Bogotá, 17 August 2024 – The Joint Agreement of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin for the Care of Life is the result of three days of dialogue between representatives of the nine Amazonian countries to set their position for the COP16 on biodiversity, to be held in Colombia from 21 October to 1 November.
In addition to this agreement, within the framework of the meeting the ‘Pact between indigenous peoples and the Colombian government for the conservation of biodiversity in the Colombian Amazon’ was also signed during the meeting, which aims to contribute in a coordinated manner to the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The pact signed by the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad, and the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, who are responsible for nearly 27 million hectares of indigenous territories, seeks to strengthen their presence in international forums such as COP16, defend their rights and recognise their valuable contributions to the protection of biodiversity and the fight against climate change.
This agreement will strengthen the participation of indigenous peoples in international events, the defence of their rights and the recognition of their actions for the conservation of biodiversity.
‘We hope this has been a very fruitful meeting for the national organisations of the nine countries that make up the Amazon, the biome where the reality of biodiversity converges, but also the future of climate change. We really believe that strengthening indigenous peoples‘ knowledge systems, governance, territorialities and advocacy capacity has an impact on greater ecological integrity for life,’ said Minister Susana Muhamad.
The pact was signed during the International Meeting of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin, which took place in Bogotá from 14 to 16 August as a prelude to COP16.
The president of Opiac, Oswaldo Muca, said that ‘this government will go down in history as having been able to do something and we are convinced that we will not only be able to make indigenous peoples visible, but also, through the minister, we can say that indigenous peoples are important for saving biodiversity, not only in this country but for the world’.
The meeting was led by the National Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (Opiac) and was attended by the indigenous organisations CONFENIAE, COIAB, APA, AIDESEP, OIS, CIDOB, FOAG, ORPIA, the nine countries of the Amazon Basin (Ecuador, Brazil, Guyana, French Guyana, Suriname, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia), indigenous delegates from the six departments of the Colombian Amazon and special guests.
During these three days, the representatives held an autonomous space to build a joint agenda towards COP16. They also presented challenges in their territories and explored common priorities to build a single voice and continue contributing to the initiative of making Peace with Nature actions.
Details of the Pact in the run-up to COP16
This agreement aims to contribute in a coordinated manner to the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Among the most relevant agreements are the following:
- Minambiente and Amazonian indigenous peoples will work together to promote and defend decisions and actions that facilitate the direct mobilisation of resources for indigenous peoples during the COP16 negotiations.
- Within the framework of the National Biodiversity Plan,the National Government is committed to progressively recognise, by 2030, the indigenous territories of the Colombian Amazon as indigenous conservation areas, thus guaranteeing biocultural connectivity, in compliance with Targets 1 and 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- By 2030 the Government of Colombia will use OPIAC's Amazon Indigenous Peoples Integral Information System as one of its sources of information.
- The Colombian Government and the Amazon Regional Roundtable will conduct continuous monitoring and evaluation, and agree on periodic improvement actions for the implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan.
- Minambiente, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will promote international agreements for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, in collaboration with the competent entities and in accordance with current regulations and in close coordination with the Amazonian indigenous peoples.