Fixing The Future
A series of short films from If Not Us Then Who? originally curated for Atlas of The Future event last year, these stories explore the reality for indigenous peoples and local communities as well as the solutions that lie with the very same peoples.
Curated around the theme; we first explore the problems indigenous peoples often face; violation of land rights and often human rights with powerful personal testimonies from Tikuna, Yaguas and Cocamas peoples of Colombia and Quechua, Achuar, and Kichwa peoples of Peru. But they are not victims; being on the front line, indigenous peoples and local communities offer many solutions. We hear inspiring stories of solutions from Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil. Much of what we can learn from indigenous peoples lies in their ancestral knowledge, we learn from the Harakmbut peoples of Peru before the Embera people of Panama explore the link between erosion of culture and forests and ultimately identity.
Having lived for millennia in the forests of the ‘Amazonian Trapezoid’, today the Amacayacu National Park, indigenous communities there are now treated as an obstacle to conservation. Their rights have been systematically violated since the National Park was created in 1975. In April 2015 the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism signed an agreement to […]
Update: April 2021 The Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines announced on April 20, 2021 that they would accept a complaint against Pluspetrol, a multinational oil firm headquartered in an Amsterdam mailbox. The decision gives Indigenous communities in the oil fields of the Peruvian Amazon a path for seeking remediation from Pluspetrol […]
Even a well-managed, recognised forest faces constant challenges but innovative drone GPS technology, cooperative campaigning, local government support and eco-tourism are helping the Setulang people thrive. They have shown that community rights, the environment and development go hand in hand. Setulang boasts clean water, sustainable fishing and hunting, building materials, fruit and traditional medicine, a […]
Ramón López and other locals from Cruz de Ocote ejido, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico, take care, cultivate and manage its forests under the scheme known as Community Forestry Management. It ensures economic benefits for local families as well as biodiversity conservation. However, they struggle daily against illegal logging and require the support […]
Wildfires are increasing in their frequency and ferocity worldwide – they consume forests and destroy lives. Is there a more effective way to fight them? Fighting fire with fire Traditional fire management practices hold many answers. Controlled fires, which were widely banned by colonialist authorities, had long been used by indigenous peoples to maintain their […]
Indigenous Harakmbut leaders lead journey to rediscover ancient sacred site to connect with their cultural past and protect their future.
Reclaiming and strengthening indigenous culture is vital to maintaining ancestral connections to nature. This must be passed onto future generations by celebrating indigenous traditions. Embera youth are spearheading a cultural revival, after decades of assimilation, through traditional body painting and storytelling. Meanwhile sustainable community forestry initiatives are creating low impact income for communities that rely […]