Indigenous organizations and entities sent a joint letter requesting effective participation in the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Summit, which takes place on August 8th and 9th, in Belém (state of Pará). Also known as the Amazon Summit, the event will bring together authorities from countries in the region to discuss sustainable development.
After a meeting in Brasília, between June 28th and 30th, the entities highlighted the importance of indigenous voices in the protection and conservation of forests and signed a joint letter highlighting that "discussing the future of the Amazon without indigenous peoples is equivalent to violating our original rights and all the work we develop in favor of human life on the planet".
The signatory organizations highlighted that, as true connoisseurs and protectors of the forests, the indigenous people still do not have guaranteed effective participation in the Summit's proposition and processes of dialogue. In addition, they expressed concern about the lack of recognition of their lives and roles played in maintaining and defending forests.
ACTO, which organizes the Summit, participated in the meeting with indigenous entities as a guest. The entity highlighted the importance of the Amazonian Dialogues event, which will take place between August 4th and 6th, also in Belém, and will have a "pre-Summit" character.
In a public note, the entity did not undertake to expand participation in the Summit, but recalled that discussions on indigenous issues will be held at thematic boards at the previous event. Among the issues to be discussed is the situation of peoples in isolation or in initial contact.
Despite the publication of the public document by those responsible for organizing the event, representatives of indigenous entities are awaiting further contact with the guarantee of more space to participate in debates with public authorities.
Check out the full letter delivered by the indigenous peoples to the Amazon Summit organization:
1. We, indigenous peoples and organizations, as well as allies, gathered in Brasilia between the 28th and 30th of June 2023 with the aim of evaluating and promoting a diagnosis of the construction process and deliberations on the realization of the Amazon Summit, which should take place in Belém - state of Pará - on August 8th and 9th, 2023, after the Amazonian Dialogues (August 4th, 5th and 6th), which intends to produce a consensus position regarding the forest to be presented in future global debates on climate action and the protection of biodiversity.
2. Faced with this proposition, we assess that the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin, while true and profound experts and protectors of forests, still do not have the necessary and indispensable conditions assured to effectively participate in the processes of dialogue, proposition and construction of the aforementioned Summit.
3. We consider that dealing with the Amazon agenda without the effective participation of the Indigenous Peoples who inhabit it, demonstrates the non-recognition of our lives and the roles we play in favor of the maintenance and defense of the forests. Once again, we are faced with debates and construction of proposals about our territories without the guarantee of our participation, which reveals the recurrent colonialist practice that seeks to silence our protagonisms, while supplanting our voices and autonomy in decision-making spaces.
4. A scenario in which we reaffirm our self-determination and demand effective inclusion in spaces for dialogue, articulation and construction, especially at the Amazon Summit, as indigenous peoples from the entire Amazon Basin, holders of practices and knowledge essential to maintaining climate balance and biodiversity.
5. We announce the creation of the Working Group that seeks to represent national and regional indigenous organizations from the 09 countries that make up the Amazon Basin (Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Bolivia) with the aim of influencing with the propositions of indigenous perspectives for the Amazon Summit and all subsequent processes until COP 30 in 2025.
6. We, the indigenous peoples and organizations of the 05 countries that make up the Amazon Basin, present at this meeting, demand that our own forms of territorial organization and traditional and original occupation, which are independent and prior to State recognition, be considered.
7. Discussing the future of the Amazon without indigenous peoples is tantamount to violating our original rights and all the work we do for human life on the planet.
INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATIONS SIGNING THIS LETTER:
Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon - COIAB
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil - APIB
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of the Amazon - APIAM
Roraima Indigenous Council - CIR
Coordination of Organizations and Articulations of the Indigenous Peoples of Maranhão - COAPIMA
Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of Rondônia and Northwest Mato Grosso - OPIROMA
Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Tocantins- ARPIT
Manxinerune Tsihi Pukte Hajene - MATPHA
Union of Indigenous Women of the Brazilian Amazon - UMIAB
Indigenous Council on Climate Change - CIMC
Confederation of Indigenous Nations and Peoples of Oriente Cacho and Bolivian Amazon - CIDOB
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon - CONFENIAE
Organisatie van Inheemse Volken in Suriname - OIS
Amerindian Peoples Association - APA
National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA)
ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS SIGNING THIS LETTER:
Avaaz
The Nature Conservancy Brazil - TNC Brasil
World Wide Fund for Nature Brasil - WWF Brasil
Amazon Cooperation Network - RCA
Amazon Watch
Voices for Just Climate Action - VAC
Edited by: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
