Final Conclusions working group 14: Forests

Recognizing that native forests and jungles partake in both functions and processes of life in the planet and its vital importance in climate processes, as well as its vulnerability to climate change, the participants in the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth demand that members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) include in their discussions and resolutions the following points.

Working Group 14: Forest

1)    For us, the indigenous people, native and peasants the forest is our big house, which is the Mother Earth, since plants, animals, water, clean air, human and spiritual beings coexist. We were provided with food by hunting, fishing, gathering wild fruits, provides shelter and natural medicines as by the secret of the plants we heal all our diseases, where biodiversity is conserved. Forests protect us from floods, erosion, pests and diseases, natural disasters and give us the opportunity to live in a healthy environment. Consequently we consider important to restore the interaction to reach a balance between nature and humanity, essential to the preservation and conservation of life on the planet.

GROUP 14: FORESTS

International negotiations have often reflected a particular interest in forest resources, both for their role in reducing emissions caused by deforestation and environmental degradation, and for their function as “carbon sinks” for the absorption of Co2.

The protection of forests is not only about preserving trees, however. It is also about preserving a vital process initiated millions of years ago. Forests are spaces inhabited by a diverse group of living things – vegetable, animal, and human (including Indigenous peoples).

 What should be the essential elements of a proposal for the integral and sustainable management of forests in the face of climate change, which would also recognize the rights of Indigenous communities that reside in forests? Does Copenhagen represent progress in this direction?

Forest

Debate and product objectives

– Develop a proposal that promotes the strengthening of natural forests conservation, integral management for forestall conservation and governance recognizing the rights and capacities of the indigenous communities and peoples that live in and depend on the forest, in order to face climate change problems properly.

– Analyze the proposal of the Copenhagen Accord based on this proposal.

Main issues to be discussed

– Which should be the essential elements (mechanism, participation, finance and others) of an integral and sustainable forests management proposal that can overcome insufficient conceptions?

– Which are the practices, vision, and knowledge that are different to the extractive, economic and mercantilist conceptions of forests and that could be raised as contributions to climate change adaptation strategies?

Pre-conference of Bolivian indigenous peoples and social organization on climate change and the rights of Mother Earth

POSITION OF THE PRE-CONFERENCE OF THE INDIGENOUS, NATIVE, PEASANTS AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS OF BOLIVIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RIGHTS OF THE MOTHER EARTH

WORKING GROUP 14: FOREST

1)    For us, the indigenous people, native and peasants the forest is our big house, which is the Mother Earth, since plants, animals, water, clean air, human and spiritual beings coexist. We were provided with food by hunting, fishing, gathering wild fruits, provides shelter and natural medicines as by the secret of the plants we heal all our diseases, where biodiversity is conserved. Forests protect us from floods, erosion, pests and diseases, natural disasters and give us the opportunity to live in a healthy environment. Consequently we consider important to restore the interaction to reach a balance between nature and humanity, essential to the preservation and conservation of life on the planet.

2)    Indigenous peoples, native and peasant coexist in harmony with nature, because we are the true owners of the forest from immemorial time, we respect the components of the forest offering acknowledgments in our own guidelines and procedures, because we are aware that each species has its function in these ecosystems. For example, species that give the soil fertility (availability of nutrients), plant species are habitat thermostats that regulate temperature, prevent soil erosion; species run the state of forest.

Claims proposed in national and international level.