2023-07-13 18:31:17
Global report presented the results of a world report on land ownership and rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities.
Photo: Courtesy.
Central America. As the Mesoamerican community grapples with pressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development, the recently released report titled “Who owns the world’s land?” (Who Owns the World’s Land?), prepared by the international organization Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), has emerged as an essential tool to promote the rights and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples and local communities. .
In the second edition of this pioneering report; fully available heremore evidence is added to the existing ones that confirm what indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant peoples and local communities have always maintained: that they are the best managers of their lands and resources.
It also lists the recent legal victories in land tenure for these populations, such as the recognition of the rights of the Naso Tjër Di Indigenous People to more than 160,000 hectares of land and recognition of land tenure and collective property rights in the Constitutions. nationals of various Latin American countries.
However, despite these victories, according to the report, the area where the land rights of these communities are recognized has only increased by 0.5% in Mesoamerica in the last five years.
defenders of the land
Mesoamerican forests contain 47% of the region’s forest carbon stocks, approximately 8% of the world’s biodiversity, and cover only 0.5% of the land surface. These forests support more than 5 million people from more than 60 ethnic and linguistic groups, who are highly dependent on the natural resources they provide.
The Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB) manages 24% of the region’s forests, which is equivalent to approximately 105,000 km². These forests, 40% of which are within protected natural areas, play a fundamental role in conserving biodiversity. They are also responsible for storing 26% of the total carbon possessed by all the countries in the region, which amounts to 3.6 million tons. The work of the AMPB is essential to guarantee the continuous provision of vital ecosystem services both for the territories and for the world.
Levi Sucre Romero, Bribri Indigenous and coordinator of the AMPB, points out that “We are coming together to build on these positive developments, to demonstrate that change is possible thanks to the hard-won struggles of our Indigenous and local communities around the world.
In Mesoamerica there is a large mass of forests that give balance to the planet and, despite this, we have only increased by 0.5% in the recognition of land rights in the last five years. How do we intend to achieve climate change goals at this rate? How are we going to solve a problem of global impact with such slow progress in the recognition of rights?
Sara Omi, Emberá Indigenous and president of the AMPB Territorial Leaders Coordinator, affirms that “The objectives are there, legally enshrined, now we have to think about achieving them, so we demand that our governments put in place the necessary mechanisms to do it urgently. We have to guarantee the recognition and protection of all Indigenous Peoples in their cultural and sacred places. We have to accelerate our action, helping to amplify and enact the solutions that our ancestors gave us”.
Different organizations at the local and global level have highlighted the global emergency of ecosystem degradation and the fundamental role that land rights play in ensuring the conservation and protection of forests, water sources and diversity biological and cultural but, above all, the challenges faced by the recognition of land rights, especially in the context of Mesoamerican countries, where at least 15% of community lands remain unrecognized, as concluded the RRI report.
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