Declaration of the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA)
World Social Forum 2009
Belém, Amazon, Brazil
(También disponible en español)

"The salvation of the planet is in the ancient wisdom of the Indigenous peoples of the amazon”

We The Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA) have existed since time immemorial with our world view, diversity of languages, history, cultures, spirituality, territories, and economy. We have adopted distinct forms of organization and identity underneath the framework of standards and laws set up by the countries according to their interests, unaware of the ancestral rights of the first inhabitants of the Amazon territory.

Seeking a consensus between 390 ethnic groups, representing a population of 2,779,478 inhabitants, in the 10,268,471 square kilometer area of the Amazon, we were gathered at the World Social Forum in Belém do Pará, Brazil, from January 27 to February 1, 2009. During this time we held intense meetings and an in-depth debate and analysis about the realities for indigenous peoples who live in the Amazon and in other biomes, giving our support and contributing to the process of the WSF.

Considering the purposes and principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the good faith of the countries that adopted it in fulfilling the obligations they assumed,

We affirm the right for indigenous peoples to consider themselves different and to be respected as such, and we contribute to the diversity and richness of civilizations and cultures that constitute humanity;

We condemn all doctrines, policies and practices that are based on or advocate the superiority of certain peoples or nationalities on the basis of national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences as racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust.

Indigenous peoples have the right to the free determination of their political status and should freely pursue their cultural, social, and economic development.

Therefore:

• We demand the demarcation of and immediate title to our ancestral lands, which have always been used by their legitimate inhabitants. We denounce and condemn intimidation through violence and the deaths of our leaders for defending the lands and rights of indigenous peoples.
• We denounce the advance of the agricultural border and agro-businesses, responsible for the violation of our rights through discrimination, disposession of our lands, deforestation, burning of forests and pastures, soil and river contamination and the use of agro and transgenetic chemicals, the spread of monoculture, bio-piracy, the black market for timber, industrial residues and waste, all of which endanger food sovereignty, cause the loss of ecosystems and, later on, the loss of our identity and culture. Furthermore, these repercussions intensify the vulnerability of our indigenous brothers in voluntary isolation, who have been out of contact or in early contact: in their name we demand a full guarantee of their lands on the part of the states.
• We denounce to the world that mega projects such as IIRSA and CAP (led by states and governments) are responsible for the genocide of indigenous peoples and the depredation of the Amazon forests: we demand abolition these projects!
• We reject the political decision-making process and levels that block and manipulate the participation of the indigenous peoples referred to under climate change: we demand the widespread diffusion of information and a critical debate among indigenous peoples regarding the mechanisms and negotiations underway relative to the collecting and commercialization of carbon in indigenous territories.
• With regards to REDD, we understand in principle that all coordination on financial mechanisms for the protection of the forests in our territories should unconditionally recognize the rights of indigenous peoples, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration (UNDRIP); our rights are non-negotiable. At the moment we are in the process of gathering information and debating internally with each member organization on the potential negative impacts or risks for our territories (as was the case of MDL, mechanisms for clean development, in many of our towns). Furthermore, the experiences and interpretations of our indigenous peoples regarding climate changes, according to our world view, is that they interact with multiple social and environmental factors that must be considered as a whole and cannot be reduced to the market.
• We reject all mining, petroleum and hydrocarbon exploitation, and we denounce the increased production of biofuels in the Amazon Basin (palm oil, sugarcane and soy), which is highly destructive to our ecosystems. We refute the production model supported by the consumerism of “developed” countries and the elites from “developing” countries in states that depend on the extractive industries.
• We urge conservationist organizations and all other NGOs to put aside their attitudes; and moreover we demand that support be through our own indigenous organizations because of its legitimate and institutionalized representation.

Finally, we communicate to the entire world that the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, led by our spiritual guides and inspired by our history, processes and experiences, maintain and support societies that are respectful of diversity, of the collective rights of the peoples and we have renewed our initiatives for the promotion, protection and the petition of our rights, thereby contributing to the survival of mankind.

Through this statement we make a fervent call for respect of the organizations that are members of COICA, particularly the COIAB for being the host organization, in addition to other Brazilian indigenous organizations and other regional indigenous organizations present at the World Social Forum, Belém, Brazil 2009.

Signed by the members of COICA present on February 1, 2009