Indigenous movements participated in the First International Congress of Indigenous Conservation Territories

Published at: 17/09/2024 01:06 PM

The First International Congress of Indigenous Conservation Territories was held with more than 100 indigenous leaders from different parts of the world in the town of Curare, located in the Chilean mountain range.

Indigenous leaders from territories such as Arahuaco de Sierra Nevada in Colombia, Shuar in the Amazon in Ecuador, Wachiperi in Peru, Aymara in the Andean Highlands and representatives of different territories of the Mapuche people met to discuss common solutions to shared problems.

The Mapuche leader, Javiera Millanken, said that her people understand “although the word conservation is a Huinca word (not belonging to the Mapuche people), we understand that it requires (conservation) our wisdom because it is mutual”.

According to Telesur's Chile correspondent, Paola Dragnic, “those who are not Huincas or urban whites” and who have managed to live in harmony with the environment focus their meeting on the fact that conservation “can only take place in territories under indigenous governance”.

“Precisely spirituality, or the exercise of the right to our spirituality, is that we orient our defense mainly (...) to different threats resulting from extractive projects,” said Lautaro Melia Arias, another of the participants.

Mazo News Team