Please see attached the results from meeting of organizations of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities from Latin America, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Papua, Indonesia, in the city of Manaus, Brazil for the Latin American Workshop, “Climate Change and Forest Peoples: Reducing  Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and the Rights of Indigenous and Traditional Peoples”, 1-4th of April, 2008.

Please forward to who ever you may think is interested, in particular indigenous and traditional population organizations. Please note that the Manaus Declaration and the Synthesis of the working groups are attached in all workshop languages: Spanish, French, Bahasa, English and Portuguese.

Other info:

Link to workshop other documents http://partnerpage.google.com/amazonfore…

Link workshop’s photos: http://amazonforestpeople.multiply.com/

Press news below English (NYT and Mongabay) and Spanish (El Publico)

Sorry for sending so many documents, but it is really important for the REDD Southern Outreach.

Best regards,

Paula Moreira
Advogada - Programa Mudança Climática
Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM)
(Amazon Institute of Environmental Research)
SCLN 210, Bloco C, Sala 211
70862-530 Brasília, DF Brasil
FONE/FAX + 55 61 3349.3698
 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/world/…

El Publico, Spain: ChequeIndígena (attached)

Mongabay: http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0407-manau…

Rainforest peoples form alliance to demand representation at climate talks
April 7, 2008

Rainforest peoples from 11 nations have formed a coalition to demand a greater say in future climate negotiations.

Meeting in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, representatives of forest communities from Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela signed an agreement that calls on governments to respect forest dwellers’ rights to their land, natural resources and traditional livelihoods. The coalition hopes to gain access to ecosystem services payments like the proposed REDD (”reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation”) mechanism that won preliminary approval at last year’s U.N. climate talks in Bali, Indonesia. Proponents of the initiative say that REDD could deliver billions of dollars to rural communities while protecting forests and fighting climate change.

Some indigenous groups have been supportive of REDD, but others fear that the mechanism could worsen conflicts over land. The new alliance hopes that it can allay these concerns by ensuring that native peoples are represented in climate discussions.

The scenario provided by the REDD mechanisms brings together the interests of forest communities and the interests of scientists, environmentalists and members of social movements throughout the world, said Paulo Moutinho, from the Institute for Environmental Research of the Amazon (IPAM).

The indigenous people need to understand exactly what is happening to their forests. They have always been forgotten when it is time for decision-making and time has come for them to be taken into account because their ancestral knowledge on nature enables them to provide important inputs for the climate debate, added Yolanda Hernández, the indigenous representative of the Maya Kakchiquel people, of Guatemala.

Adilson Vieira, the Secretary General of the Amazon Work Group, said Brazil was an appropriate choice for the conference given the long battle by its native peoples to gain rights to the vast Amazon rainforest.

The experience of the people of the Brazilian forests in their struggle for the establishment of indigenous lands and extractive and sustainable development reserves is an experience that can be used by the other countries in the alliance as an inspiration on their path towards conquering their own rights, Vieira said.

The Manaus declaration was unanimously approved this Friday, April 4th, 2008 by 13 countries. UN observers and non-governmental organizations from Brazil, England and the United States attended the signing.

PRESS RELEASE:

International Alliance will unite the forest peoples

(The objective is to influence the UN debate on climate change)

Manaus, Brazil (4.4.08) – The forest peoples of the world are joining forces in in order to have access to resources deriving from the thriving green market, based on future mechanisms for the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), to be created through the UN Climate Convention. They want to use this opportunity so that their fundamental rights may be fulfilled: the right to land and to natural resources and respect to their traditional livelihoods.

Gathered in Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, the participants of the Peoples of the Forest and Climate Change workshop have just set the basis for an international alliance, based on a Brazilian model with a 20-year long history that brings together indigenous people, extractive producers and riverine populations, inspired in the efforts of Chico Mendes. The new alliance to be established will function as a network and transnational forum for the exchange of experiences between forest populations and mostly for influencing international discussions on climate, deforestation and mechanisms for the reduction of greenhouse emissions.

“When one single country manifests itself and claims its rights at the international level, it is a drop of water in the ocean”, compares Manoel da Cunha, the president of the National Rubber Tappers Council (CNS). According to Cunha, the initiative of establishing a transnational alliance brings greater density to the claims of the forest people and increases the chances from them to be answered.

The launching process to establish an International Alliance of Forest Peoples was unanimously approved this Friday (April 4th) by the 11 countries that signed the Manaus Declaration: Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guyana, French Guyana, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Suriname and Panama and by the members of delegations from Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Asia (Indonesia). The document was approved with the participation of UN observers and observers of non-governmental organizations from Brazil, England and the United States.

In spite of the differences in legislation regarding the use and conservation of forests that exist in these countries still hosting major extensions of rain forests, they share common problems and already feel the negative effects of climate change upon the planet in similar ways: severe draughts, floods, changes in the natural biological cycles, with interferences upon farming and fishing.

“The indigenous people need to understand exactly what is happening to their forests. They have always been forgotten when it is time for decision-making and time has come for them to be taken into account because their ancestral knowledge on nature enables them to provide important inputs for the climate debate”, said Yolanda Hernández, the indigenous representative of the Maya Kakchiquel people, of Guatemala.

“The experience of the people of the Brazilian forests in their struggle for the establishment of indigenous lands and extractive and sustainable development reserves is an experience that can be used by the other countries in the alliance to be established as an inspiration on their path towards conquering their own rights”, said Adilson Vieira, the Secretary General of the Amazon Work Group (GTA).

The differences that exist both inside as well as in between these countries may be better addressed in their quest for common solutions for ensuring the worthy survival of the people and the conservation of forests, i.e., for maintaining the environmental services required to the planet’s balance. “Therefore, the scenario provided by the REDD mechanisms brings together the interests of forest communities and the interests of scientists, environmentalists and members of social movements throughout the world”, says Paulo Moutinho, from the Institute for Environmental Research of the Amazon (IPAM). According to the coordinator of Instituto Socioambiental, Márcio Santilli, this also is an economic opportunity capable of changing the balance of forces on behalf of the acknowledgement of the territorial rights of the traditional and indigenous peoples.

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More information available at www.amazonforestpeople.com

Photos at http://amazonforestpeople.multiply.com/

For interviews, please contact Jaime Gesisky – (55) ** 61 81226042 –  jaimegesisky at gmail.com ; Milena del Rio do Valle (55)**  91 8121 6940 –  mdrvalle at gmail.com