From FPP

18 February” 2013

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Dear Friends”

Whenever someone remarks that a solution is being frustrated by ‘lack of political will’” I automatically ask myself: whose is the political will and what are the interests pushing for the opposite? 

New field research from Costa Rica shows that the government has for decades sat back and allowed the wholesale takeover of indigenous peoples’ lands and is now failing to intervene when indigenous leaders are being threatened and killed. Is this happening just because of ‘lack of political will’ or rather because successive governments have over-close links to land-owning elites and so prefer to turn a blind eye to the discrimination” violence and hatred on the resource frontier” rather than confront these illegal land grabs?

When the Peruvian Government now allows new roads and other infrastructures to be hacked through indigenous lands and forests to connect up with Brazil” so threatening the very survival of the isolated Isconahua people whose lands the very same government earlier set aside for their protection” this is a conscious decision to sacrifice their rights and instead support the business interests pressing to open up the Amazon to their kind of development. Likewise” it is prioritisation of mining and lack of legal protection of indigenous rights” that is encouraging egregious decisions in the courts of Guyana. 

This same domination of political processes by the short term priorities of narrow sectoral interests” is stalling any progress at the international negotiations to curb climate change. The latest meeting in Doha shows that this ‘lack of political will’ (domination by vested interests seeking to do the opposite) has led to virtual paralysis. All our futures” not just those of forest peoples” are set in jeopardy by this lack of action. 

So when the British Government announces a new aid policy to address the drivers of deforestation by working direct with corporations” it is not surprising we have visions of them putting the fox among the chickens. Yes” changes in corporate behaviour have to be part of any solution” but to achieve this we also need a vigilant civil society and the mobilisation of forest peoples to hold these ‘reformed’ businesses to account. After all” that is how democracy is meant to work.

As a human rights organisation it is our task to champion solutions that respect rights” but as analysts and advocates” it is also our duty to expose the political and economic interests that are behind abuses. We do this by helping to create transparency and accountability. So” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo” where corporate interests are now seeking to profit from new voluntary markets in forest carbon” we expose their lack of compliance in order to oblige them to recognise and respect the rights of forest peoples. In the same spirit” we are working with the Baka people in Cameroon to ensure that their voice is heard in decisions about the future of their forests. While at the international level we work with indigenous peoples who are insisting that their traditional knowledge must also be respected and applied to defend the ecology of our precious planet.

Last but very much not least it is my honour and pleasure to welcome Joji Cariño as the new Director of Forest Peoples Programme. Joji” who has dedicated her life to the struggle for indigenous peoples’ rights” will be taking up her post in April and I look forward to serving under her leadership.

Marcus Colchester

Director

BREAKING NEWS: Indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon denounce failure of the World Bank’s Forest Investment Programme in Peru to respect their rights to lands and territories

On the eve of the latest visit of the Forest Investment Programme (FIP) to Peru (18 -20 February 2013)” AIDESEP” the Peruvian national indigenous organisation” has sent a letter to the FIP mission denouncing the efforts of the Peruvian government to backtrack on previous commitments to recognise millions of hectares of untitled indigenous territories as part of their ‘Forest Investment Strategy’. Read more

Announcement of New FPP Director

FPP is very happy to announce” that Joji Cariño will be taking up the position of Director of the Forest Peoples Programme from 15 May 2013″ in coordination with FPP’s Executive Committee and Board members. Joji” well known to many of you” is a highly regarded indigenous woman from the Philippines with extensive experience on indigenous peoples’ human rights at community” national and international levels” having been an active policy advocate and practitioner for the past 30 years. Read more

Costa Rica: Indigenous peoples suffer violent attacks for demanding recognition of their land rights 

There are 8 indigenous peoples in Costa Rica with a total population of 104″143 people” comprising approximately 2.4 percent of the national population. Many live in 24 legally-recognised and titled indigenous territories” as well as on lands traditionally occupied” but not presently recognised or titled. The majority of indigenous peoples’ territories have been massively and illegally occupied by non-indigenous people” including some extreme cases where 98 percent of the land is held by non-indigenous people. Read more

The Ngoyla-Mintom forest in Cameroon: The perspective of the Baka

Ngoyla-Mintom is a forested mountainous region which derives its name from  two districts in two regions of Cameroon: Ngoyla in the Eastern Region and Mintom in the Southern Region. This rainforest has gained fame through being targeted for various purposes by different actors” including the Cameroon government” private companies and the international community. In recent months” Ngoyla-Mintom has gained the reputation of being a previously unexploited forest bloc” which has very rapidly aroused the interest of Cameroon’s Ministry of Forestry who are interested in selling parts of the forest at auction to private logging companies. Read more

Indigenous peoples’ rights violated and traditional lands in Guyana threatened by mining

At the beginning of 2013″ indigenous peoples in Guyana are becoming increasingly alarmed over continuing and growing disregard for their legitimate rights by miners and government agencies and gross rights violations which have been endorsed by the judiciary in two recent cases. Read more

GUEST ARTICLE by Robert Guimaraes Vásquez (GRMMU): Peruvian government highway project threatens Isconahua indigenous people's survival

A proposed Peruvian government highway project to join the Peruvian Amazon town of Pucallpa (Ucayali region) with the Brazilian town of Cruzeiro do Sul (in Acre State) is threatening the survival of the Isconahua indigenous people who live in “voluntary isolation”. Read more

From logging concessions to carbon concessions:  What difference for communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo? 

In 2011″ the private Canadian company Ecosystem Restorations Associates (ERA) signed a management contract with the government of the DRC for a former logging concession of almost 300″000 hectares that adjoins the western reaches of Lac Mai Ndombe in Bandundu Province. The aim of this agreement was to prepare the concession for sales of carbon on the international market. Up to 50% of this concession overlaps the customary lands of local and indigenous communities. Read more

UK government seeks public comments on proposals to tackle deforestation

The UK government is inviting public comments on government proposals to address deforestation and land use emissions in developing countries under the UK International Climate Fund (ICF)” which is co-administered by DECC” DFID and DEFRA. Read more

UNFCCC COP 18 makes no concrete decisions on REDD+ in Doha and delays further discussions until mid-2013

The 18th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change took place in Doha in December 2012″ with the aim of laying the roadmap for a global binding agreement on emissions reduction” due to be finalised in 2015. Read more

Can IPBES move from a science platform to a diverse knowledge platform?

A small delegation of indigenous peoples and local communities attended the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)” held last month in Bonn” Germany. The delegation drew attention to the value and importance of indigenous and local knowledge and the need for a true partnership between diverse knowledge holders (who are just as ‘expert’ on biodiversity issues as scientists) and the IPBES. Read more

Upcoming publication: Special Edition FPP E-Newsletter on Safeguards

The next E-Newsletter from FPP will be a special edition on safeguards” investigating both the current update and review process ongoing in the World Bank and wider safeguard issues tied to climate finance” private sector standards and regional development bank investments. Look out for it in April. Read more

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