Kichwa organisations demand a new social contract in the face of exclusion from Cordillera Azul National Park
Indigenous organizations of the Kichwa people of San Martin in Peru, presented their demands to the Ministry of Culture and the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State following more than 20 years of exclusion from the conservation model of the Cordillera Azul National Park. They propose a new social contract where conservation recognizes and respects the rights of the Kichwa communities.
On 3 September 2022 in Chazuta, San Martin, a high-level meeting was held where Indigenous organizations of the Kichwa people presented their demands to the Ministry of Culture (MINCUL) and the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (SERNANP), regarding more than 20 years of the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from the conservation model of the Cordillera Azul National Park (PNCAZ). This model has been widely questioned by the Kichwa communities and their representative organizations. Through a process of intercultural dialogue, the organizations propose a new social contract so that the conservation promoted in the country recognizes and respects the fundamental rights of the Kichwa communities.
The Coordinator for the Development and Defense of the Indigenous Peoples of the San Martin Region (CODEPISAM) and three of its Kichwa federations, the Ethnic Council of the Kichwa Peoples of the Amazon (CEPKA), the Federation of Kichwa Indigenous Peoples of Chazuta Amazonas (FEPIKECHA), and the Federation of Indigenous Kichwa Peoples of the Lower Huallaga San Martin (FEPIKBHSAM), which have communities affected by the PNCAZ, were present.
On the side of the Peruvian State, the Vice-Ministry of Interculturality of MINCUL, the General Directorate of Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the General Directorate of Intercultural Citizenship participated, as well as the Directorate of Management of Natural Protected Areas of SERNANP, its Functional Operational Unit for Participatory Management and also the Park's management.
The Kichwa’s demands are:
- Prior consultation of the Cordillera Azul National Park and the REDD+ carbon project, in accordance with the international and national normative framework that protects the rights of indigenous peoples.
- Demarcation of collective territories within Cordillera Azul National Park, according to recent regulations, and that these territories are legitimately visible in the NPA Master Plan.
- Accountability and transparency on the part of CIMA and SERNANP in the Kichwa communities, with the presence of the Ministry of Culture and the federations.
- Full and effective participation in the management of Cordillera Azul National Park.
- Distribution of carbon credit benefits to Kiwcha communities.
- Respect for the structure of the Indigenous movement. Any coordination should be with the accompaniment of the federations. This includes the development of the Mapping of Uses and Strengths (MUF) that the Park will carry out.
- The communities do not agree with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) decision to award the PNCAZ through inclusion on its Green List.
- Reparations and compensation for 20 years of exclusion of the Indigenous communities.
- Follow-up meeting of the signed agreement in a Kichwa community.
Wiler Saurin, Vice-President of CODEPISAM, historically contextualized the Kichwa’s claims within a history of territorial dispossession and urged the PNCAZ for a new social contract:
"Needless to say, brothers and sisters, officials, that history shows the ancestral right of the Kichwa people of the Lower Huallaga (...) There are current maps in our DNA, where we were living more than a thousand years ago. Right here in front is the museum where the history of our people is kept, where there are chants and paintings, where it is technically, anthropologically and culturally demonstrated that the Kichwa of the Lower Huallaga existed before this place was called San Martin, before the province existed, before the region existed, before SERNANP existed, before the Cordillera Azul National Park existed. We were Chipaota, we were Rovashka, we were Yanayaku, we were Sabaloyaku, we were never Cordillera Azul."
"It has been imposed on us. When the Spaniards arrived in Peru they said: "we came with the order of the king and queen and from today you are subjects". Twenty years ago, they did not tell us, they did not warn us, they imposed a colonialism of the new century when, without consulting us, they created national protected areas and told us: "As of today you are Cordillera Azul Park". When someone is born violating rights, in time they have to understand that there must be a new social contract. That is why we are gathered here. Sister Vice Minister, thank you for having echoed the people's cry. We are here to talk, to dialogue and reach good agreements because we believe that the Kichwa people of Bajo Huallaga have begun to feel a new sense and we want the State to recognize the ancestral rights of the people. Today it is time for a new social contract".
FEPIKECHA leader Wilger Apagueño elaborated on the lack of prior consultation of the Park and its REDD+ project:
"We are a State with international agreements. Convention 169 was signed in 1995, which has constitutional rank and must be complied with. I understand that the official (from SERNANP) is unaware of this. It is fine, NPAs are in the regulatory framework, but so is prior consultation. Many say that prior consultation dates back to 2011, but it dates back to 1995 (...) We have not been consulted on carbon projects either, despite the fact that ancestral possession is equivalent to a property title and this is not being respected".
He also framed the lack of prior consultation with the ancestral territorial claims of the Kichwa communities, "Since there was no consultation, there was an imposition of boundaries by telling the people: 'People, you do not pass from here. The Park has already been created, you have to respect it". It would have been good to say: 'Brother, how far do you consider your territory reaches?’”
Regarding transparency, the FEPIKECHA leader emphasized the lack of transparency of CIMA and SERNANP in relation to the sale of carbon credits that PNCAZ has been making with its REDD+ project underway since 2008:
"It is a shame that when we ask you for information, you say "we don't have it." CIMA tells us that it is private. It is a disgrace to have to go to a transparency court and have it order that we be informed. This is how we learnt about the millions that come to the Park. It has been hard work on the part of the federations, when it should be work on your part in good faith. Ladies and gentlemen, we need this accountability from SERNANP and CIMA as the administrator of the resources that come from this carbon sequestration. We have all the documents. And we are not afraid. I demand that this accountability be carried out in the Indigenous communities".
Samuel Pinedo, leader of FEPIKBHSAM stressed that the PNCAZ must ensure full and effective participation:
"SERNANP says that the Park seeks the welfare of the people. We have all listened. If that is the Park's approach, basically those people are us. Our fourth point, as peoples, we ask for full and effective participation in the Park's management. It is not possible that, being immersed in the Park, you can do things behind our backs (...) That there be active participation in the Management Committee. They cannot create a participation structure that they decided in an office without us".
In addition, he stressed the need to work towards an adequate distribution of benefits from carbon credits to communities with full transparency and clear information:
"They say there were two blind men begging for alms in the street. A pigeon said to them: 'How are you? "Fine," they replied. The rogue said: "Here is a gift for you". And the blind men said thank you. Then when they were left alone, they asked each other: "Hey, where is the money? "I don't know, you said thank you," said one of them. "I haven't received anything. Me neither," said the other. So we are with the Park (...) We need to say: "Here are the benefits" (...) They manage a salary, we do not. We will go home by boat, or even swim if we have to; they go back in a pickup truck".
The FEPIKBHSAM leader also remarked on the need for the PNCAZ management to coordinate with the Indigenous organisations to respect the structure of the Indigenous movement and articulate with their technical teams, which have Indigenous professionals: "We ask the SERNANP officials to start coordinating with CODEPISAM and their federations. They are going to coordinate directly and maliciously and we have testimonies where they tell the apu in the community: "Apu, let's sign this agreement because what is your federation really going to help you achieve?"
Isidro Sangama, Vice-President of CEPKA, demanded reparations and compensation for 20 years of exclusion of Indigenous communities by the PNCAZ:
"Reparation and indemnification for 20 years of exclusion of the Indigenous communities. Although we are owners of this territory, we are nothing, we are dispossessed. This community has its market in the territory. There in that forest is the pharmacy. But if at some point they cede it to us, they do it for a couple of days, but the medicines are not made in a couple of days. We need a couple of weeks to be calm. We don't just go and cut and that's it.
Marisol García, leader of FEPIKECHA also pointed to a false environmentalism that sells the Park, questioning its relationship with polluting companies from the global north that seek to clean up their image with the supposed carbon neutrality of their businesses:
"The Park does not belong to SERNANP, it belongs to the Indigenous peoples. But in real life, it belongs to CIMA, to the transnational companies of the global north, to the airlines that pollute and are the main buyers of the carbon credits. Are those people who buy the carbon credits making minimal efforts to mitigate their pollution? Are we being honest with actually mitigating climate change and mitigating environmental pollution? No, we are not! We're not being honest and it's hypocritical.”
For her part, Rocilda Nunta, Vice-Minister of interculturalism, echoing the Kichwa’s demands, pointed out the need for a State that is more open to dialogue with the communities:
"When it comes to elaborating public policies and projects they have to talk directly with the peoples to know their ways of thinking and needs they have. We promote that this intercultural State be real. We promote that the collective rights of the brothers and sisters be heard and that their rights be promoted (...) I urge you today to promote an intercultural dialogue".
For their part, SERNANP representatives stated that they had participatory methodologies for protected areas in order to seek joint proposals and benefits. They also expressed their willingness to address the need to discuss and improve full and effective participation in the Park's management committee, as a democratic space for civil society accountability, and participation in the Master Plan as the Park's roadmap. Finally, SERNANP showed a predisposition for accountability in the Kichwa communities themselves and a technical dialogue to improve the spaces for participation.
The meeting closed with the signing of an agreement that SERNANP will generate a specific roundtable to review the participation mechanisms, transparency, and other agenda items presented by the Indigenous organisations, in a new meeting in Kichwa territory. MINCUL will continue to accompany the intercultural dialogue process.
Overview
- Resource Type:
- News
- Publication date:
- 3 September 2022
- Region:
- Peru
- Programmes:
- Climate and forest policy and finance Conservation and human rights Territorial Governance Culture and Knowledge
- Partners:
- Consejo Étnico de los Pueblos Kichwa de la Amazonia (CEPKA) Federación de Pueblos Indígenas Kechua Chazuta Amazonas (FEPIKECHA) Federación de Pueblos Indígenas Kechwas del Bajo Huallaga San Martín (FEPIKBHSAM)
- Translations:
- Spanish: Organizaciones kichwa demandan un nuevo contrato social frente a la exclusión del Parque Nacional Cordillera Azul