Indigenous Leaders: We Need Land Rights or Climate Mitigation Will Fail
Countries will be unable to meet their climate change pledges unless they secure land rights for people living in the world's tropical forests, indigenous leaders told an international conference of regional governors meeting in Mexico.
Regional government officials from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Spain and the United States met on Thursday in Guadalajara, Mexico, having pledged two years ago to reduce deforestation by 80 percent by 2020.
This goal can only be met if members of the Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF) provide secure land titles to indigenous groups who live in the forests, campaigners said.
"By establishing a direct relationship with the guardians who protect their forests, the governors can ensure their conservation strategies will actually work," said Cándido Mezua, of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB).
Geraint Rowland