Chapter 5 - Indigenous peoples and the rights of nature

In this interview with LAB contributor Maozya Murray, Túpac Amaru activist Marisol discusses Kichwa resistance to the Cordillera Azul National Park and what it...

LAB council member Elva Narcía Cancino reports from Chiapas, Mexico, where Zapatista indigenous women meet for a training day for Resistance and Rebellion -- against the background of rising levels of violence fueled by drug trafficking gangs and a government which has been ineffectual at best.

Indigenous groups, ecologists, scholars, and NGOs have spoken out against the idea of biodiversity markets, emphasizing their lack of effectiveness and stressing that the protection of ecosystems should be rooted in local knowledge and community-led governance rather than top-down market solutions.

Today, 21 October 2024, in Cali Colombia, the COP16 conference begins. This will be a platform for promoting the concept of biodiversity credits and biodiversity markets. But what do these terms mean, and what is at stake, especially for Indigenous peoples and local communities? 

This article, by Marcos Colón (Amazônia Latitude) and Katie Surma (Inside Climate News) was first published by Sumaúma on 8 August 2024. You can read...

Landowners across Brazil are escalating attacks against Indigenous peoples. While Lula's government appears powerless, landowners are forcibly evicting Indigenous communities, especially where these have reoccupied lands stolen from them previously and to which they will be denied rights under the 'Marco Temporal' (time-limit) rule likely to be approved by the right-wing dominated Congress and already being applied by local judges.

Roads are the main threat to the Amazon, argues Ecuadorean Indigenous leader José Gualinga. They are the trojan horse concealing miners, loggers, land-grabbers, behind the false promise of 'development'.

For 15 years, spiritual Mapuche leader Millaray Huichalaf, representing more than 150 Indigenous communities, has defended their sacred Pilmaiken River against Norwegian state-owned company Statkfraft’s hydroelectric ambitions.

Peru’s complicated history is mirrored in the controversies affecting the Peruvian National Police (PNP). The violent treatment of Indigenous anti-government demonstrators illustrates the prevalence of racialised discrimination in Peru’s society, whilst recent revelations about the PNP’s disciplinary crisis provide an insight into the nation’s internal divisions.

The Kawahiva, an unctacted Indigenous people, live in an area still plagued by illegal logging. Despite promises from Lula's government, their land is still not fully protected and their existence is acutely endangered.