Source: Alianza Mesoamericana de Pueblos y Bosques
The Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMBP) led the first Mesoamerican Climate Week held in Panama City from June 13th to 16th, 2023, to showcase and highlight the territorial experiences of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in forest management, care, and conservation.
The event brought together over 200 individuals, including 80 leaders from the region and around the world. Their voices joined together to call for action and progress in direct financing for projects focused on preserving their territories. Additionally, they had dialogue spaces with regional political authorities, NGOs, donors, and other civil society organizations to continue protecting forests and ecosystems for the benefit of all humanity.
These four days allowed for the creation of an inclusive, fair, and democratic agenda in which the voices of the territories could be properly and timely expressed. The dialogue focused on four different thematic areas: Direct Financing, Capacity Strengthening, Ancestral Agriculture, Territorial Governance, and Forest Management. You can watch the event recordings here.
A week of important launches
During the Mesoamerican Climate Week, significant launches took place, including the proposal for an additional layer on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (PICL) within the ART TREES standard. This proposal is based on principles and procedures that aim to promote a high-integrity carbon market based on international and national legal agreements. It ensures the free, informed, and effective practice of safeguards in terms of PICL rights in a preventive and non-reactive manner. This proposal was a collective effort by Indigenous and community leaders from the entire region, who undertook the task of defining these guidelines to exercise their self-determination when governments and companies seek carbon credits in their territories.
The Coordinator of Women Territorial Leaders of Mesoamerica presented the Regional Gender and Climate Change Plan as a key initiative to address current challenges in the region. This plan is the result of a months-long co-creation process and includes proposals to strengthen community organizational models, increase women's access to land, enhance their production capacities through ancestral agriculture, promote the exchange of knowledge, support learning initiatives, and preserve cultural knowledge and practices. It also aims to create secure, accessible, and tailored financial instruments that meet the real needs of our communities.
Furthermore, the event hosted the launch of the second edition of the study "Who Owns the Land in the World?" by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), which analyzes the extent of land legally recognized as property or assigned by national governments to Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities worldwide.
This study highlights that over the past five years, globally, the area of legally designated and titled land has only increased by 0.9%. In Mesoamerica, the figure has increased by just 0.5%. The slow progress of this process alarms the peoples and communities as we are in a critical window of opportunity for environmental conservation in response to the climate crisis.
Additionally, the study points out that more than one-third of the total land in the region is managed by Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, and Afro-descendants. In countries like Guatemala, over 40% of the entire country is protected by PICL, but only 18.55% is legally recognized. Land tenure by peoples and communities is the most effective way to mitigate deforestation, even more so than national parks and private efforts. However, in the past 20 years, a quarter of its total natural wealth has been lost, primarily due to livestock farming, drug trafficking, and organized crime.
New opportunities for the region
At the end of the event, the Board of Directors of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests shared some of the conclusions for each of the thematic areas addressed during the week.
Regarding the multidimensional perspective on the opportunities and challenges of direct territorial financing for PICL in the Mesoamerican region, it was concluded that the Mesoamerican Territorial Fund is a real and effective mechanism for direct investment in Indigenous territories and local communities. It is essential to have pre-investment financing that strengthens local capacities in project formulation, monitoring, and documentation of activities. Additionally, financing exercises should recognize the economic value of the local actions being carried out for territorial governance.
PICL are not just beneficiaries but actors and agents of transformation capable of overcoming inequality gaps and historical setbacks. Several leaders, such as Juan Carlos Jintiach from the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), shared their views on this topic.
"Give me the conditions to sit at the table. Don't see me as a beneficiary, but as a partner in life. I provide the oxygen, I give my life to the fight against climate change," stated Jintiach.
The importance of intergenerational dialogue between elders and youth in efforts to combat climate change in the territories was also emphasized. The Mesoamerican Leadership School (EML), one of the semi-autonomous units of the AMBP, was recognized as an expression of the importance of nature preservation for achieving positive sustainable development for PICL. It was emphasized that capacity building and youth training are a priority for us and should be a priority for cooperation.
Regarding capacity strengthening and leadership building in climate change matters for Mesoamerican Indigenous-Local youth, the importance of involving young people in the formulation, negotiation, and advocacy processes of community organizations was emphasized.
"Many times, youth are present but not heard. We want solid spaces to work together," affirmed Yanisbeth Gonzalez from the EML.
Regarding the role of Indigenous women and local communities as a source of traditional knowledge in agriculture and other practices for the benefit of climate change management, the need to position their specific agendas in dialogue, participation, and negotiation processes was highlighted. Similarly, the importance of reviewing and influencing state policies to ensure effective participation of women in the development of their territories was emphasized.
"We are seeking not to be excluded from governance, we are seeking to be protagonists. We want women to be involved in decision-making," explained Sara Omi, Coordinator of the Coordinating Body of Women Territorial Leaders of Mesoamerica (CMLT).
In this regard, the importance of improving women's rights to land ownership and secure land tenure was underscored, as this has a very positive influence on empowerment, investment, natural resource management, and access to services and institutions.
Regarding the strengthening of territorial governance as a solution to the growing citizen insecurity and disregard for PICL, the need to develop and support participatory actions based on the community worldview to mitigate territorial impacts resulting from disasters whose causes and responsibilities lie mostly outside the territories was discussed.
It is necessary to have a Regional Observatory on Violence and Criminalization of Leaders and to build a model that provides legal support, visibility, and attention to community impacts, while avoiding re-victimization. Additionally, it is essential to strengthen governance to reduce territorial insecurity and investigate the complex causes of violence.
"The struggle is won through sustained and continuous defense of our lands and territories, and the best way to do it is by strengthening territorial governments and our traditional governance systems," shared Christina Coc during the climate justice panel. She is part of the Maya Leaders of Southern Belize.
Throughout the event, a call was made to the media to work closely and with data to weaken the discourse that criminalizes territorial efforts. Organizations, research centers, and donors supporting PICL were also urged to continue their efforts to achieve cooperative and inclusive approaches.
"If you, the major donors, don't change your perspective, we won't solve the problems. We live under the same roof, eat at the same table, and when we go to the other world, we return to the same earth. I ask for unity, brotherhood, equality in the fight," requested Briceida Iglesias from the Bundorgan Women's Network.
This event was organized by AMPB with the support of the Indigenous FSC Foundation (FSC-IF) and the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (AGCT), Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples for Rights and Development (IPARD), Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), Love for Life, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Green Climate Fund, Agroecology Fund, German Cooperation for Development (GIZ), REGEN10, Trees, Water & People, Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute (ILSB), Emberá Women Artisans Association, and Environmental Defense Fund.