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On 26 July 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee passed a decision inscribing the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex (KKFC) in Thailand on the World Heritage List, ignoring repeated pleas of Indigenous peoples, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and the UN human rights system to defer listing. IWGIA strongly objects both to the decision to inscribe the KKFC and the way this decision has come about.
BY CONRADO OCTAVIO FOR DEBATES INDÍGENAS.
The Brazilian Amazon has the largest number of peoples living in isolation and initial contact in the world. Their livelihoods and territories are under pressure, threatened by forest depredation, mining, agribusiness, infrastructure projects and extremist missionaries. The situation has deteriorated under the government of Jair Bolsonaro and with the arrival of the pandemic. The mobilization of Indigenous and civil society organizations is essential to resist setbacks in the protection of these peoples.
BY MIGUEL LOVERA AND LEONARDO TAMBURINI
Close to 150 members of the Ayoreo people in voluntary isolation survive in the Chaco region in the border between Bolivia and Paraguay. Among the signs that evidence their presence are the wholes and marks on trees; tools and huts found; footprints near bodies of water; and abandoned objects. Today, they are threatened by deforestation, the construction of roads, megafires, and the advance of the farm and cattle ranching frontier. Both countries should take measures to guarantee the protection of these peoples’ territories as well as their survival.
BY LUIS JESÚS BELLO
The Jödi, the Yanomami and the Uwottüja living in voluntary isolation are threatened by the invasions that result from extractive activities and by the presence of illegal groups in the area: to the environmental impact we should add the sociocultural and sanitary ramifications. The isolated groups are aware that foreign agents are potential disease carriers, which represents a motivation to remain isolated. The Covid-19 pandemic worsens this situation due to the high epidemiological and immunological vulnerability.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights. Read more.
IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for indigenous peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.
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