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Mongabay Series: Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, Indigenous-led
conservation


INDIGENOUS GROUPS UNVEIL PLAN TO PROTECT 80% OF THE AMAZON IN PERU AND ECUADOR

by Latoya Abulu, Laurel Sutherland on 3 December 2021


 * A new plan called the Amazon Sacred Headwaters initiative proposes the
   protection of 80% of the Amazon in Peru and Ecuador by 2025, consisting of 35
   million hectares (86 million acres) of rainforest.
 * The Amazonian Indigenous organizations leading the plan aim to center
   Indigenous-led forest management and land tenure to protect endemic species
   and prevent approximately 2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions
   into the atmosphere.
 * The proposal has received positive responses from Ecuadoran and Peruvian
   government officials, but faces a stumbling block in the fact that both
   countries rely heavily on extractive industries operating within the Amazon
   to help pay off foreign debt.

Pledges and solutions proposed by world leaders to address the climate and
biodiversity crisis at the United Nations climate summit, COP26, and
biodiversity conference, COP15, are not going to be enough, according to some
Indigenous leaders in Peru and Ecuador. A particular proposal that has been a
target of criticism by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) is a
goal within the U.N.’s draft post-2020 global biodiversity framework, the 30 by
30 initiative.

The initiative aims to conserve 30% of Earth’s land and ocean by 2030 through
protected areas in the hopes of providing a lifeline to struggling endangered
species and conserving forest coverage to meet climate goals. Forests are
thought to absorb one-third of global CO2 emissions per year.

Some leaders and academics have criticized the proposal to create more protected
areas, as these have traditionally resulted in the displacement of IPLCs from
their ancestral territories located within biodiversity hotspots. According to
one analysis, 250,000 individuals were displaced in 15 countries from 1990 to
2014 for the creation of protected areas.

Ecuadorian Amazon. Image courtesy of Sacred Headwaters Initiative.

But for Indigenous organizations in Peru and Ecuador, the main criticism of the
goal to protect 30% of land and ocean is that it’s simply not enough to
effectively avert the climate crisis. For these groups, most of the Amazon
within these two countries is worth protecting.

“One of the key points that we must underline is that governments are
considering protecting only 30% of the area that includes 35 million hectares
[86 million acres] of land by 2030,” a spokesperson for Amazonian Indigenous
leaders at COP26 told Mongabay in an email. “What [we] want to achieve is the
protection of at least 80% by 2025.”

An alliance of Indigenous and nongovernmental organizations is proposing a
bioregional plan, referred to as the Amazon Sacred Headwaters, to act as a model
for future conservation efforts. Consisting of the Amazonian Indigenous
federations COICA, AIDESEP and ORPIO, and a partnership with the Pachamama
Alliance and Rainforest Foundation US, the initiative aims to permanently
protect 80% of land, or in other words, an area that spans 35 million hectares
(86 million acres).

This includes some 33 million hectares (82 million acres) of tropical
rainforests near the Napo, Pastaza and Marañon river basins of Ecuador and Peru
that contain 3.8 billion metric tons of carbon. The goal is to declare the zone
off-limits to extractive industries.


THE LOGISTICS OF THE PLAN

Presented at COP26 last month, the alliance expects to prevent some 2 billion
metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by halting
deforestation, mining, and oil and gas extraction. The plan aims at centering
Indigenous land and resource rights, on the basis that Indigenous forest
stewardship is among the most effective strategies in preventing deforestation
and avoiding significant GHG emissions.

To protect the Sacred Headwaters, Indigenous leaders say they hope to finalize
negotiations for land titles consisting for more than 8.9 million hectares (22
million acres) of Indigenous territories, while strengthening local autonomy
over those areas. The region is home to more than 30 Indigenous nationalities
consisting of more than 600,000 people. To secure these land and resource
rights, the organization also plans to attract global funding and interest in
the initiative.

The Capahuari river runs through Achuar Indigenous territory in the Ecuadorian
Amazon. Image courtesy of © Caroline Bennett/Amazon Watch.

The restoration of more than 8.7 million hectares (21.4 million acres) of forest
needed to protect endangered species and maintain the connectivity of the
Andean-Amazonian ecosystem will also contribute to the overall goals. The Sacred
Headwaters region contains the most biologically diverse ecosystem on the planet
and plays a critical role in generating rainfall and maintaining the
hydrological cycle for the Americas.

Several critically endangered species can be found in the region, including the
Rio Mayo titi (Callicebus oenanthe) and the Ecuadoran white-fronted capuchin
(Cebus aequatorialis), both monkeys found nowhere else on Earth.

The bioregional plan is not limited to the forest protection but also proposes a
potential transition from the current extractive economic model based on oil
exploitation, logging and mining, to an ecological one centered on sustainable
entrepreneurship, community tourism and Indigenous concepts of well-being (Buen
Vivir). The alliance aims to achieve this by forming agreements between states,
companies, and Indigenous and civil society organizations to ensure that no
activity relating to the extractive industries occurs in the area.

An Indigenous man navigates his boat through the Ecuadorian Amazon. Image
courtesy of © Amazon Watch.

The plan’s success, however, is dependent on support from the Ecuadoran and
Peruvian governments.

“We want a collaborative relationship with the government,” Uyunkar Domingo Peas
Nampichkai, coordinator of the Amazon Scared Headwaters initiative, told
Mongabay in an email. “But, one with autonomy.”

When presented with the bioregional plan in August and October, representatives
of both governments expressed support for the initiative and promised to
highlight the plan at the international level. Peru’s economy and finance
minister, Pedro Francke, told the alliance that he was committed to assist in
searching for funding.

José Gregorio Díaz Mirabal, General Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations
of the Amazon Basin (COICA), speaks at the United Nations Permanent Forum of
Indigenous Issues. Image courtesy of ©Ecodeo.

“I think it is very significant that we are returning to the idea of Buen Vivir
[and] of the autonomy of Indigenous Peoples,” Francke said. “The Ministry of
Economy and Finance can support and look for the means [and] processes.”

Ecuador’s minister of environment, water and ecological transition, Gustavo
Manrique, said “the initiative will be the focal point” of his ministry’s work
when presented with details of the Sacred Headwaters plan.


EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES AND FOREIGN DEBT POSE A CHALLENGE

Despite the Ecuadoran and Peruvian government officials’ positive responses to
the initiative at COP26, they have told the alliance that the issue of repaying
foreign debt poses a challenge. Currently, both countries rely heavily on
revenues from their respective extractive industries, which also operate within
the Amazon, to help pay off their debts.

“[Government representatives] have publicly stated that they are going to work
hand in hand with Indigenous communities. So, the answer has been positive,”
Nampichkai said. “But international debt is an issue — it’s pure destruction.
They are trapped in that way.”

Oil pipeline infrastructure in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Image courtesy of ©Amazon
Watch.

In Ecuador, oil extraction is one of the country’s main sources of revenue for
foreign debt repayments. According to a report by the World Bank, as of 2020
Ecuador’s foreign debt stands at $58.5 billion, or more than half the size of
its economy.

Oil activity in both Ecuador and Peru began decades ago, causing a series of
environmental damages and impacts on IPLC territories. U.S. oil giant Chevron
and its subsidiary, Texaco, are associated with the biggest oil spill in
Ecuador’s history. Dubbed the “Amazon’s Chernobyl,” more than 16 billion gallons
(73 billion liters) of toxic waste was discharged and some 1,000 toxic waste
pits abandoned, with evidence of high pollution levels in soils and water in the
Ecuadoran Amazon.

According to health evaluations, IPLC individuals have died of cancer and
oil-related diseases in the affected areas.

“Food crops won’t grow here,”  Servio Curipoma, a farmer in Ecuador’s Orellana
province, said in an independent report on Chevron’s global environmental
impact. “Plants die, animals get sick, and people get sick.”

Most of the region’s oil fields are located in the northeastern part of the
Sacred Headwaters, with pipelines located within the Siona, Cuyabeno-Imuya and
Kichwa communities. These areas have been cleared to facilitate development.

However, in Peru, oil production has been declining since 2007, with occasional
spills associated with the Northern Peruvian Amazon pipeline. One of the
country’s main sources of revenue to repay $37.6 billion of foreign debt is
mining, including for copper and gold.

Maria Aguinda, the lead plaintiff in the Aguinda v. Chevron lawsuit, shows some
of the crude oil that is still contaminating the Ecuadorian Amazon, 35 years
after it was spilled. Image courtesy of ©Amazon Watch.

The alliance of Indigenous organizations said a potential solution to the
challenge of protecting 80% of both nations’ Amazon rainforest is in the form of
debt relief by international financial institutions and industrialized nations.
This aims to make space for conservation efforts in the region. To address
climate change, the Indigenous leaders said, it’s imperative that stakeholders
around the world work together in a synchronized manner.

“If we don’t have global unity we will fail,” Nampichkai said. “We all win or
lose.”

According to the bioregional plan, the transition will not lead to a major loss
in revenue for either countries. A report by the High Ambition Coalition (HAC)
says that if the 30 by 30 initiative is implemented, the economic outputs of
ecotourism would be greater than if it wasn’t. This is based on a broad-sense
economic analysis focusing on forests and mangroves.

“For those biomes alone, the 30% target had an avoided-loss value of $170-$534
billion per year by 2050,” the report says, “largely reflecting the benefit of
avoiding the flooding, climate change, soil loss and coastal storm-surge damage
that occur when natural vegetation is removed.”

However, funding is still an issue. Indigenous leaders are now planning on
completing a regional ecological economic plan, developing conservation funding
solutions, and forming a strong regional alliance of key stakeholders to ensure
the success of the Sacred Headwaters initiative.

“We want this to be a model at the international level,” Nampichkai said. “Start
in Ecuador and Peru, and then replicate it internationally. If the funds do
arrive, we want to take action. With our plan we already have the road map.”

 

Banner image: José Gregorio Díaz Mirabal, General Coordinator of the Indigenous
Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), speaks at the United Nations
Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues. Image courtesy of Ecodeo.

Related listening from Mongabay’s podcast: Hear COICA’s Zack Romo discuss the
Indigenous-led motion that was accepted at the recent IUCN World Conservation
Congress to protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025. Listen here:

FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you
want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.

 

Article published by Latoyaabulu
Amazon Rainforest, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change Politics,
Climate Politics, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law,
Environmental Politics, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves,
Indigenous Rights, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Reform, Land Rights, Land Use
Change, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Conservation, Rainforest
Deforestation, Rainforest People, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Tropical
Deforestation, United Nations
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