Indigenous peoples have officially asked the World Conservation Congress to rule on their main claim, the protection of 80% of the Amazon by 2025, their representatives said on Sunday. A motion to this effect has been tabled in urgent procedure at the congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which is being held in Marseille, said one of their representatives on the spot, Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal.
The motion calls for a “global action plan” to put an end to deforestation and mining, in this forest vital for the biological balance of the Earth through its action of storing CO2 in particular. “Each year, the Amazon loses more than 10,000 km2. This is the urgency, not only for us but for the whole world,” said Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, from the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin.
Right to vote for organizations of indigenous peoples, a first
For the first time, indigenous peoples’ organizations won the right to vote this year at the IUCN World Congress. IUCN brings together states, government agencies, international and national NGOs, economic development agencies, businesses. Its opinions and motions voted by its members every four years are therefore a reference in the world of nature protection, even if they are not binding.
The organization must decide whether this motion, submitted by a special emergency procedure, meets the criteria of “novelty” and “urgency” to be put to a vote, said Enrique Lahmann, one of the administrators of IUCN. A decision is expected to be announced late Sunday or Monday.