FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 14, 2022

Tiohtià:ke | Montreal, CANADA - Indigenous land defenders from Turtle Island (North America) and Abya Yala (Latin America) have come together at CBD COP15 to affirm ‘land back’ as a solution to the climate crisis and widespread biodiversity loss.

“As Mapuche Indigenous people, territorial control, or Land Back as it's known in English, is fundamental to the reconstruction of our Nation and the ngen—the spiritual beings that help bring balance to our Ñuke Mapu - Mother Earth,” shares Yaroslava Montenegro. “This act of sovereignty has been increasingly criminalized, with Wallmapu - Mapuche Territory -  under a State of Emergency for almost a calendar year and Mapuche Land Defenders carrying out harsh sentences for land defense. We must stand together in solidarity with the Mapuche Political Prisoners currently on hunger strike and for the right for our communities to reconstruct our nations in autonomy.”

From pipelines and chemical valleys to forestry plantations, Indigenous communities are facing the tremendous loss of land and resources to the extractive policies of governments and capitalist interests all around the world. Whether claiming to be progressive or otherwise, UN Member states who are gathering at COP15 are the very ones responsible for the land dispossession of Indigenous Peoples.  “Our very existence as Indigenous people depends on the rich biodiversity of our homeland”, says Sleydo’ Molly Wickham.

Vaness Gray adds, “Our Indigenous traditions and teachings are directly rooted in the land. Our rights as Indigenous people protect the health of our environment for all future generations. When our communities face industrial violence, not only is our health impacted but our ability to practice our culture and ceremony is impacted. Indigenous people stand together across colonial borders to fight the same extractive infrastructures and companies, we speak our own languages and uphold our responsibilities in solidarity with each other.”

As state representatives come together for COP15, Indigenous communities continue to push back against these very entities that threaten our relationship to the land and all its living beings. Indigenous Climate Action’s (ICA) newly released summary report: Indigenous-led Climate Policy highlights the need for more Indigenous-led solutions with the rights and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples as the solution to the climate crisis and widespread biodiversity loss, “Returning to Indigenous sovereignties is the solution to achieving balance with the natural world. We must remember that as Indigenous Peoples and Nations our sovereignties are interconnected with the sovereignty of the lands and waters.” 

To Indigenous peoples biodiversity means land back. It means upholding the rights of Indigenous peoples and freeing the land from the grips of extractive economies that put a price tag on our lands and water.

Ellen Gabriel shares, “Indigenous peoples rights to self-determination must be respected in order to get the global community to realize this is about more than just economics.  It is about creating a legacy of hope for the face not yet born, for the youth and children of this beautiful Mother Earth.  Money will not save the biodiversity of our planet.  A mind change that understands the interrelatedness, the interdependence and connection to all of life, and that we are part of biodiversity, not separate from it.” 

ICA’s report also notes Indigenous peoples and nations must  “stand in solidarity on our own terms, rooted in our own sovereignties and relationships, in order to create a political context where Land Back is not only possible, but inevitable.”

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More Info on Event and Report:

Press briefing will be streamed from CBD COP15  at 2:00 PM [EST], Wednesday, December 14, 2022 

Read the original media advisory: Biodiversity can only exist with Land Back.

Read ICA’s new summary report: Indigenous-led Climate Policy: Phase 2 Decolonizing Climate Policy.

Media Contacts:

Rosalyn Boucha, Indigenous Climate Action
rosalyn@indigenousclimateaction.com | +1 204 223 2927

Ada Recinos, Amazon Watch
ada@amazonwatch.org | +1 510 680 9701

Fernanda Botolotto, Indigenous Peoples Articulation of Brazil
comunicacao@apiboficial.org | anmiga.org@gmail.com | +55 61 9998 4476

Jennifer Wickham, Gidimt’en Checkpoint Media Coordinator
yintahaccess@gmail.com | +1 778 210 0067