Coronavirus and forest communities
COVID-19 is a global threat, the full effects of which we don’t yet know. What we do know is that many indigenous peoples and local communities are now, and will continue to, face challenges beyond those that we are all experiencing. At Forest Peoples Programme we are particularly concerned about indigenous communities and peoples living remote from urban settings, often with rudimentary health care provision. If (or when) the virus makes its way into remote communities, the impacts will be severe.
At the same time, we see governments using the pandemic as a cover for the deregulation of damaging industries, intensification of resource extraction and removal of environmental regulations. This offers impunity to illegal and unscrupulous actors, and – as we saw during the Ebola crisis in Liberia, for example – can allow for the expansion of harmful businesses, increased deforestation and the resulting repression of forest peoples.
Responding to external threats
Though the disease itself has serious implications for the health and wellbeing of indigenous peoples and local communities, the consequences of lockdowns, and of governments and unscrupulous businesses taking advantage of the world’s attention being elsewhere, also pose knock on effects for these people.
In some regions, indigenous peoples are being falsely blamed for spreading the disease. We have seen this happen with our partners in the region of San Martin, Peru, where a Quechua leader who contracted coronavirus while carrying out advocacy work in the Netherlands has been accused of bringing the disease into this Amazon region, despite having voluntarily remained in quarantine since returning home. A wave of racist responses against the indigenous community has followed.
Colombia has long been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights defenders, but armed groups are now taking advantage of the lockdown to target social leaders who are confined in their homes. Death threats have increased, local governments are focusing all their attention on the pandemic, and with National Protection Unit Bodyguards having to self-isolate, there has been a sharp rise in the number of social leaders killed since the lockdown began three weeks ago. Colombia has over seven million internally displaced people, many of whom are indigenous, Afro-descendant or from peasant communities. Living in temporary, makeshift or unsafe homes, often without running water, increases their chances of being exposed to coronavirus.
It’s not just illegal actors that are exploiting the current situation. In March, the Indonesian government proposed a new deregulation bill with amendments to almost 80 laws, which would free up current restrictions on mining companies. By effectively offering impunity to companies who do not meet their environmental commitments, this deregulation presents huge threats to both the environment and to the communities whose land rights, self-determination and very existence will be threatened by the spread of uncontrolled mining.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has brought in an “enforcement discretion policy”, which temporarily suspends the enforcement of environmental regulations and fines during the pandemic. The policy follows lobbying from the oil and gas industries, amongst others, and effectively allows them to increase water and air pollution without having to monitor these impacts, nor be responsible for their consequences, “so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic.”
Brazil’s environment agency has also cut back efforts to enforce environmental regulations, claiming that its enforcement staff would both be put at risk of contracting the virus, or of spreading it to remote communities. This move coincides with a 70 percent increase in deforestation compared to 2019, and follows the devastating fires in the Amazon, leaving onlookers concerned that loggers and land grabbers could take advantage of the lax policing of the forest.
Indigenous peoples and local communities closing borders
Indigenous peoples and communities are responding. “Access blocked. COVID-19”, says a sign at the entrance to the indigenous Manoa-Pium territory in northern Brazil. Manoa-Pium is one of more than 100 indigenous communities in the state of Roraima that has closed its borders to keep out the coronavirus.
From the Amazon to the Arctic, indigenous groups are acting to protect themselves. We have seen reports of this happening particularly across the Americas, which is perhaps not surprising given the devastating historical impacts of the introduction of new diseases on native American communities. A doctor working with the largest tribe in the Brazilian Amazon has tested positive for coronavirus, sparking fears that it could spread rapidly amongst remote communities, many of whom have weakened immune systems due to other diseases and malnutrition. There are similar fears in Australia, where around half of all indigenous adults have chronic conditions such as heart and kidney disease, and where ‘stay on country, care for family’ has emerged as a call for community action.
The Confederation of Natives from the Ecuadorian Amazon, CONFENIAE, has blocked all access to the rainforest, both for tourists and Ecuadorians, and has demanded that all companies (oil, mining, logging sectors) keep their personnel away. Indigenous Ecuadorians fled back to their territories as the coronavirus reached the country, rushing to reach their families before the lands were shut off. Others reluctantly decided to stay away for fear of bringing the disease into their communities. If coronavirus reaches the territories, CONFENIAE President Marlon Vargas explained, this would result in “an extermination of the indigenous population of the Amazon basin.”
In Canada, many indigenous communities including the Cree, Kahnawake Mohawk, Innu and Inuit, have closed their territories to outsiders, and returning community members must isolate themselves for 14 days. By the beginning of April, more than a dozen people in eight communities had tested positive in Quebec.
Alianza Mesoamericana is reporting similar measures across Central America. In Panama, the coastal Guna people have closed access to their waters, and the Embera have restricted both entry and exit to their territories except in the case of emergencies. Costa Rica’s Bribri-Cabecar Indigenous Network have closed off their lands to outsiders, and banned all gatherings, workshops, sports and tourism.
The Wampis nation, longstanding partners of FPP in Peru, have closed their territorial boundaries, and as an extra precaution are also restricting movement within their territories. They are developing educational campaigns to target communities which are particularly at risk of infection.
The Karen from the highlands of Thailand have revived their ancient ritual ‘Kroh Yee’ to keep out COVID-19. This translates roughly as ‘village closure’, and it was used 70 years ago during a cholera outbreak. The Karen hang bamboo stars and other symbols, depending on the severity of the outbreak, at the entrance to their villages. Community knowledge holders believe they have sufficient food supplies and production to last a year in isolation. The Dayak Bahau of Long Isun, Indonesia, have also decided to isolate themselves and not accept foreign visitors.
Rethinking resilience
While the Karen have fortunately managed to maintain their food production and storage, the lockdowns have sharply illustrated how many traditional food systems have been weakened by the shift to cash-based crops such as cocoa and coffee. Communities which were historically self-sufficient are now no longer able to feed themselves and must travel – often many miles – to reach markets in larger villages and towns, which is not possible for communities who have sealed themselves off. These communities are concerned about how long their food supplies will last, and some have already become dependent on food aid, for instance in Honduras and in Suriname. In Peru, Kichwa communities have taken steps in recent weeks to close off their villages to outsiders, but basic commodities such as salt and oil are rapidly becoming scarce. Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, has stressed the importance of food security, and traditional food-reserve sharing.
The pandemic has reignited discussions about the need to restore and strengthen traditional food production systems and traditional medicines. The US-based indigenous campaign group NDN Collective has referred to this approach as ‘de-colonializing community response to COVID-19’. As this article on the approach explains, “we need to think about food security, not in a capitalist and individualistic sense, but in a collective sense. This time in which we have to keep 'social distance' is a perfect time to delve (again) into our traditional medicines, and traditional food processing.”
While landgrabs and the spread of agribusiness can threaten food sovereignty in indigenous and forest-dependent communities, rapid deforestation, urbanisation and road building are also contributing to the spread of COVID-19, as they bring outsiders into remote territories. In peninsular Malaysia, the virus has now reached the indigenous Orang Asli community, likely the result of the extensive oil palm plantations that have forced these communities further and further into the forest. Similar threats are posed by a highway on one of India’s Andaman Islands, as it passes close to a once-remote indigenous community.
Considering language and context
There is plenty of information available about staying safe during the coronavirus outbreak. But this information is not necessarily reaching indigenous people and local communities – nor has it been designed with them in mind. Many indigenous peoples do not speak majority languages, and restricting public information broadcasts to French, Spanish or Portuguese, for example, prevents lifesaving information from being shared.
Indigenous organisations are producing leaflets and posters in local languages, such as Guatemala’s Association Sotz’il who are sharing posters on Facebook in Maya Kaqchicel. Some regional governments are also following suit, and the Government of Jujuy in Argentina have published this prevention poster in Quechua.
However, simply translating mainstream messaging is not always enough. In some regions, low literacy levels mean that posters are ineffective, and even in areas with good literacy rates, the written word is not always the preferred method of communicating. In French Guyana, customary authorities have recorded sensitisation messages in Kalin’a (Caraib), which are published on Facebook, while Embera communities in Colombia have made short videos with text and spoken instructions (via voice recording tools on their phones) on how to stay safe during the pandemic, sharing these messages via WhatsApp. Suriname’s Wayana organisation Mulokot has produced a Facebook podcast in Wayana, and in Ecuador, the #StayAtHome hashtag has been translated into Kichwa and Shuar (#WasipiSakiri and #JeminPujusta).
Perhaps the most widely shareable and memorable way to keep communities informed is through song. An indigenous organisation in Peru has written and recorded a track in Quechua which reinforces government guidelines on handwashing and social distancing. Uganda has followed suit with this music video by Bobbi Wine, a former singer, now MP. In Australia, a campaign in Aboriginal languages includes songs and videos with the theme ‘Stay on Country, Care for Family’.
Cultural Survival is producing a series of informative online public service announcements – they have currently made them available in 32 languages, are working on many more, and the organisation is seeking volunteers to help them translate more.
A lack of internet limits access to information – especially as lockdowns prevent residents from travelling to areas with WiFi or better phone coverage. For this reason, local radio remains such an important medium for many remote communities. Indigenous community radio stations will often broadcast at least part of their programming in local languages. Most importantly, the producers know their audience well – their listeners may well be offline, speak only their native language and/or be elderly, making them doubly at risk from infection and from a lack of reliable information.
Earlier this week, the Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), Anne Nuorgam, issued a statement calling on Member States to ensure that indigenous peoples are informed, protected and prioritised during the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing the need to make information available in indigenous languages, protect indigenous elders, and respect the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact.
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Forest Peoples Programme believes that organisations that work alongside indigenous peoples and local communities must continue to listen to the needs of these communities, and work to support initiatives coming from the ground. We believe that COVID-19 only underscores the importance of indigenous peoples being able to exert effective control over their territories. We support calls for a moratorium on external activities in indigenous territories, and believe that any projected activities with indigenous and forest communities and peoples should only proceed with the express consent of the peoples concerned, now more than ever.
Organisations must be flexible in supporting these communities, and ready to work in a coordinated way to challenge the added threats that are arising as a result of the pandemic, and the responses of governments and businesses.
Read more
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has put together a series of recommendations with regards to the rights and safety of indigenous peoples.
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs is compiling resources for indigenous communities, including statements on COVID-19, news articles and public service announcements. They are also requesting that communities share how they are working to fight the spread of the disease – you can contact them at indigenous_un@un.org
COICA, the Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin, have published a declaration (Spanish only) on the actions that they believe governments should focus on in order to protect indigenous peoples.
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) has a dedicated news section with regular updates on how COVID-19 is affecting indigenous communities around the world.
Charity So White’s piece on ‘Racial Injustice in the COVID-19 Response’ focuses on the BAME community in the UK, but their ‘Five Key Principles to Guide our Sector’s Response to COVID-19’ is a worthwhile reminder for organisations based anywhere in the world.
FPP issued a notice on our website on what the pandemic means for our work with partners, and we will continue to update this as the situation changes. Any partners or communities should feel free to contact us via your country contacts or via info@forestpeoples.org.
Overview
- Resource Type:
- News
- Publication date:
- 9 April 2020
- Translations:
- Spanish: El coronavirus y las comunidades dependientes de los bosques French: Le coronavirus et les communautés des forêts Indonesian: Virus corona dan masyarakat hutan