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The lives of indigenous peoples are often inextricably linked with their relationship to the environment. Their traditions often demonstrate an attachment to land and a strong responsibility for preserving it for future generations.1 In fact, many indigenous people have a profoundly spiritual relationship with nature, one that ties the land to their very existence.2 There is also a strong correlation between areas of high biological diversity and the presence of indigenous peoples in those areas around the world, including the “Biological 17” nations that are home to two-thirds of the world’s biological resources.3
Because indigenous groups have tended to preserve their lands, there are often abundant resources available on their lands that mainstream society may want to access, such as oil, lumber, and farmable land. These economic pressures can seriously threaten both the environment, but also the indigenous groups who depend on the land for their way of life. Therefore, the protection of this land as well as indigenous rights to preserve their group’s land is integral to indigenous survival.
| The Amazon River Basin
The Amazon River Basin is a massive rainforest in nine South American countries that is also home to over 300 indigenous groups.4 The Amazon basin is also one of the richest areas of biological diversity in the world, but one that is being reduced every day by increased settlement and destruction of the forest for agricultural use as well as for the extraction of raw materials such as gold and iron. This development directly impacts residents of the Amazon, such as the Kayapo, Waiapi, and Yanomami indigenous peoples of Brazil. Millions of acres of their ancestral homelands have been destroyed, and in some cases, such as with the Ashaninka, indigenous peoples have not only lost their land, but been forced into slavery for plantation owners who have taken their lands.5 The devastation of parts of the Amazon River Basin not only robs indigenous peoples of their fundamental rights, but it also decimates some of the last great expanses of biological diversity left on the planet. The issue of human rights and environmental protection are inherently linked in this region, providing an even greater justification for the recognition of group rights. In response, the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region have organized themselves into the Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations of the Amazon Basin and are pressing for their rights to their lands, as well as their rights to participate in decisions affecting their lands. |
1 “Leaflet 10: Indigenous Peoples and the Environment”
4 “Focus: Land Rights in the Amazon River Basin”
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