The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (AGTC) set up in Washington DC, United States, with the mission of ensuring the participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the mechanisms to combat climate change and protection of biodiversity promoted by the Biden Administration at international level.
The Alliance will hold strategic meetings with the objective of learning about ongoing initiatives on climate change and biodiversity, as well as presenting solutions from the indigenous peoples and local communities of the world’s tropical forests. The delegation prepares the way to the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP 26 in Glasgow), and the World Conservation Congress.
The representation is composed of Tuntiak Katan, AGCT Coordinator; Gregorio Mirabal General Coordinator of the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA); Levi Sucre, Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB); Sara Omi, from the AGCT women’s coordination space and President of the Coordinator of Territorial Women Leaders of Mesoamerica; Juan Carlos Jintiach, Co-President of the United Nations Global Indigenous Caucus, and COICA technical advisor on international policies, climate change and biodiversity of indigenous peoples.
Indigenous and local forest-dwelling communities around the world have effectively protected these ecosystems for millennia. Forest management based on ancestral knowledge and the symbiotic relationship of indigenous communities with nature are essential to mitigate and adapt to climate change: the lands managed by these communities have lower levels of deforestation and better carbon storage capacities.
With this argument, the AGCT promotes a vision of “Nature and Community Based Solutions”, which enhances the work they already do for the benefit of all humanity. To achieve this vision, it is necessary to guarantee direct territorial financing; the protection of male and female leaders against criminalization and assassinations; rights over territories; Free and Informed Prior Consent; and respect for ancestral knowledge. In addition, in the current context, the urgent support of the international community in the vaccination and containment efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic is vital to ensure the survival of communities, necessary for the survival of Mother Earth.
About the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities
The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities is a coalition of indigenous and local communities from the Amazon Basin, Brazil, Indonesia and Mesoamerica. Together we represent 35 million forest peoples in 18 countries, and 800 million hectares of forests. Four territorial organizations make up our alliance: The Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB) and the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN).
