Standing Up for Amazonian Territories of Life

The ongoing devastation of the Amazon’s tropical forests poses a serious threat to the climate, biodiversity and human rights. Forest areas managed by indigenous peoples and local communities are better protected. Despite commitments to protect Amazonian and indigenous rights, deforestation and rights violations are intensifying, particularly in Peru and Colombia.

The loss of forests in Peru increased by 40% in the first half of 2024 alone, and new laws have been introduced that risk making the situation even worse. At the same time, there is momentum for both forest policy reforms, and the securing of indigenous peoples’ right to free and informed prior consent through decisive judgments and legal human rights victories in Colombia.

In this project, Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) want to scale up efforts that empower indigenous people to assert their land rights and protect pristine and valuable forests in Peru and Colombia.

The project is supported with 7 000 000 SEK.

What’s happening in the project?

The project consists of two parts. The first part aims to strengthen indigenous peoples’ self-determination and influence over their lands by:

– Providing indigenous groups with training, support and new technological tools to document territories, create maps and monitor lands.

– Identifying and including sites of cultural and ceremonial significance in the maps.

– Conducting inter-ethnic dialogues to agree on territorial boundaries.

– Collecting data from the territories through patrolling and satellite. Analyzing data to determine encroachments, violations and drivers of deforestation.

– Carrying out advocacy work.

The second part aims to support indigenous groups in protecting the forest against encroachment and deforestation by:

– Providing support in investigating crimes on their territory, prosecuting legal cases and conducting advocacy work at local, national and international levels.

Why was the project supported?

The region’s forest has been pushed into a critical situation. If further deforestation occurs, the Amazon risks ending up in a Savanna-like state, which would have devastating consequences. It has never been more important to implement powerful efforts to save the forest. Securing the rights of indigenous peoples has been highlighted as an important solution in climate work by IPCC and IPBES, among others.