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At the Amazon Summit, SDSN Amazonia and Other Organizations Representing Civil Society Deliver a Letter to the Presidents of the Pan-Amazonian Region

By FAS and SDSN Amazonia

Civil society organizations from six Pan-Amazonian countries address priorities and demands to the bloc's national governments in an open letter presented and delivered during the Amazon Summit.

A letter sharing socio-environmental recommendations and solutions for the Amazon was presented to the heads of state of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) member countries at the Amazon Summit, held August 8-9 in Belém, Brazil. The document was written collectively by a group of organizations representing civil societies from the six member countries. It resulted from a cycle of online and face-to-face dialogues discussing putting future projects for the region on the agenda.

The initiative was led by six of the largest socio-environmental organizations in the Brazilian Amazon: National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS), Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), National Coordination of Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (CONAQ), Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS), Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development (FBOMS) and the Amazon Working Group (GTA). At the Pan-Amazonian level, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network in the Amazon (SDSN Amazônia) organized preparatory events with representatives from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

“For the construction of the letter, we discussed alongside indigenous peoples, traditional communities, quilombolas and extractivists, the main points– not only of the challenges and difficulties, but the solutions for a prosperous and lively Amazon”, points out Victor Salviati, Superintendent of Innovation and Sustainable Development at FAS.

The Letter to the Presidents of the Pan-Amazon is reprinted below, in full.

Contributions of Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, Civil Society, Faith Communities, and Networks for a united, prosperous, just, inclusive, and sustainable Pan-Amazon.

After eight participatory and inclusive dialogues, social and collective organizations from the Amazon countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela defined common priorities for a united, prosperous, fair, inclusive, and sustainable Pan-Amazon.

Considering that the Pan-Amazon as a whole is a single, integral, and interdependent system, it is important to combat the global impacts of climate change, as a carbon store and sink, as a producer of water and rain, as a guarantee of food security and health, for the biodiversity and services that its ecosystems shelter;

Considering the role of indigenous peoples, traditional and quilombola communities, producer associations, Pan-Amazon collectives, and networks, in the protection and management of natural resources that generate environmental, economic, and social benefits at a global level;

Considering the need to strengthen the autonomy of women, young people, the LGBTQIA+ population, and other vulnerable groups in the decision-making process and active listening in the elaboration and construction of projects and public policies;

Considering that our organizations have demonstrated a vocation for dialogue, high capacity for articulation and agreement in the search for common solutions, and emphasizing what makes us stronger, such as natural and cultural diversity, and how governance must be integral to a purpose and a shared hope;

Considering the Summit of Heads of State of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Guyana, and Venezuela as an opportunity to strengthen the ties of collaboration between our organizations and governments, we request:

  1. Strengthen Pan-Amazonian Governance: Create, within the structure of ACTO, a Consultative Council that allows the effective social participation of indigenous peoples, traditional communities and quilombolas, networks, and civil society.
  2. Protect Defenders of the Environment: Demand that Pan-Amazonian governments implement individual and collective protection, whether it be material and/or immaterial, based on public policies constructed in a participatory manner, with sufficient budgets and binding spaces at the national and regional level. We urge countries that have not yet ratified the Escazú Agreement to do so as soon as possible.
  3. Guarantee the legal security of territories: Ensure the intangibility of the territorial reserves of isolated indigenous peoples; guarantee the titling of the territories of indigenous peoples, traditional communities and quilombolas; the effective management of protected natural and conserved areas, and jointly rejecting legislative proposals that threaten their integrity, as well as frontally combating the advance of illegal economies.
  4. Ensure prior, free and informed consultation: Ensure prior, free, and informed consultation in the preparation and implementation of climate change development, adaptation, and mitigation plans, as well as in financial mechanisms, including carbon offset projects. Just like how the Convention 169 regulation regarding mandatory implementation in countries has not yet been met.
  5. Promote the Amazonian bioeconomy: Ensure that bioeconomy proposals do not reproduce conventional agribusiness models or mercantile economy. The Amazonian bioeconomy must be based on life and social well-being, in a circular and integral way, in which value chains are developed prioritizing equity, inclusion, training, innovation, research, fair markets and traceability.
  6. Invest in the economic and energy transition: Create a regional program with ambitious goals for the transition to a fair and inclusive, low-carbon economy, with the mandatory effective participation of indigenous peoples, traditional communities and quilombolas, organized civil society and subnational governments.
  7. Invest in sustainable Amazonian connectivity: Prioritize the accessibility to connect communities to the Internet, communications and sustainable transport, as a basic means for education, health, a way to access internal markets, within and between our countries, as well as internationally.
  8. Ensure integral health and education: Ensure a differentiated health system (physical and emotional) and education for indigenous peoples, quilombolas and traditional communities, considering the needs and specificities of care in their territories and in the urban context.
  9. Avoiding the “Point of No Return”: Ensure at least 80% effective territorial protection to avoid the “point of no return”. As a fundamental mechanism, comprehensive management of the territory must be ensured within indigenous lands, traditional and quilombola communities, protected natural areas and other effective conservation measures, and cities, prioritizing incentives for communities that conserve.
  10. Strengthen regional monitoring systems: Strengthen ACTO's Regional Observatory of the Amazon (ORA), generating a system of key indicators, with public access to information and transparency in data sources, including those provided by subnational governments, organized civil society, indigenous peoples, traditional communities and quilombolas, to support the planning, decision-making and development of public policies.

This letter was signed by the Solutions Network for the Sustainable Development of the Amazon (SDSN Amazônia), Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS), National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS), Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), National Coordination of Quilombola Articulation (CONAQ), Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development (FBOMS), Amazon Working Group (GTA), Red Nacional de Conservación Voluntaria y Comunal Amazonía Que Late (AQL), ​​Asociación Amazônicos por la Amazonía (AMPA ), Coalition for Sustainable Production (CPS), Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR), Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (FCDS), Alliances for Sustainable Development (SMOOTHING), PROVITA,Fundación Natura Bolivia (Natura Bolivia), GAIA Amazonas, EcoCiencia, Iniciativa Interreligiosa por los Bosques Tropicales (IRI), Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force), International Union for Conservation of Nature Sur (IUCN Sur), Alianza por los Océanos Sostenibles (SOA), Alianza Nor Amazónica (ANA), Concertation for the Amazon, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), among other organizations.

This was originally shared by FAS/SDSN-Amazônia on 08/14/2023: https://fas-amazonia.org/na-cupula-sociedade-civil-entrega-carta-aos-presidentes-da-pan-amazonia/