Chiapas Villagers to California Air Resources Board: “We say NO to REDD plus”

Forest carbon offset policies like REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) as they are being developed at the national, international, and subnational level, are already worsening conflicts over land tenure and threatening the stability of indigenous communities in many countries. Of perhaps greatest concern are projects that propose to draw financial ties between REDD projects in the Global South and legislation in the Global North that promotes carbon offset projects, such as California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, AB32.

In March, 2011, Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) traveled to the village of Amador Hernández, inside the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas, Mexico, to document the ways in which indigenous communities without legal land title are especially at risk from REDD policies. Our findings have been documented in the current issue of Race, Poverty and the Environment, in Z Magazine and through ongoing reporting on Climate Connections, as well as in the video, Amador Hernández: Starved of Medical Services for Redd +.

Since our visit, the villagers of Amador Hernández have grown increasingly active in raising the alarm about the impacts of REDD. In response to the California Air Resources Board’s recent deadline for public comments on California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, AB32, they submitted the following declaration.

– Jeff Conant for the GJEP Team

Español debajo

From Chiapas, Mexico: NO to REDD+ with Our Forest

Ejido Amador Hernández, Municipio de Ocosingo, Chiapas. July 26, 2011 – We are an indigenous and peasant community who lives in the heart of the region called “Selva Lacandona” (Lacandon Rainforest). We live from and with Mother Earth, struggling to exist as a culture and struggling against the historical exploitation, dispossession, discrimination and neglect to which we have been subjected for centuries.

Mist over the Lacandon Jungle in Chiapas, Mexico as seen from the community of Amador Hernández. Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

For us who live on this land, the respectful and harmonious coexistence with nature and with the other indigenous communities that inhabit the forest is critical. But the promotion of REDD plus in our state, which the government is doing without ever consulting us, is causing conflict between our peoples, because in practice it benefits some and on the other side tries to dispossess us and criminalize the lifestyle of those who truly dedicate ourselves to live and coexist with the earth and are not in favor of the mechanisms of REDD plus as a solution to climate change. By failing to consult us, our human rights are violated as well as international agreements such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We do not conceive life without our Forest, she has fed and healed us, our grandparents have lived here and we also want our children to live there. We do not want to give up the memory and the struggle of our ancestors to exist as indigenous peoples. Our road ahead is the earth and our way of life is communitarian and we want you to respect us.

Young girls in Amador Hernández Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

As rural people that we are we know that the climate is changing and that we need to do something to ensure the life of this planet which includes not only the human species, but we believe that the way of REDD is not the indicated one. We are and have always been poor indigenous people and yet we do not need the money from any government or company to preserve the environment because we understand that it is the responsibility of all who live on this planet to care for it and protect it. Putting a price on trees and forests is violating a sacred principle of respect for nature and violates the sovereignty of our country. It is to integrate our Forest into a model that has been the main cause of climate change. It is not possible to extinguish the fire with more fire, we do not want the Forest to be turned into a business of trees and biodiversity.

For the life of our mother earth and the people we say No to REDD plus.

Attentively,

Francisco Hernández Maldonado

Representative (Comisariado Ejidal) of the Community Amador Hernández

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En español:

Desde Chiapas: NO a REDD+ con Nuestra Selva

Ejido Amador Hernandez, Municipio de Ocosingo, Chiapas. 26 de Julio de 2011 –

Nosotros somos una comunidad indigena y campesina que vivimos en el corazon de la Selva Lacandona, conviviendo con la Madre Tierra, luchando por existir como cultura y contra la historica explotacion, despojo, discriminacion y olvido a la que se nos ha sometido por siglos.  Para nosotros que vivimos en estas tierras la respetuosa y armonica convivencia entre la naturaleza y las otras comunidades indigenas que habitamos la selva es fundamental, pero desde la promocion del proyecto REDD plus en nuestro Estado que hace el gobierno sin nunca consultarnos a nosotros, sentimos que esta causando conflictos entre nuestros pueblos, ya que en la practica beneficia a unos y por el otro lado intenta despojar y criminalizar la forma de vida de quienes en verdad nos dedicamos a vivir y convivir con la tierra y no estamos a favor de los mecanismos de REDD plus como solucion al cambio climatico. Al no consultarnos se violan nuestros derechos humanos y tambien los convenios internacionales como la Declaracion de Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indigenas. Nosotros no concebimos la vida sin nuestra Selva, ella ha sido quien nos ha alimentado y curado, ahi han vivido nuestros abuelos y queremos que tambien nuestros hijos, no queremos renunciar a la memoria y a la lucha de nuestros abuelos a existir como pueblos indigenas, nuestro camino es la tierra y nuestro modo el comunitario y queremos que se nos respete.

Como pueblos campesinos que somos sabemos que el clima esta cambiando y que es necesario hacer algo para garantizar la vida de este planeta que no solo incluye a la especie humana, pero creemos que el camino del REDD no es el indicado,  nosotros somos y siempre hemos sido indigenas pobres y sin embargo no necesitamos del dinero de ningun gobierno ni empresa para conservar el medio ambiente, porque entendemos que es responsabilidad de todos los que vivimos en este planeta cuidarlo y protegerlo. Ponerle precio a los arboles y a las Selvas es violar un principio respetuoso y sagrado con la naturaleza y la soberania de nuestro pais, es integrar a nuestras Selva a un modelo que ha sido el principal causante del cambio climatico, no es posible apagar el fuego con mas fuego, no queremos que se haga de la Selva un negocio de los arboles y la biodiversidad.

Por la vida de nuestra madre tierra y de los pueblos decimos No REDD plus.

Atentamente,

Francisco Hernández Maldonado 

Comisariado Ejidal de la Comunidad Amador Hernández