Indigenous activists mourn their dead

Protesters in solidarity with the widows of the late Saweto activists

Indigenous activists are being slaughtered in Peru.

On Friday, 4 of the widows of Indigenous activists killed in Peru this year came to COP20. They were joined by members non-governmental organisations who stood in solidarity behind a banner reading, ‘WE ARE ALL SAWETO’.

In September 2014, 4 indigenous activists seeking to protect their homes from illegal logging were killed in Saweto, an indigenous community of Ashaninka that has an untitled territory of around 300 square miles (80,000 hectors). For years, they have been trying desperately to protect and preserve the area from illegal loggers in an area with minimal government presence.

The irony
According to the NGO Global Witness, Peru is the fourth most dangerous country for environmental defenders, and 57 environmental activists have been killed since 2002, predominantly by illegal loggers. This is a critical issue for the country. According to World Bank, 80% of Peruvian timber exports in 2012 were illegally acquired. But of importance to note is that Peru and Norway signed a $300 Million at the UN Climate Change summit in September to reduce net deforestation to zero by 2021!

The Kenyan story

The whole protest made me reflect on my home in Kenya. Only a couple of years ago, forests were being degraded at an alarming rate. This is when the late Nobel laurette, Wangari Maathai, had to fight back to ensure the beauty of the nation. . Wangari Maathai was an environmental activist who lived most of her life championing for and protecting Kenyan forests against illegal logging.

The late Prof. Wangari Maathai

She was the first female African Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and catalyzed efforts to promote environmental justice. Her environmental activism exposed her to harsh treatments in the hands of the police and at some point, she was roughed up and part of her hair pulled off. Nonetheless, she soldiered on and fought for restoration of Mau forest, one of the biggest water towers in East and Central Africa. Based on her legacy, Kenya’s new Constitution commits to achieving “10 per cent tree cover, as well as protecting and enhancing intellectual property in, and indigenous knowledge of, biodiversity and the genetic resources of the communities”.

The COP20 and REDD+
In Warsaw, parties delivered a set of decisions that would lead to a significant impact in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. The Warsaw Framework for REDD+ was developed. Early in the COP20 negotiations, Panama called on parties to anchor this framework into the 2015 agreement. Parties committed to supporting actions on forests and land sector especially in the preparation of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs). Bolivia put forward a proposal on joint mitigation and adaptation approach for sustainable management of forests to look at the mechanism and modalities of REDD+. The US on the other hand felt that REDD+ includes a wide variety of approaches that range from degradation, enhancement, sustainable forest management, etc. and that there is a lot of flexibility to recognize national circumstances hence no need for additional mechanisms. However, the US was of the opinion that there is need to recognize the importance of supporting all activities, phases and strategies.
According to Brazil, there are differences between REDD+ and alternative policy approaches and therefore emphasis needed to be placed on alternative policy approaches. Most of the parties agreed that it was not conducive to agree on national guidance since national circumstances and policies will affect these decisions. However, the EU felt that there was no need to spend time discussing national approaches but rather should move towards implementation of REDD+.

REDD+ is one of the leading options for mitigating climate change. Parties’ commitment to supporting actions on forests and the land sector can greatly steer the wheel towards emissions reductions. According to Josefina Brana-Varela, Director of Policy for WWF’s international Forest and Climate Programme, “Lima is an opportunity for Parties to demonstrate political will in the lead up to next year’s goal to agree on a substantial global climate agreement. Forests can play an invaluable role in fighting climate change, but not without a REDD+ mechanism in place that promotes their conservation and sustainable management while providing valuable benefits to the people that depend on them.”

With proper mechanisms in place agreed upon at the COP20, REDD+ programme can go a long way in preventing situations like the ‘Saweto Masacre’ and the late Wangari Maathai woes from recurring in other parts of the continent. According to a UN report, “REDD+ can be a mechanism for achieving sustainable development outcomes that benefit tropical forests and their populations while simultaneously delivering climate change mitigation benefits. For indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities concerned with securing rights and enhancing sustainable livelihoods, REDD+ may offer both a promising new policy environment and access to resources that enable those rights and livelihoods to be realized.”

Well, hopefully the COP20 will be the last of the last of the COPs to experience such a protest. The agreed solution will be a stepping stone towards the achievement of this dream.