A group of Baka "Pygmies" and their neighbors in southeast Cameroon have sent an impassioned plea to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), urging the conservation giant to stop funding anti-poaching squads that are responsible for a long history of persecution against the Baka. One letter by a village elder reads, "When WWF started its work here in Ndongo we welcomed it, but … [Read more...]
Ecuador oil spill casts shadow over Amazon drilling plans
An oil spill from Ecuador's Trans-Andean pipeline last weekend has reached Amazonian tributaries and is wreaking havoc on local communities and ecosystems downstream. The 420,000-gallon spill came after a landslide wiped out a 100-meter stretch of the pipeline near the Reventador volcano on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The crude quickly made its way into rivers and … [Read more...]
Stand with the Maasai
The Tanzanian government has just announced that it plans to kick thousands of Maasai families off their lands so that wealthy tourists can use them to shoot lions and leopards. The evictions are to begin immediately. Last time Avaaz raised the alarm, the President shelved the plan. Global pressure can stop him again. Last year, when word first leaked about this plan, … [Read more...]
Help defend the brave indigenous folk of the Amazon
"We have come here to tell the government and companies that these lands are not for sale."– Jaime Vargas, President of the Achuar Nationality of Ecuador. Jaime and Narcisa traveled from the Ecuadorian Amazon to Houston recently on a mission… to challenge the Ecuadorian government face-to-face during its 11th Round oil concessions promotional roadshow at the North America … [Read more...]
Africa’s sacred natural sites under threat
Kenya and Africa are home to many Sacred Natural Sites, including forests, mountains and rivers. Local and indigenous communities have upheld their role and responsibilities, passed down over centuries by their grandparents and ancestors, as the Guardians or Custodians of these places. It is because of the communities’ deep respect towards their Sacred Natural Sites, and … [Read more...]
New York investors’ big African land grab exposed
A new report from The Oakland Institute, in collaboration with Greenpeace International, exposes how a New York-based agri-corporation, Herakles Farms, and its local subsidiary SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), are involved in a land deal that is questionable under Cameroonian Law and opposed by locals since 2010. Herakles Farms has just pulled out of the industry’s … [Read more...]
Gathering Shamans to save the land
An interview with Liliana Madrigal reveals how the Amazon Conservation Team achieved success by abandoning conventional land protection practices and following the guidance of shamans. by Cynthia Frisch, originally published in Sacred Fire Magazine I met Liliana Madrigal and her husband, Dr. Mark Plotkin, at an environmental grant makers’ conference in 2001. With my … [Read more...]
All of life is infused with spirit
Custodians of Sacred Sites from four African countries are working together to revive tribal traditions and protect their sacred sites and territories. They have released a statement of Common African Customary Laws to protect these sacred places and bring their message to an increasingly detached modern world. The following Statement of the Common African Customary Laws for … [Read more...]
The world’s scientists’ climate change observations
As the UN’s climate change conference begins in Durban, Survival calls for the ecological knowledge and insights of tribal peoples to be heeded in global decisions concerning climate change. From the Amazon to the Arctic, tribal peoples typically have the smallest ecological footprints, having practiced sustainable ways of life for thousands of years, but they are also more … [Read more...]
Uncontacted tribes at risk of huge population loss
Survival International has warned on the eve of World Health Day (April 7) that uncontacted tribes face massive population loss if their land is not protected. Tribes like the Amazon Indians shown in the incredible aerial footage released by Survival this year are likely to lose more than half their population if outsiders invade their land. Around 100 tribes worldwide … [Read more...]
