Declaration of Indigenous Peoples at Durban Climate Change Talks
Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, 30 November 2011

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: Indigenous peoples’ representatives participating in the Durban Climate Change Conference have released the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala demanding that their rights be respected, protected and fulfilled. The Declaration highlights their rights to self-determination, particularly territories and natural resources, full and effective participation, recognition of the contribution of traditional knowledge and the need to restructure the conception of “development” currently based on the accumulation of wealth. Other points address technology transfer, noting that any assessment of mitigation and adaptation options must reflect indigenous knowledge subject to free, prior and informed consent. The need for structural reorganization of REDD+ is also highlighted, to ensure indigenous peoples’ rights and the customary governance of forests. Read the declaration …

Social safeguards: Protecting the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities in REDD+
IUFRO, UNDP and IUCN Discussion Forum, 4 December 2011

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: Discussions in this event focused on the capacity-building needs for implementing REDD+ safeguards, the importance of land tenure security and the challenges to effectively design and implement REDD+ safeguards while ensuring the continued traditional use of forest resources. The book Traditional Forest-Related Knowledge: Sustaining Communities, Ecosystems and Biocultural Diversity, which constitutes the final report of IUFRO’s Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge, was also presented at the event. The report concludes that neither the importance of forest-related traditional knowledge nor its role in development of more effective and equitable approaches for facing the challenges posed by climate change have been adequately recognized. The effective engagement of forest-dependent local and indigenous communities as well as the effective incorporation of traditional forest-knowledge in forest management will determine the success of REDD+. Read IUFRO’s press release … Visit the website of Forest Day 5 in Durban … Read IUFRO’s traditional knowledge reports …

UN Climate Forest Conservation Spawns “Carbon Piracy” in Peru
ENS, 30 November 2011

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: REDD+ is undermining the rights of indigenous peoples in Peru leading to “carbon piracy” and land conflicts, finds a new report issued by Peruvian indigenous organizations and an international human rights group. Published by AIDESEP, FENAMAD, CARE and the Forest Peoples Programme and released in Durban, the report The reality of REDD+ in Peru: Between Theory and Practice – Indigenous Amazonian Peoples’ Analyses and Alternatives shows that REDD project developers are trying to convince indigenous peoples and local communities to enter into REDD deals with promises of millions of dollars in return for signing away their rights to control their land and forest carbon. Deals are being written using strict confidentiality clauses and with no independent oversight or legal support for vulnerable communities. The report concludes that unless underlying legal and political reforms are made in Peru to address unresolved land and territorial applications and uphold the legal obligations of the Peruvian state to respect indigenous peoples’ rights, then REDD+ strategies will not only fail to reduce emissions but will undermine these rights and lead to social conflict. The solution lies in promoting indigenous peoples’ alternative proposals for protecting forests that prioritize the recognition and demarcation of indigenous territories as well as support for their own systems for the sustainable use and protection of forest resources. Read the article … Download the report [pdf] …