The most widespread and intractable forest fires ever recorded in Bolivia ravaged the lowland regions of Santa Cruz, Beni, La Paz and Cochabamba last year, making 2019 a particularly dark period for the country and for Indigenous Peoples as many of the affected areas were on Indigenous territories and conservation areas.
KATHMANDU, 8 October 2020 – Today, Indigenous communities affected by the 220 kV Marsyangdi Corridor transmission line in Nepal call on their government and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to seek their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in accordance with a protocol they are releasing detailing the FPIC process.
On this day, 9 August 2020 – the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – IWGIA re-affirms its commitment to promote, protect and defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples at a time when the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the rise of populist leaders and a shrinking civil space for human rights, are posing tremendous threats to their lives, lands and traditions.
In September 2020 the Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact (AIPP) and International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) presented a joint submission to the UNFCCC calling for the full consideration and engagement of Indigenous Peoples’ in climate action.
Indigenous Peoples are concerned by the fact that vital climate negotiations for the planet’s survival have been postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. While this may suit some governments, who are unwilling to do what it takes to make the Paris Agreement work, Indigenous Peoples are trying to build momentum in this stalemate period.
Spending time with the Baka, as we have both done over several years, is a humbling experience. This group of over 40,000 spread between the forests of Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Gabon, practice hunting and foraging as a traditional livelihood. Through their long history in the Congo Basin they have accumulated and passed on extensive ecological knowledge and sophisticated cultural mechanisms of egalitarianism, sharing and human-nature conviviality.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights. Read more.
IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for indigenous peoples worldwide. The Indigenous World 2019.
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