While the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) has lauded the Government of Guyana’s commitment to protecting the Amazon by joining neighbouring states in signing the Leticia Amazon Pact, the organisation has called on the Government and all Guyanese to move beyond the limited measures specified in the Pact and take concrete actions to ensure the protection of our forests.
The APA in a press release yesterday stated that they recognise the Pact which was signed on September 6, in Leticia, Colombia, as one aimed at sharing resources and taking greater steps towards protecting the world’s largest tropical rainforest in the wake of recent wildfires that ravaged it and displaced countless Indigenous Peoples who call the Amazon home.
The organisation emphasised that despite acknowledging that the Amazon is home to 34 million people including indigenous and tribal peoples and declaring its commitment to building and strengthening the capacities of Indigenous Peoples, “the Pact fails to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to the conservation of the world’s forests or biodiversity.” This is despite the fact that “numerous studies have concluded that indigenous peoples do a better job at managing their natural resources than other actors.”
Furthermore, the APA claims, the Pact also does not commit to the protection of Indigenous Rights, especially land rights and their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) nor does it “speak to the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision making.” According to the association, recognising this, and respecting indigenous peoples’ land rights and participatory rights, as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “would be the first step towards achieving the goals of the Pact in protecting the Amazon region.”
The APA therefore exhorts the nation’s leaders to remember that beyond the Pact, “there is existing legislative and policy framework relevant to environmental protection and indigenous land rights.” And although the Pact focusses on addressing illegal activities that play a role in deforestation and forest degradation, it wished to remind that the recent wildfires were largely linked to legally sanctioned activities, including agricultural activities. The association therefore feels that special consideration should be given to this “during efforts to move forward in the development and implementation of the action plan as agreed upon in the Pact.”
The Indigenous organisation acknowledges that the Government, by signing the Pact, “committed to establishing regional cooperation and information exchange to combat illegal activities, notably extractive activities that threaten the conservation of the Amazon.” However, it believes that there are actions the government can take to combat illegal activities on its own as well. This would include the Government taking a second look at how mining is carried out in Guyana and whether it supports the goals of the Pact, adding, “We strongly contend that combating illegal activities begins with the prompt investigation of complaints.”
As an example that reflects the need for prompt and urgent action by the Government here at home to combat the negative effects of mining on Indigenous Peoples in Guyana and the lands which they are trying to protect, the APA recalled the case of case of Mamai Lucille Williams, an elderly Indigenous woman from Karisaparu, Region Eight, whose home and farm were bulldozed by miners. According to the Association, the GGMC neglected to even investigate the situation for more than a year in spite of the fact that several reports were made to various authorities, including Ministers of Government, requesting an intervention. It was only recently that the GGMC and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs took action resulting in the agreement of compensation for the elderly woman.
The Association also cited the concern of the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) about the possibility of a 14-inch ‘dragga’ beginning operations at Parabara Village, South Rupununi, which would be a contravention of a 2008 order to not allow mining in the Essequibo River and its tributaries south of the 4th parallel and President David Granger’s commitment to enforce this order.
As far as the APA is concerned, “Regional cooperation to combat illegal activities begins with a strong commitment to legal enforcement actions at home,” adding that although the signatories of the Leticia Pact established the need for financial support, “some commitments made by the Government do not rely solely on finances but rather on goodwill. This would include but not be limited to the effective enforcement of existing laws and policies and development of new regulations that would support that which has been agreed to in the Pact.”
The APA’s statement concluded by reiterating its commitment to “stand ready to support actions towards protecting indigenous rights, our forests, and our climate.”
