International workshop to address capacity building for rainforest leaders

"We want to reach a much clearer picture about the new issues that have come up after the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change and agree on consensual points for our action", explains Chairman Manoel Silva da Cunha, the president of the National Rubber Tappers Council (CNS). According to Cunha, the environmental services that forest people provide to the planet have taken on an essential role in climate-related discussions. Cunha advocates the inclusion of non-deforesting populations in the sharing of benefits deriving from carbon funds or credits.

Way beyond deforestation

Starting from the outcomes of the Bali Conference – and the drafting of the Course Map – the participation of traditional peoples in the debate on climate change reached international dimensions. The proposals to be discussed by forest leaders during the Manaus event include mechanisms associated to the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). These mechanisms will allow developing countries to be financially compensated for reducing deforestation or for conserving forests within their territories.

"We are aware of our role in the overall climate change context and we will exert our right to decide over the future of rain forests", highlighted Alberto Cantanhede Lopes, the president of GTA, an entity that represents 630 institutions throughout the Brazilian Amazon, a region in which 25% of all forests are under the guardianship of traditional and indigenous communities.

The rights of these peoples and their way of participating in the drafting of international policies and in fighting climate change will be some of the topics on the agenda of the Manaus meeting. "Countries must commit themselves to respecting the rights of traditional populations through internationally acknowledged conventions, treaties and declarations", says Jecinaldo Satere, the indigenous president of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB). The meeting is being organized by the Climate Change Program of the Institute for Environmental Research of the Amazon (IPAM), with support from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the British Embassy.

The complete program is available at www.climaedesmatamento.org.br