Indigenous leaders from nine Amazonian countries approve the ‘Charter of Manaus’
Sucunduri River, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Jintiachi delivered his passionate speech during the presentation of the Mandate. “This is a historic document which will be important for years to come. All this work has been done on behalf of our brothers in the villages, our children, our wives, our families and for those who fought bravely in life but are no longer with us”, he declared. He made a point of greeting and mentioning by name all the organisations and delegations from the nine South American countries that took part in the event.
The first drafts of the six-page Manaus Mandate document were in French and Spanish. It consists of a consolidation of policies addressing issues of indigenous lands, strengthening an indigenous version of REDD+, and establishing the communion of traditional indigenous knowledge with biodiversity conservation, and it also contains proposals for the Rio+20 event. 86 organisations from the nine Amazonian countries are signatories to the charter.
“For the Climate not to change, we must change the system”
In regard to land issues, the leaders considered it “indispensable” to have laws and policies in place directed at the demarcation of the respective indigenous territories which, nowadays, are widely considered to be effective barriers against deforestation and valuable refuges for wildlife. The Indigenous Peoples’ representatives also called for more respect for their strategies of living in harmony with Nature which they declared were vastly different from the mercantile treatment attitude to natural resources fostered by the Occident. “For the climate not to change, we must change the system”, declares the Manaus Mandate at one point.
In the discussion on REDD+, COICA considered that in the context of Indigenous Peoples, specific “guarantees and provisons” were needed for the question to make any progress in the international sphere. Among the institution’s directives to address the issue are: respect and support for the holistic forest conservation and not just for deforested areas; compliance with the national regulations and COICA resolutions on REDD+; establishing efficacious conflict-conciliation mechanisms with guaranteed neutrality; and denying support for the carbon credits market when operated as a form of “guilt expiation” by large polluting corporations.
Rio +20: a space for political intervention
The indigenous leaders also called for changes in the Amazonian countries’ national laws; public international registration of all companies operating “REDD+”; prohibition of any company denounced by Indigenous Peoples to operate “REDD+”; and the establishment and implementation of clearer and more precise national legislation.
The Manaus Mandate also refers to the union of ancestral forms of knowledge and wisdom with biodiversity conservation and calls for the following measures to be taken: prioritisation of the demarcation of indigenous lands as a way of guaranteeing the preservation of ancestral forms of knowledge; consolidation of the Indigenous Peoples’ rights to prior consultation and informed prior free consent; fair and equal participation in the benefits stemming from traditional knowledge and wisdom; legal protection and protection for intellectual property rights associated to traditional knowledge, and the repudiation of improper, commercial use of such resources.
On the question of Rio+20, indigenous leaders declared: “It will be one of our last chances to save all forms of life on Earth”. They committed themselves to promoting cultural manifestations on the fringe of the official meeting as a way of calling the attention of public opinion worldwide. They are also prepared to organise strategies for political interventions inside and outside the sphere of the Rio+ 20 event.
“We are not going to accept that “green economy’ should be a mere combination of developmentalist neoliberalism and ‘green projects’, without any fundamental changes being made like reductions in consumerism, waste and destruction and changes in production, consumption, distribution and energy patterns”, states one part of the Charter. The Indigenous Representatives also demanded the renewal of the Kyoto Protocol, the setting up of an international environmental crimes court to judge large-scale crimes against the environment, and increased participation of Indigenous Peoples in the big international organisations.
“Our brothers are with us in this struggle”
After the charter presentation, the representative of Guyana’s Amerindian Peoples Association –APA, Sharon Atkinson made an emotional speech and stated that she felt that the complaints of indigenous people in her country had all been addressed in the terms of the final document. “I am very happy to be here and see all this happening. Everything that has been shown here represents the continuity of our struggle. Before this we were just the Guyanese Amerindians protesting and making demands. This document makes me realise that there are brothers and sisters in nine countries together with us in this battle, calling for better living conditions for their brothers in my country”, she said.
Summit coordinator Edwin Vásquez said that that the Mandate had been elaborated to the benefit of “all peoples everywhere” and thanked all the indigenous leaders that had collaborated in drafting the document. Marcos Apurinã, coordinator of the event’s host organisation the Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB, in the Portuguese acronym), declared that the approval of the Mandate represented the communion of Indigenous Peoples of the entire Amazon Basin and the COICA. “This is the way we are going to achieve our victories , battling side by side against the horrors committed against the Amazon basin”, he explained.
WWF Network’s Living Amazon Initiative
The leader of WWF Network’s Living Amazon Initiative, Cláudio Maretti, took part in the Indigenous Peoples Amazon Regional Summit Event. He thanked COICA for the invitation and said that events of that kind were important in order “defend the maintenance of an ecologically functional Amazon,” “Indigenous Peoples are social actors of fundamental importance to the achievement of that objective and they need to be safeguarded from the degradations that are threatening them”, he insisted.
Maretti added that among the activities of the Living Amazon Initiative that could contribute, by means of studies, concept formulations and support, to the fulfilment of the indigenous goals is the valuing of the conservation functions of indigenous lands and other protected areas, including their contributions to global and regional goals in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and waters.
It is also feasible to align the development of indigenous directives, social safeguards and safeguards for biodiversity, financial compensations associated to ecosystem services, including “REDD+” mechanisms, and the minimisation of impacts stemming from infrastructure and energy generating projects; and to do all of that in accordance with WWF Network principles regarding the recognition of the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and respect for United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
WWF-Peru’s Liliana Lozano explained that COICA is a strategic partner for WWF and other conservation organisations. “Bearing in mind the size of indigenous areas in the Amazon Basin, these dialogues are of crucial importance insofar as they boost the chances of achieve our goals, for all of us”, she said. Liliana added that agreements like the Manaus Mandate are very important and should be taken into account by all the countries and international cooperation bodies in their routine activities.
Sucunduri River, Mato Grosso, Brazil
