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| © Nathalie Weemaels |
A better way to protect biodiversity: strengthen Indigenous rights
The designation of heavily-guarded 'Protected Places' does little to strengthen biodiversity. Instead, strengthen Indigenous rights as guardians, say Indigenous of Africa and Asia at COP 15 in Montreal. The 'Protected' goal means evicting Indigenous Peoples.
by Rainforest Rescue (Rettet den Regenwald e.V., Germany), WALHI South Sulawesi, WALHI Papua, Aceh Wetland Foundation, Pusaka, Save Our Borneo, Kaoem Telapak (Indonesia), Devcon, WATER, RRDC (Nigeria), RIAO-RDC, CAMV (Democratic Republic of the Congo), synaparcam (Cameroon), TASHA (Uganda), TEST (Tanzania), SADIA (Malaysia)
December 8/9, 2022
Censored News
HAMBURG/MONTREAL -- The German NGO Rainforest Rescue (Rettet den Regenwald e.V.) delivered a petition with more than 65,000 signatures to the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema. The petition is sharply critical of the UN’s proposal to place 30 percent of the world’s land under protection by 2030 (“30 by 30”).
Rainforest Rescue Co-Chair Marianne Klute: “While putting 30 percent of the planet under protection is tantalizing in its simplicity, it is a dangerously flawed concept. It assumes that nature can only be protected by keeping humans out. Displacing the local population for “30 by 30” would impact 300 million men, women and children, many of them Indigenous people.
"This would amount to evicting the most effective guardians of the rainforest in the name of conservation. Whether protected areas do anything for nature is questionable: Their number has skyrocketed, but biodiversity is still collapsing. Instead of falling back on outdated concepts like heavily guarded national parks, this conference must strengthen the rights of Indigenous people.”
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