Indigenous women from San Martín, Kenya and Scotland united against land dispossession

Judy denounced the injustice of the Kenyan state converting her ancestral lands into protected areas, transferring them to a government entity and forcing the eviction of her people from the Mau Forest.

"The Ogiek people have sustainably managed their forest for centuries. Denying us the right to protect our territory according to our traditional knowledge is a great injustice. The Kenyan government has carried out systematic evictions from the Mau Forest. These actions show no signs of stopping," she stressed.

Eva Schonveld, from the project Grassroots to Global, delved into the ancestral past of her homeland, Scotland, which was colonised by the Romans two thousand years ago, causing significant cultural loss:

"There used to be a lot of forest, but now less than 5% of the original forest remains and almost all the land is in the hands of other people with great economic power. Recently there has been a movement to rescue this ancient culture that has been eroded over time.

Eva recalled how, throughout history, the wise women of her territory were persecuted, and ancestral medicine disappeared completely. Today, they are in a process of "re-indigenisation", unlearning colonial structures and questioning the ways of life imposed on them.

"When a people lose their culture and tradition, they become materialistic, isolated and face serious social and mental health problems linked to the loss of community and disconnection between people. This is what happened in my land," she reflected.

Eva noted that her visit to the Peruvian Amazon and her interaction with the Kichwa, Awajún, Shawi and Ogiek indigenous peoples allowed her to see important parallels between their struggles.

"Although the situation in modern times may be more complex, there are still constant incursions against the traditional ways of life that connect people to their land and do not depend on capitalism.”

Eva stressed that the current system is unsustainable: "We are facing a system that does not work and that is causing huge problems, such as pollution and climate change. If we don't find ways to deal with it, none of us will survive," she warned, adding:

"We must find ways to live in community, to manage conflict collectively and to use power fairly. Perhaps then we can begin to heal and build a different way of life that gives us a chance to survive as a species.”

Kichwa people steadfast in their fight against exclusionary conservation

For her part, Marisol García Apagueño, president of the Federation of Indigenous Kechwa Chazuta Amazonian Peoples (Fepikecha), denounced that the Kichwa people are facing the expropriation of their territory with the imposition of the Cordillera Azul National Park (PNCAZ).

"This is an exclusive conservation area that violates our rights, restricts our access and ignores our ancestral possession. We demand the return of what was taken from us," she said.

She also rejected the sale of carbon credits from the park to large polluting companies, pointing out that these "false solutions based on nature" represent a threat to the continuity of life for future generations.

The meeting concluded with an act of sisterhood and joint struggle against dispossession when Marisol said:

"We are in the Kichwa territory of the Peruvian Amazon, together with our sister Judy from the Ogiek people of Kenya, standing in solidarity in the struggle against territorial dispossession by the creation of natural protected areas that respond to false climate solutions. We demand that our self-determination be respected and that our territory be returned to us with legal guarantees, for a full life for indigenous peoples, because we are the forest and we depend on the forests".

In addition to sharing experiences, the meeting validated the results of the systematisation of the San Martin women's process and planned the agenda of the CODEPISAM Indigenous Women's Network for 2025.

Regarding the importance of this space for dialogue, the CAAAP coordinator in San Martin, Luna Contreras, stressed that it allowed the leaders to broaden their vision of territorial struggles and to recognise that dispossession through the imposition of protected natural areas does not only occur in the Amazon, but also in other parts of the world, often even more severely.

"They are different peoples, from three different continents, but with the same struggles and pains. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen the defence and care of our common home, to prevent more communities from losing their territories, as has happened to the Ogiek people, or their cultural identity, as in the case of Scotland", she emphasised

This space reaffirmed the importance of unity and solidarity among those facing the same struggles, as well as strengthening women's leadership and resistance to violence and territorial dispossession.

"Together we are stronger!"