The Guardians of the Forest are indigenous and community leaders from Latin America, Indonesia and Africa, on a journey through Europe to deliver their urgent message to the COP23 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn
Indigenous people’s protection of the world’s forests is vital to combat climate change, yet forest defenders are being murdered and criminalised as they fight increasing threats to their lives, rights and forests.
Support the Guardians of the Forest when they arrive in Cologne, Brussels, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin for debates, demonstrations, film screenings, storytelling and music.
Register for our London events here.
Follow their route to #COP23 at guardiansoftheforest.me
To play their vital role in the achievement of the goals set in the Paris Agreement, the Guardians of the Forest are calling for:
- An end to the violence, criminalization and murder of forest guardians
- Recognition and enforcement of legitimate territorial rights
- Direct access to climate finance
- Full respect of the right to free, prior and informed consent
- Evaluation and incorporation of indigenous knowledge in climate change strategies
The Guardians of the Forests are representatives and leaders from indigenous and local communities from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brasil, Congo and Indonesia:
- Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago of Indonesia (AMAN)
- Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA)
- National Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB)
- Mesoamerican Alliance of People’s and Forests (AMPB)
The Guardians of the Forest’s partner organisations are the Ford Foundation, Global Witness and the Guardian.
If Not Us Then Who?