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Direct Action

Rising Up – As people all over the world rise up and demand action: remember those on the front line.

A series of short films specially curated around the theme of direct action and its consequences for indigenous activists.

"They've got blood on them" - Alessandra Munduruku - Munduruku People

Alessandra Munduruku speaks about the challenges her people and the indigenous peoples of Brazil are facing.

Elements of Life for Timor People

Mutis Mountain, an area of rich biodiversity the headwaters for all of West Timor’s major rivers, which supply drinking and irrigation water for much of the people on the island. The indigenous Mollo people’s survival is inextricably linked to these natural resources, which are considered sacred. By organizing hundreds of local villagers to peacefully occupy […]

Beyond the Pipeline

UN Special Rapporteur of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples meets the Standing Rock Sioux leadership and community in March 2017 after months of protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. On the 10th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the campaign has come to represent the struggle of indigenous peoples the world […]

The Warden of The Jargarian Forest

Jargarian land is a local name for Aru Archipelago. Indeed, not many know the territory that became part of the Maluku. Aru consist of 187 islands large and small settled indigenous peoples living in these islands maintaining the integrity of the Aru Islands indigenous communities until now. In 2012, there was a sudden survey and […]

"We are here to defend the environment" - Jurandie Siridiwe Xavante - Xavante people

Even before Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil’s Presidential race in November 2018, many environmentalists were on high alert. Brazil’s precious rainforests live under constant threats of deforestation and economic exploitation.

Save Seko

Despite their customary land being recognised by the Indonesian Government in 2012, the Seko community have been defending their land against large-scale energy development for the last 3 years. In 2016, 14 community leaders were criminalized, including 1 woman. They were sentenced for at least 7 months. They oppose a large scale hydro-electric power plant, […]

Decolonize the media - indigenous filmmakers

Hear from Kamikia Kisedje, young indigenous filmmaker from Brazil.

On the tour two young indigenous filmmakers will be producing content during the trip and improving their skills and sharing their stories.

Guardians of the forest: Brazil

Directed by Benjamin Ross & Brittany Neff, a CoReality & Scenic production. The Amazon is burning. Decades of environmental protections have been undone and ecological devastation has accelerated to an unimaginable pace and scale. The Guardians of the Forest, a volunteer monitoring force of the Guajajara tribe, are the last line of defense for the […]

Worth Dying For?

Berta Cáceres, Honduras’ most well-known land and environmental campaigner, and winner of the International Goldman Prize for the Environment, was brutally murdered in her home over a year ago. More people in Honduras are killed per capita than anywhere else in the world for defending the land and over 80% of cases go unsolved. “Worth […]

Earth Day Women's March - New York 2016

When the Paris Agreement is being signed in the UN, Women, including indigenous leaders from Guatemala and Indonesia spoke about the need for their role to be recognised in the fight for climate change and climate justice. Organised by the Women's Global Call for Climate Justice.

Indigenous Leaders March

After gathering at Ford for a panel briefing on April 21st, Indigenous leaders marched toward the UN building to bring awareness to the many lives taken by miners and loggers who have been killing people in their communities to take away their land. One day before the signing of the ‪#‎Parisagreement‬, implementation plans by UN nations continue to neglect the rights of indigenous communities who have been protecting our forests and mitigating climate change for centuries.

Indigenous peoples: We are the best guardians of the forest

Indigenous peoples represent 4% of the global population yet they protect more than 80% of the world’s biodiversity [source: World Bank].

They are the best Guardians of the forest, for example there is deforestation is 2 to 3 times lower in the Amazon rainforest where indigenous peoples have rights.

Indigenous people’s protection of the world’s forests is vital to combat climate change.

Land Rights Now Earth Day Mobilisation

From 22-29 April 2017, we invite you to join a chorus of thousands of citizens and organizations all over the world making a thunderous noise for Land Rights Now to end climate change and build a fairer future! Find out more at www.landrightsnow.org

Luiz Eloy Terena - APIB no Parlamento Europeu

"Nos entendemos que o direito dos povos indígenas são originarios, não deve ser negociados e deve ser mantidos. Isto foi o espírito da Constitução de 88"Luiz Eloy Terena, Assessor Jurídico da Articulação dos Povos Indígenas no Parlamento Europeu - BruxelasOs Guardiões da Floresta, lideranças indígenas da Amazônia Legal, Brasil, Mesoamérica e Indonésia, estão circulando por toda Europa para expor ao mundo a situação dos povos indígenas de suas regiões.

On Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast, conflict over indigenous land turns violent

After decades of peaceful co-existence, the relations between Nicaragua's largest indigenous group and non-indigenous settlers are souring.The Miskito, the largest indigenous group on the Caribbean coast, with a population of up to 300,000, blame the attacks on "settlers" coming from other parts of the country and occupying their ancestral territories.       The worst of this conflict has unfolded far from the single, unpaved road that connects the region to the rest of Nicaragua. Dominated by pine forests, this sparsely populated, remote coastal plain has become the most violently contested territory in the country.Read the full story:http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=6b946d71-0ca4-4f9b-ab92-ccf5ed90b3c0

Our Village - Climate action by the people - #Guardiansoftheforest 2018

Our Village is a convening, cultural hub, and immersive experience, bringing indigenous peoples, communities of color, and grassroots voices to the forefront of the climate action.

OUR VILLAGE aims to explore innovative solutions to the demands of indigenous peoples and communities of color to support locally driven action on climate change, injustice, and inequality. All around the world local communities are responding to climate change with powerful resilience, innovative action, and a spirit that can profoundly impact our world.

Pygmy Peoples of the DRC: A Rising Movement - teaser

Pygmy peoples movement grows in solidarity - in Français, Español and English.

Watch the full film now: https://ifnotusthenwho.me/films/fight-recognition-drc/

Quilombo land title struggle in Brazil

Brazil’s African slave descendants, the Quilombola, have fought a long and hard struggle for recognition. After the abolition of the slave trade they were left abandoned and ostracised, devoid of rights and outside of Brazilian mainstream society. But things are slowly changing amongst rural communities. In the 1988 constitution Brazil’s Quilombola were granted access to land rights and since then they have been actively building a way to secure land titles on the sites where many have lived for generations. Community mapping is an important tool in this process, as is increasing awareness amongst the Brazilian population through education and ecotourism. ‘Freedom’ looks at two Quilombola communities, one with no land title and one benefitting from legal recognition, and examines the disparities between them.

Sinangoe: Defending A’i Kofan Ancestral Territory

The Kofan community of Sinangoe is situated in the pristine, and highly biodiverse headwaters of the Aguarico River in Ecuador, an important tributary of the Amazon River. The community has organized a land patrol, and are using mapping technology, camera traps, drones and legal strategies to defend their ancestral territory from a gold-mining boom that […]

Voices of Amerikua: Moretecocha, Ecuador

The community of Morete Cocha is located in the region of Pastaza Province in the Amazon region of Ecuador. Like many other communities Morete Cocha is under threat by interest of oil companies seeking to exploit crude in the communities land.  This is the story of community’s search for environmental and cultural preservation. The phrase […]

Kofan, the people

Emergildo Criollo (Kofan nation) was just a child when the oil company Texaco arrived by helicopter in his peoples’ ancestral territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The ensuing decades of oil extraction and deliberate contamination dramatically altered the landscape of the region, impacting the Kofan people’s culture and resulting in a public health crisis. Emergildo fought […]

Niyamgiri - The Mountain of Law

The Dongria Kondh are an indigenous community residing in the sacred Niyamgiri hills and forests (Odisha, India). For nearly two decades the community has been campaigning and fighting legal battles to save their sacred land from bauxite mining. More than seventy million tonne of bauxite lies beneath the ancient sacred groves of Niyamgiri that a […]

BRAZIL Indigenous leaders denounce new government measures

Brazilian indigenous leaders protest measures of the new government to dismantle the National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI) and hand it over to religious fundamentalists.

"We are against the National Indian Foundation moving to the Ministry of Family, Human Rights and Women. This means more genocide of indigenous peoples through evangelical conservatism. We ask all the people who do not agree to this practice to be in solidarity with our fight."

Indigenous leaders take their message to London - Candido Mezúa, Embera leader, Panamá

Vlog from young indigenous filmmaker Ivan Jaripio on the road to Bonn.More about Ivan: https://ifnotusthenwho.me/es/who/ivan-jaripio/More about Candido: https://ifnotusthenwho.me/es/who/candido-mezur-salazar-2/

#GuardiansoftheForest in California - If not now then when?

In September 2018 indigenous and local community leaders from Latin America and Indonesia, the Guardians of the Forest, travelled to California with a mission to protect their forests and their peoples. From deep knowledge sharing with the Yurok nation, they brought their voices to the Global Climate Action Summit to ensure that their five demands […]

Samin vs Semen

Gunretno and Gunarti are small-traditional farmers from Kendeng mountain in central Java. They are part of Sedulur Sikep community, the indigenous peoples who still maintain their traditional believes system. Their ancestor is Samin Soerosentiko (Saminism) who lead an anti-colonial movement on late 19th century against the Dutch. Now they have to struggle against the expansion […]

UCHUNYA: Where Will We Live?

In the territory of the Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon, the indigenous community of Santa Clara de Uchunya are facing the devastation of their ancestral forests and rivers. This is due to the aggressive expansion of a palm oil plantation operated by Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C., a member of a group of companies controlled […]