The Guardians Of The Forest
- Alice Brown
- Oct 25, 2017
- 7 min read
Yesterday, London was graced by the presence of indigenous leaders from the forests of Brazil, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Guatemala, French Guiana, Indonesia, Congo and Bolivia on their route to the UN’s COP23, in Bonn, Germany. After a conference at the Royal Society, the #GuardiansOfTheForest walked to Parliament Square, holding photographs of other indigenous leaders who have been killed in the last 3 years defending their territories from deforestation for industry. The leaders spoke of violence, imprisonment and murder of environmental defenders and explained how they can protect the forests more than anyone. They also came to ask us to please reconsider our consumption. In return for our support, they said, they will continue to protect the world's forests for us all to benefit from clean air, biodiversity and a rich future. Their message was clear: to share their stories, of what was going on in their homes, and what they need to be a part of the climate solution.
(Image by wiild: Woie Kriri Sobrinho Patte (Brazil), Candido Mezua (Panama) and Dinamam Tuxá (Brazil) in Parliament Square) Some words from the leaders: Mina Susana Setra, Indonesia: "Palm oil, pulp and paper, mining, soy plantation, sugar cane, everything that may be in your kitchen today, products that you buy in the supermarket, the chair that you sit on - may be from our forest. It has an impact directly to our community. Many indigenous communities die- they are killed. These are photos of indigenous leaders whose been killed this year, last year and the year before. Many of them killed because they are protecting their territories, because we love our forests so much. Many others are also in jail, they get arrested, because simply they leave the community to keep protecting their forest. Many of us are evicted from our land because conservation, national parks and development projects. We are here today to let you know what’s happened in our community, to seek your support to start reducing a little bit of your consumption. You can help us by giving pressure to the government today. They have to put strong safeguards to insure no more criminalisation of our leaders and no more land grabbing. You can help us from here. That will be the connection between us- you help us form here, we help you be keeping to protect our forest. By protecting our forrest we keep the air clear, our atmosphere from emissions". Antonio Fernandes Jesus Vieira, Brazil - "The are watering with our blood, the cultivation of sugar cane, soya and other sorts of plantations. We are murdered because we fight for our rights and the rights of the environment. Indigenous leaders are dying all over the world trying to defend their territories. All this because they want an economic development programme, that is not sustainable. That is not human. How many indigenous people need to die for you to see we are the true defenders of the forest? We are criminalised, marginalised, we live in encampments on the side of roads, because they don’t want to recognise our rights. Our right to live and protect. To protect the most sacred things in the world which are forests. The indigenous people are here with a single objective, which is to protect our forests, our land for the common good of humanity. Everyone here and in brazil as well benefits from our protection. And the government, industries, they don’t want to accept that we are the solution to this problem. So long as there are indigenous people in the world, there are forests. Because we will be protecting them with our own lives." Find out about the other leaders that joined them here: https://guardiansoftheforest.me/
How are these killings happening? A demand for land and natural resources by industry, driven by overconsumption which is supported by our economic system and as a result governments. The killings are carried out by, according to Global Witness, the private security of the companies taking/using the land, state forces as well as contract killers. They also report that 'just over one per cent of perpetrators known to have been convicted between 2002 and 2014', so it is very much silenced, ignored by and frankly of opposing interest to the governments to take action.
Publicity of the situation Global Witness (who themselves have lost a campaigner, Chut Wutty, killed in 2012 while exposing an illegal logging site to journalists) have partnered with The Guardian to report every defenders death, and to uncover stories of land and environmental defenders under attack and at risk of the same story, in real time. Global witness have reported that last year was the most deadly for those defending against wildlife poaching and unsustainable, destructive practise such as logging, extraction, land clearing and pollution.. 200 were murdered. So far this year, 158 environmental defenders have been killed (The Guardian). Their 'defenders' page includes the names of every person killed, amongst them the names held up in Parliament Square yesterday. They cover as many individual stories as it is possible to obtain information on.
Please follow both pages to keep up to date: Global Witness: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/#more The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2017/jul/13/the-defenders-tracker
(Map: by The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2017/jul/13/the-defenders-tracker showing number and place of killings in the past 3 years)
An invaluable voice that demands to be heard By definition, indigenous people are those whose ancestors were inhabitants of a place before that place was explored, colonised and dominated by people from other places and cultures, who maintain their traditions of culture and non-dominant societal groups. They live on the natural land and directly from natural resources and have done for thousands of years- a huge part of their identity. The UN say that, 'indigenous peoples are the holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs and possess invaluable knowledge of practices for the sustainable management of natural resources.' The Guardians of the Forest campaign proposes that alongside this traditional knowledge and protection of the world's forests, indigenous people have also developed modern sustainable development tools, such as drone and satellite technologies for monitoring change and sustainable forestry techniques for their own peoples. They are determined for their voices to be heard at the climate change table, and while they have places in the UN's COP yearly meetings, the problem is, they receive a small amount of climate budget and power. As well as their demands to stop the murder of their activists, they also want 'access to direct financing for initiatives, programs and projects related to the processes of mitigation and adaptation to climate change' and the 'evaluation and incorporation of our knowledge in the measures and strategies developed to face climate change.' Please see this funding page to help fund more people from the 'global south' in their journeys to the COP23 conference next month: https://www.gofundme.com/COP23-UKYCC
What we can do
With a bit of research, you can find out whether your foods or products contain ingredients from unsustainable sources. Join campaigns against these companies, consume less and just buy what you need! It's hard to imagine one person making a difference but it's the same old story: if we all do it, it will change things. Meat production has a huuge impact on resources. Palm oil is so widespread because it uses less space than other oils, and the WWF say that to boycott palm oil is not the answer because otherwise, we'd be using much more space for other oils (and denying many of vital jobs), but we must buy it when it is certified by the RSPO (http://blogs.wwf.org.uk/blog/green-sustainable-living/green-sustainable-living-food/palm-reading-should-we-buy-or-boycott-products-containing-palm-oil/). Clue: you won't find this certification on many brands of cakes, biscuits etc so you have to take this seriously and shop around/make your own/go without!
Write to the government to demand they change policies that allow industries to grab and use these products in this way.
Tell other people the stories from these indigenous leaders.
A dark side to conservation?
It has also been reported that indigenous peoples have been prosecuted and beaten by 'conservationists', because their foraging and bushmeat killings have been classed as poaching (see Survival International for more on this). As Mina Susana Setra said in her speech yesterday, 'many of us are evicted from our land because conservation, national parks and development projects.' The indigenous leaders who came to London this week had an utmost concern and love for the biodiversity in their forests (Dolphince Gaelagoe, Indonesian representative yesterday carried print outs of the beautiful tropical birds of her forests). And so do many people around the world, that want the incredible biodiversity to be preserved, to one day maybe see it for themselves. The question is, what is the meaning of conservation, and who has a right to be in control of it? If the stories of those interviewed by Survival (video below) are true, is conservation just a financial mission by governments, or is it truly to conserve the rich history and hopefully future of the other species of flora and fauna that have evolved on planet earth? Is it right that in protecting biodiversity and natural resources, indigenous peoples- the very people who historically and still do live directly alongside wildlife- are not protected?
Photo left: Dolphince Gaelagoe with her bird pictures at Parliament Square By and used with permission of Peter Marshall (www.mylondondiary.co.uk)
Survival International: Baka "Pygmies" abused in the name of conservation **Post update: since writing this post, Survival International have been in touch to share a story in which multiple Baka people say they have been attacked by WWF funded guards- that they and their families have been beaten with machetes (read the accounts here: http://bit.ly/2i6m5fz). Survival raised a detailed complaint against WWF, which you can access here: http://bit.ly/2eNtUGs. They open the report stating that the WWF has not respected the human rights of the Baka people of Cameroon, and that this has 'significantly contributed to the desperate predicament in which the Baka now find themselves'. While the WWF volunteered to attend mediation talks, Survival say that talks have now broken down because the WWF would not agree to needing the Baka peoples' consent in future land management plans (for national parks and protected area). Download their statement on this here: https://www.oecdwatch.org/cases/Case_457 In response to the complaints raised the WWF said that they take allegations like this extremely seriously. They said that they have worked in Cameroon to 'create the first Baka-managed community forest' and have also put pressure on the government to investigate and resolve these alleged abuses. They also say that they have provided human rights training for these guards and have 'facilitated the employment of Baka people as eco guards.' Read their statement from 2016 here: http://wwf.panda.org/wwfoecdstatement.cfm. As far as I can find, they have not yet made a statement after the breakdown of the mediation talks. **
Resources used/for further information:
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/#more https://ifnotusthenwho.me/about/
https://www.survivalinternational.org/info
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/the-defenders http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf http://blogs.wwf.org.uk/blog/green-sustainable-living/green-sustainable-living-food/palm-reading-should-we-buy-or-boycott-products-containing-palm-oil/ https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/11800
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