We Lift The Voice of The Forest Demanding Our Rights! Historic mobilisation of the Kichwa people against territorial dispossession and violations of Indigenous Peoples' rights
On Friday 10 June, communities affiliated to the Ethnic Council of Kichwa Peoples of the Amazon (CEPKA), the Federation of Kichwa Indigenous Peoples of Chazuta, Amazonas (FEPIKECHA), and the Federation of Kichwa Indigenous Peoples of the Lower Huallaga, San Martin (FEPIKBHSAM), local bases of regional organisation the Coordinator for the Development and Defence of Indigenous Peoples of the San Martin Region (CODEPISAM), mobilised to demand their rights as Indigenous Peoples over their territories. The demonstration took place outside the Regional Directorate of Agriculture of San Martin, which is responsible for the titling of Indigenous lands regionally, and the offices of the NGO Centre for Conservation, Investigation and Management of Natural Areas - CIMA, which manages the Cordillera Azul National Park and REDD+ Project of the same name.
"Today the Kichwa people are making history, sisters and brothers. Today it is time that we rise up as Indigenous peoples to demand that the Peruvian State recognises our rights. Rights which we all know belong to us ancestrally. And it is shameful that we must continue to lift up our voices for our rights and for our lands and homes from which we have been dispossessed. Today education is under threat because colonial laws are being implemented which go against our rights; that is why we are here, because united we are strong." Marisol Garcia, FEPIKECHA.
See all videos from the demonstration here
The Kichwa people decided to mobilise due to widespread delays in response to their repeated requests for communal land titling, as mentioned by CEPKA leaders, Reogildo Amasifuen and Marco Sangama:
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At the same time, they emphasised the customary rights of the Kichwa people.
"We are going to raise the cry of the forest demanding our rights. It is time that we are respected, because we are the true owners of the forest, all of those river basins - the contamination of our rivers must stop now! The issue of climate change affects us all, and it cannot be that those who live in the huge cities retain the luxury of continuing to pollute while telling us that we encroach upon the [Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation] Area. Which Area, ladies and gentlemen, which Area? Something which has been created violating Indigenous Peoples' territories? Now we have to deal with this problem? No sisters and brothers, it is time for us to rise and face this and say "NO MORE..." - Marisol Garcia, FEPIKECHA.
A significant barrier for the secure legal tenure of the Kichwa people is the imposition of the Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation Area (ACR-CE), which has been imposed on them without prior consultation, and which affects the communities' rights to use and enjoy their ancestral territories:
"The Cordillera Escalera Master Plan is being updated, I'm sure you have all heard about the workshops, but that is not enough. There must be a process of free, prior and informed consultation." - Marco Sangama.
The leaders demanded that the Technical Working Group for Land Titling respect their rights and that the management of the ACR-CE assume responsibility for the violations which they have carried out. In fact, despite the fact that it was a Working Group meeting agreed weeks in advance, the director of the ACR-CE, Manuel Gomez, did not arrive initially. It was around midday, after the Kichwa people made their voices heard, that he appeared.
"This is a just struggle, we are going to participate in the Working Group, but we don't want more working groups, because it is a space which they try to break our intentions to protect our territory." - Samuel Pinedo, FEPIKBHSAM.
"These governments ignore us. Why do they discriminate against the women and men of the communities? Is it that we are not strong or we're stupid? If we do not care for the forest, what will be left for our grandchildren? Brothers and sisters, what do we want in this moment? Land titling! We are Indigenous communities with an ancestral inheritance. That is why we are here as women, warmikuna." Holly Fababa - FEPIKECHA
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"All the time it's the same story with the Land Titling Working Group - they take us for a ride, as if we were children. I am sick and tired as a women that they tell us, "The titling is coming, it's coming." As representatives of the boys, girls, women and elders, as an Indigenous Mother, I demand titling." Merly Siri - FEPIKBHSAM.
Another of the areas created using an exclusionary and colonial conservation model is the Cordillera Azul National Park - PNCAZ. This park is also a threat for Indigenous tenure security and autonomy, as it also did not involve prior consultation processes and its management by SERNANP and CIMA has been exclusionary. On repeated occasions, the Kichwa people has expressed its disagreement with the lack of transparency in the management and commercialisation of carbon credits, including in a statement issued several weeks before these mobilisations took place.
"We also have a problem with the Cordillera Azul National Park. We requested information, but initially they didn't want to share this and we had to go to the Transparency Court. Millions of soles have changed hands for carbon offsets, but where is that money going? And who is benefitting?" – Marco Sangama, CEPKA.
"Now is the time for us to be taken into consideration as well, because if not, what are we going to do? They are making huge amounts of money in the name of caring for the forest - they say they are going to care for the forest, but what have they really done. Have they given anything back to us? No." – Marcelino Vilela, CEPKA
"How is it possible that they fill their pockets with all of the money for conservation which in fact is done by our men and women patrolling their lands, days after day, while they sit there deciding over our territory, while our brothers and sisters can't even access basic healthcare? Total absence of the State in our communities. It is an outrage that they make all this money and there is no transparency when it comes to how they administer it. We cannot be hypocrites by allowing the big oil companies to continue polluting elsewhere and then come here to buy carbon offsets. How can they say that we are encroaching - what are we encroaching upon? They are encroaching on our rights! Today we are not going to allow them to twist our arm, as long as there is no signed agreement, because a living Amazonia is the guarantee for humanity, not just for the Kichwa people, but for a safe humanity. We are joined here by people from the Lower Huallaga, I know they have come from many different places, we are not alone. Listen to us, we are moving mountains." Marisol Garcia, FEPIKECHA.
At the conclusion of the Titling meeting, members of the Titling Working Group signed an agreement in which they committed to take measures relating to the ACR-CE, which will be discussed on 28 June.
The mobilisation also reached the offices of CIMA, where leaders expressed their demands:
“It is an outrage that internationally they claim to be an example of conservation, and that nowadays they are included in the [IUCN] Green List, thanks to the sacrifices and care for the forest of each of us. It is a disgrace for us, the true owners. We have had to make complaints, make visible this whole administration, in which SERNANP is fully involved.” Marisol García, FEPIKECHA.
As well as demanding respect for their territorial rights, another demand of the Kichwa people relates to the sustainability of intercultural education:
“We have been witnessing how the national government wants to eliminate the bilingual schools. Today we must warn the national directorate of education and all of the jurisdictions where there are Kichwa people, be very careful.” – Marco Sangama.
Read the statement from the mobilisation here (Spanish only).
Overview
- Resource Type:
- Press Releases
- Publication date:
- 21 June 2022
- Region:
- Peru
- Programmes:
- Climate and forest policy and finance Territorial Governance Culture and Knowledge Conservation and human rights
- 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: ¡Levantamos el grito de la selva exigiendo nuestros derechos! Histórica movilización del pueblo kichwa ante el despojo territorial y vulneración de derechos de los pueblos indígenas.