Indigenous peoples fight for rights in Bali
While some 17,000 government, non-government, indigenous and all other kinds of activists have congregated in Bali to discuss, debate and confer about climate change, its impacts and what to do about these, a small group of Balinese activists sit in Bedugul Mountain, one of the most revered sites on this island to mediate with the gods for protection over us all. Bedugul is a mountainous forest site where three lakes, the Tamblingan, Bhuyan and Beratan, which are the source springs for all freshwater on Bali, are situated.
These same activists have been working intensively so that a geothermal project slated for this sacred place will not be carried out. The project proposes to clear 128 hectares of forest around this lake area and will violate the taboo against excavating the earth in one of the holiest places in Bali.
145 priests of the 48 temples in that area have submitted a petition to the Governor, as have many of the village representatives, the Bandesa Adat, to their House of Representatives. Over several years rituals have been performed in communication with the Dewidutha, Goddess of the Lake and other deities of the area, who have assured the activists that they will on their part, do their best to prevent the heat from surfacing through the excavations of the company, and in reciprocation the activists should perform Panchdathu on Bali and Java: the planting of the five precious metals in five cardinal points at five sacred spots on each of these islands. So far, of the nine exploratory drillings and the five more intensive diggings carried out, only one has produced some gas, not enough to justify the project.
Indigenous Peoples have been advocating for years against the violation of sacred spaces and sites not only out of respect for the spiritual traditions and values of our peoples but also because these sites are always important areas for freshwater or other critical resources, or biodiversity preserves. Regrettably despite the frequent reiteration of respect for indigenous peoples’ values and heritage, there has been little evidence of such respect in practice.
Despite the very recent ratification of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the rhetoric that accompanied it, Indigenous Peoples’ representatives were not allowed to present their statement at the opening of the present COP.
Statement from the Indigenous Peoples Forum
Opening Statement – The International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change (IFIPCC)
Thank you, Mr President, distinguished delegates, NGOs, Indigenous brothers and sisters. We would like to congratulate those countries, including Indonesia, which adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DECRIPS). We thank the Indigenous Peoples of Indonesia for warmly welcoming us, the indigenous peoples from all regions of the world, to their ancestral territories.
At this Conference of the Parties, the International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change would like to stress that mitigation and adaptation projects implemented by Parties and private sector without the free prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples are encroaching on areas of land sacred to Indigenous Peoples, for example the geothermal energy project in the Bedugul Mountains of Bali.
Mr. President, the IFIPCC takes this opportunity to reaffirm the following:
1) We demand the creation of an Expert Group on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples with the full participation and representation of Indigenous Peoples, taking into full account the example of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNFPII) that includes indigenous experts;
2) We demand the creation of a voluntary fund for the full and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples, such as that which exists in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);
3) We demand that the conference of the Parties recognize and take action to curb the adverse impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples; and to refrain from adaptation and mitigation schemes and projects promoted as solutions to climate change that devastates Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories and cause more human rights violations, like market based mechanisms, carbon trading, agrofuels and avoided deforestation (REDD).
Indigenous Peoples have suffered the worst impacts of climate change without having contributed to its creation and must not be placed in the position of suffering from mitigation strategies so that over-consumption of industrialised countries can continue.
Mr. President, there are many countries where the rights of Indigenous Peoples are not adequately recognised and we draw the attention of the Conference of the Parties to the recent adoption of the DECRIPS. We ask that the policies and implementation of the UNFCCC be consistent with the rights contained in the Declaration.
Mr. President, the IFPCC sincerely believes that indigenous peoples have a role to play in this convention. It is time that we all cooperate in our efforts to address climate change. It is only in this way that our world may have a chance of survival. Mr. President, we must do this in a manner that recognizes social justice, environmental integrity, indigenous and other human rights and that creates a climate where greed does not dominate the needs of humanity.
TERIMA KASIH!
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Contents:
- Will Sajida Khan's killers please stand up
- Indigenous Peoples Fight for Rights in Bali
- Gender Issues at the COP? Not Likely
- Upcoming Events
- Dammed by the CDM
>>Go back to UN Climate Change Conference 2007
(*) Alter-Eco is published by a group of non-governmental organizations, indigenous people's organizations and social movements at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP-13. The groups came together to make a unified call in support of real solutions to climate change and against the false market-based solutions to climate change that are being implemented under the Kyoto Protocol.
Organizations contributing to the first issue include: Global Justice Ecology Project, Global Forest Coalition, Carbon Trade Watch, Transnational Institute, FERN, CORE (Center for Organizational Research and Education), The Corner House.
