.
February 5, 2020
Indigenous ideas of nature are gaining a foothold in mainstream legal systems by making rivers, forests and even rice legal persons. Does this help protect the environment?
January 28, 2020
Indigenous people, environmentalists and industries vie for control over lands that can offer economic benefits or climate protection — but not always both.
January 28, 2020
Ecosystems will continue to collapse around the world unless humanity listens to the expertise of indigenous communities on how to live alongside nature, a prominent Amazon leader has warned.
Tuntiak Katan of the Ecuadorian Shuar people, who is vice-president of the pan-Amazon organisation representing communities in the river basin, said governments were spending millions of dollars on environmental consultants while largely ignoring the land management skills of the planet’s indigenous people that could help combat the climate crisis and biodiversity loss.
January 23, 2020
Indigenous people currently manage or have tenure on 40% of the world’s protected areas and remaining intact ecosystems. The deep connection to land and water that characterizes Indigenous cultures around the world suggests a natural alliance with conservationists working to protect those places.
But, as the authors of a recent paper in Biological Conservation argue, realizing this potential requires rethinking past approaches to conservation and ensuring that Indigenous people have substantive decision-making roles regarding their territories.
January 10, 2020
As wildfires devastate Australia, author and activist Julia Watson considers the wisdom of low-tech land management strategies that’ve been passed down through generations.
Australia’s wildfires—which, since September, have burned 17.9 million acres of the continent—have not only turned skies vermillion and made breathing the air a health hazard, they have also claimed the lives of an estimated 27 people and 1 billion animals. This global warming-fueled crisis began thanks to a combination of lightning, arson, and an unusually hot and dry summer season.
January 8, 2020
Author of award-winning book, The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times, Anita Sanchez, Ph.D., offers wisdom rooted in an understanding of the interconnection of all life. Her guidance helps us reframe our thoughts on climate change to facilitate personal and collective action.
As indigenous wisdom traditions have known for millennia and scientific research now confirms, we must expand our notion of family and community beyond our several immediate human relatives to include the community of nature for life to thrive.
December 29, 2019
Traveling back to Brisbane for family Christmas celebrations via a stopover in Sydney, Julia Watson was delivered directly into the NSW capital's weeks-long smoke haze.
The fires were a reminder that the impacts of a changing climate touched all corners of the globe, from cities to the remote regions the Brisbane-born landscape architect had spent much time in through her work on conservation and significant landscapes.
