Untitled Document
Buying Pieces of the Amazon Is Useless,
Says Brazilian Indian Leader in London
Wednesday, 17 October
2007
Davi
Kopenawa Yanomami, a Brazilian Indian shaman from the Yanomami people, delivered
a letter this Wednesday, October 17, to the British government calling on the
UK to ratify ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention 169, the key
international law on tribal peoples.
In
the letter Davi says, "Yanomami land in Brazil is threatened by loggers,
miners and ranching. My people are suffering and our survival is threatened
at every moment. But this international law could protect us.
"Our
own country has signed the convention, but we are very unhappy that other countries,
such as yours, have not. The more countries that ratify it, the more weight
it will have in international law, and the more we can rely on it to protect
our lands and our people.
"I
have heard that your government does not want to sign the convention because
there are no indigenous people in the United Kingdom. But indigenous people
in other countries can still be affected by development projects funded by the
UK. British businesses working in other countries must also be encouraged to
abide by ILO 169.
"It
is therefore essential for indigenous peoples such as the Yanomami that your
government ratifies ILO 169. I ask you to support the millions of others like
us around the world by agreeing that our rights are important and signing the
convention."
ILO
Convention 169 is the most important international law on tribal peoples. It
recognizes their land ownership rights and says they should be consulted on
developments that affect them. Unlike the recently-adopted UN Declaration on
indigenous peoples, ILO 169 is legally binding on governments that have ratified
it.
Davi,
winner of the UN Global 500 award, went to London with his son to launch a new
report by Survival (an international organization that supports the human rights
of tribal peoples) about the crisis in indigenous peoples" health.
The
report "Progress can kill" details for the first time how separation
from their lands leads to the physical and mental breakdown of tribal peoples.
The
Yanomami leader will also travel to Germany to talk to senior politicians there.
Speaking
about the desperate health situation of his people, Davi argues that the only
way to save the rainforest is to save the Indians, by recognizing their land
rights:
"You
napëpë (whites) talk about what you call "development" and
tell us to become the same as you. But we know that this brings only disease
and death. Now you want to buy pieces of rainforest, or to plant biofuels. These
are useless.
"The
forest cannot be bought; it is our life and we have always protected it. Without
the forest, there is only sickness, and without us, it is dead land. The time
has come for you to start listening to us. Give us back our lands and our health
before it's too late for us and too late for you."
Growing
concern about global warming has led to an increase in organizations buying
up areas of rainforest, often claiming that it can help offset carbon emissions.
One of the best known is Mayfair-based Cool Earth, set up by millionaire businessman
Johan Eliasch and MP Frank Field. It urges the public to "protect an acre"
for about US$ 140 and would like it to believe that this will help contribute
to "saving the world".
But
new research from Survival reveals that more than 162 million hectares of the
Amazon rainforest have already been secured - through their protection as indigenous
territories. This is over 15,000 times more rainforest than is involved in the
Cool Earth scheme.
Research
by Brazilian and US scientists shows that the most effective way to stop logging
in the Amazon is to protect Indian lands, which occupy one fifth of the Brazilian
Amazon. But the lands of many tribes remain unprotected.