Rainforest peoples form alliance

Rainforest peoples from 11 nations have formed a coalition to demand a greater say in future climate negotiations.

Meeting in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, representatives of forest communities from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela signed an agreement that calls on governments to respect forest dwellers' rights to their land, natural resources and traditional livelihoods. The coalition hopes to gain access to ecosystem services payments like the proposed REDD ("reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation") carbon trading mechanism that won preliminary approval at last year's U.N. climate talks in Bali, Indonesia. Proponents of the initiative say that REDD could deliver billions of dollars to rural communities while protecting forests and fighting climate change.

Some indigenous groups have been supportive of REDD, but others fear that the mechanism could worsen conflicts over land. The new alliance hopes that it can allay these concerns by ensuring that native peoples are represented in climate discussions.

“The scenario provided by the REDD mechanisms brings together the interests of forest communities and the interests of scientists, environmentalists and members of social movements throughout the world”, said Paulo Moutinho, from the Institute for Environmental Research of the Amazon (IPAM).

“The indigenous people need to understand exactly what is happening to their forests. They have always been forgotten when it is time for decision-making and time has come for them to be taken into account because their ancestral knowledge on nature enables them to provide important inputs for the climate debate”, added Yolanda Hernández, the indigenous representative of the Maya Kakchiquel people, of Guatemala.

Adilson Vieira, the Secretary General of the Amazon Work Group, said Brazil was an appropriate choice for the conference given the long battle by its native peoples to gain rights to the vast Amazon rainforest.

“The experience of the people of the Brazilian forests in their struggle for the establishment of indigenous lands and extractive and sustainable development reserves is an experience that can be used by the other countries in the alliance as an inspiration on their path towards conquering their own rights”, Vieira said.

The Manaus declaration was unanimously approved this Friday, April 4th, 2008 by 13 countries. UN observers and non-governmental organizations from Brazil, England and the United States attended the signing.

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