This report highlights the importance and urgency for climate action initiatives of protecting the forests of the indigenous and tribal territories1 and the communities that look after them. Based on recent experience, it proposes a package of investments and policies for climate funders and government decision-makers to adopt, in coordination with the indigenous and tribal peoples.

El propósito de este informe es dejar en claro la importancia y urgencia para la acción climática de proteger a los bosques de los territorios indígenas y tribales y a las comunidades que los cuidan. Con base en la experiencia reciente, se propone un conjunto de inversiones y políticas para ser adoptadas por los financiadores climáticos y decisores gubernamentales, en coordinación con los pueblos indígenas y tribales.

Indigenous and tribal peoples control about one third of Latin America and the Caribbean’s forests. Supporting their efforts to control, sustainably manage, and benefit from these forests can greatly help to solve the problems of climate change, loss of biological and cultural diversity, rural vulnerability, and food insecurity.

This crucial report demonstrates how states and other actors are using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to roll back social and environmental safeguards. In doing so, they are eroding the rights of indigenous peoples in the five most tropically forested countries of the world

Over the last several years, the Brazilian government has rolled back environmental and social protections, threatening ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and traditional communities. The dismantling of inspection and protection programmes in indigenous territories coupled with political neglect towards the formal demarcation of indigenous lands or the strengthening of public policies to safeguard traditional ways of life has led to social, physical and cultural vulnerability for indigenous peoples.

Nos últimos anos, o governo brasileiro reverteu as proteções ambientais e sociais, ameaçando ecossistemas como a floresta amazônica e a subsistência de povos indígenas e comunidades tradicionais. O desmantelamento dos programas de fiscalização e proteção em territórios indígenas, aliado ao descaso político com a demarcação formal das terras indígenas ou o fortalecimento das políticas públicas de salvaguarda dos modos de vida tradicionais, tem gerado vulnerabilidade social, física e cultural para os povos indígenas.

Nos últimos anos, o governo brasileiro reverteu as proteções ambientais e sociais, ameaçando ecossistemas como a floresta amazônica e a subsistência de povos indígenas e comunidades tradicionais. O desmantelamento dos programas de fiscalização e proteção em territórios indígenas, aliado ao descaso político com a demarcação formal das terras indígenas ou o fortalecimento das políticas públicas de salvaguarda dos modos de vida tradicionais, tem gerado vulnerabilidade social, física e cultural para os povos indígenas.

Las medidas de confinamiento adoptadas por el gobierno colombiano para contener la propagación del Covid-19, se han traducido en un detrimento de libertades y derechos fundamentales de las personas: restricciones de movilidad, toques de queda sin garantía de renta básica, cierre de mercados, inoperatividad de sistemas judiciales, precariedad del sistema de salud, abusos policiales, fortalecimiento de grupos armados e incremento de actividades ilegales.

Le présent rapport met en exergue les reculs constatés dans l’application des lois et règlementations en matière de sauvegardes et de protection des droits des communautés locales et des peuples autochtones (CLPA) en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC).

This paper highlights the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected and disenfranchised indigenous peoples and forest communities in Indonesia. The lack of adequate protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and their territories before the pandemic has been made worse by a lack of protection during the pandemic. The challenges faced by forest communities during the pandemic show that access to land and natural resources is crucial for the survival of communities whose livelihoods depend on the forest.

Los impactos económicos del COVID-19 han generado que el Estado peruano agudice aún más en la priorización de las actividades extractivas por sobre la atención y cumplimiento de los derechos de los pueblos indígenas. En ese sentido, el presente informe describe, a través de las medidas establecidas por el Estado, las políticas que se han impulsado en territorios indígenas, bajo el argumento de la reactivación económica, sin contemplar los efectos que éstas pueden tener a mediano o largo plazo sobre la vida, la salud y el cumplimiento de los derechos de los pueblos.

The articles in this Bulletin are written by the following organizations and individuals: National Coordinator for the Defense of the Mangrove Ecosystem (C-CONDEM), Ecuador; Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakya (Bentala Raya Heritage Foundation), Indonesia; Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology and members of the WRM international secretariat in close collaboration with several allies who are part of grassroots groups in different countries.