Political Report # 1197 Indigenous rights are key to preserving forests, climate change study finds

Ashaninka girls walk through a forest path as they return to their village in the Peruvian Amazon. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP By Jonathan Watts, Guardian UK

Leaving forests in communal hands cuts carbon emissions from deforestation, helps communities and offers long-term economic benefits: ‘Everyone wins’ The world’s indigenous communities need to be given a bigger role in climate stabilisation, according to a new study that shows at least a quarter of forest carbon is stored on communal land, particularly in Brazil. The research by a group of academic institutions and environmental NGOs is the most comprehensive effort yet to quantify the contribution of traditional forest guardians to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Authors say the expansion of tribal land rights is the most cost-effective way to protect forests and sequester carbon - an issue that they hope will receive more prominence at the upcoming United Nations climate conference in Marrakech.

Abstract, Ruta Mixteca Indigenous Rights and Mexico’s Plunge into Globalization by Rodolfo Stavenhagen

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Ruta Mixteca

Indigenous Rights and Mexico’s Plunge into Globalization by Rodolfo Stavenhagen

“Ruta Mixteca” is the name given to the circular migrations of indigenous farm workers between the Mexican state of Oaxaca and California long studied by Michael Kearney and his collaborators. Indigenous migrations to the United States have expanded in recent years as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement and changes in Mexico’s agrarian legislation that led to increased privatization of land and natural resources, dispossession of the traditional peasantry, and numerous local land- and resource-related conflicts. The Zapatista uprising stimulated the growth of a host of militant indigenous organizations, now also emboldened by constitutional changes that recognize the human rights of indigenous peoples according to international standards. Indigenous transnational migrations need to adapt to these changing conditions.