Indigenous Prospective on Forest and Climat Change

Yesterday (10th of December) we attended a Non-Governmental Discussion (side event) given by three spokesman for the Indigenous People all over the world. One of them was from Kenya, another one from Canada (The Mohawk Indians) and the third one was from Panama.
They each had it about their experiences in their native countries. The guide line of each of the speakers was that the rights of the Indigenous People were beeing neglected and that they were excluded of participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Afterwards there was time to ask the speakers a few questions. Some of them were relevant, others not that relevant.

Speaker One: Kenya (The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee/IPACC)
The problems that he mentioned were that the money for the REDD progamme (mentioned earlier on the blog) does not reach its destination (the Indigenous People) and that the interest of foreign countries in the forests is increasing. This last mentioned item may lead to the forced moving of the people that inhabit the forests. Especially for them who's rights are not clear, i.e. Convention 169 is not aggreed in every country around the world and this assures the rights of the Indigenous People.
But there was also a positive side on this story, with the REDD programme the "Department of Forestry" is excluded in the Payment for Ecological Services (PES) and this will aswell lower the corruption payment as it is a step in the right way to make sure the money ends up at its intended destination. http://www.ipacc.org.ze

Speaker Two: Canada (Mohawk Indians)
There were three major impacts on the Indigenous People mentioned: Actions which are hurting the rights and properties of the Indigenous People, Impacts that are actually caused by Global Climate Change and The so called "solutions" that were made to face the former mentioned impacts but which are in his eyes far to technical and made without respect for the Indigenous People.
The main problem about REDD is that there will be no support for Indigenous People if their rights are not accepted by not only the local government but also by the "internation government".
He also explained that he sees risks in the making of a carbon credit market, thus shifting the responsibility from developed countries (polluters) to the developing countries.

Speaker three: Panama (Spokesman for the Indigenous People of Panama)
Basically the global climate protocols, such ass the Kyoto Protocol, do not adress the Indigenous People at all. These are all mentioning the areas where they live, but were all made without consulting them.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People declaration is not within the convention, it is just a declaration. The major problem with this is that it is just a declaration, thus not binding and not obligatory. So in fact the UNFCCC is a inter-governmental proces wich decides over the resources and therefore the lives of the Indigenous People.


Steffen Eberle and Mathias Wackenier

Finally in Copenhagen

So, after a roadtrip of more than 10 hours we are finally arrived at our hostel in Copenhagen. Only one car is here already (we came with four), the other cars probably got stuck in the traffic jam at Hamburg due to road works.
Our hostel itself is in Køge, a nice city at the coastline of Danmark.
Tomorrow we will be attending the Global Climate Change summit. Afterwards I will be posting some pictures up on the blog and a some interviews.

Good night and cheers,
Mathias Wackenier

Document on REDD

REDD is a program founded by the United Nations –in collaboration of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)- for the Global Climate Change summit in Copenhagen December 2009. With this program, the UN is combating one of the major problems of Global Climate Change. “Deforestation and forest degradation contribute up to 17% of human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, more than the entire transport sector. “ (IUCN magazine, October 2009)

Due to deforestation and forest degradation, billion tons of carbon are lost. Not only carbon is lost, also a wide range of species and ecosystems are lost or threatened by this. This is where the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) comes in place.

“Its does not need rocket science, it is not a substitute for our obligation to reduce emissions, it is about turning existing knowledge into urgent action. And that is what is needed.” “Biodiversity can do for the planet what a healthy immune system can do for a person: it can help us be more productive and adaptable to change but, if not properly nourished, can make us more vulnerable.” These are two quotes made by the founder and chairman of the Development Alternatives Group based in India, Ashok Khosla (IUCN magazine, October 2009).

Although this programme is primarily supported by western countries, the largest areas where deforestation and forest degradation are taking place is in the developing countries and tropical countries. This is primarily because western companies are logging there, and because there are almost no forests left in the western countries.

REDD does not only focus on deforestation and forest degradation, it is also applicable on other ecological services, such as watershed protection, carbon storage, etc…

With the Copenhagen Climate Summit right in front of us, IUCN went to have an interview with people from developing countries to know what their foresights are. “We expect countries that are the largest carbon emitters to take responsibility for their insatiable demand for industrial growth and the detrimental impact their emissions have on the rest of the world. They must act as responsible world citizens, compensate those who have been affected, and help those who have to adapt to the changing climate caused by their gluttony.” This is just a small part of the interview of Frederick W. Pitcher, Environment Minister for the Republic of Nauru.

What is mentioned in the interview above, is that REDD opens doors for other programmes, such as Payment for Ecological Services (PES). Where developing countries which still have large amounts of forests get paid for the storage of carbon when they do not cut down the forest.

Although REDD’s primary approach is of ecological concern, there is also a human concern attached to it. The so called pro-poor REDD, the whole explanation of this concept can be brought back in to one strong quote. “ In particular, a human rights approach helps to highlight the deep injustice of a situation whereby the poor, vulnerable and powerless in some parts of the world pay unacceptable costs for the pursuit of wealth in more privileged parts.” This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Maldives, H.E. Dr. Ahmed Shaheed. (IUCN magazine, October 2009)

To round up, a final quote “If REDD builds on the lessons learned in sustainable forest management over the past 30 years, it will not only help to reduce carbon emissions, but also enhance biodiversity conservation and the well-being of forest-dependent communities.” (IUCN magazine, October 2009).

According to “The Little REDD Book” December 2008 by the Global Canopy Programme. Showing what types of REDD exist and on which level the countries are contributing.

Sources

http://www.amazonconservation.org/pdf/redd_the_little_redd_book_dec_08.pdf, The Little REDD Book, December 2008, Global Canopy Programme

http://www.undp.org/mdtf/un-redd/overview.shtml, United Nations Development Programme, 24^th November 2009

International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Conservation issue of October 2009

Introduction

Hello,

This is just a small introduction on the purpose of this blog.
A few months ago we, the student of Tropical Forestry at the Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Science, were offered by the Global Forest Coalition (http://www.globalforestcoalition.org) to attend, as representatives of GFC, the Global Climate Change summit in Copenhagen (COP15) from 9december till 12december.
This is where they will accept, or at least try to accept, a new policy programme on how to stop Global Climate Change.
One of the possible solutions could be REDD(+), Reducing Emission from Deforestation and forest Degradation (and forest Enhancement is what the plus stands for). Deforestation and forest Degradation plays a larger part in carbon emission, their share in it is far larger than the share of the global transportation sector.
In Copenhagen the representatives, of the countries that are attending the summit, will also be discussing groundbreaking methods of alternative energy resources, such as: Wind power, Hydro energy, Solar energy, etc...

So, this is it for now. I will be keeping this blog up to date with a little help from Steffen Eberle. He is a German student that is in the fourth year of Tropical Forestry at Van Hall Larenstein. He will be joining us in Copenhagen and be conducting interviews with the indigenous people that will be there at the COP15 climate summit.

P.S.: For those who are interested in the REDD(+) programme I will be putting up a self-written document on that topic one of these days.