Efforts to protect nature at COP15 will fail without Indigenous people, leaders say

Montreal — Indigenous leaders attending a United Nations conference in Montreal, COP15, say the world won’t succeed in halting biodiversity loss without Indigenous participation.

Jennifer Corpuz, an Indigenous lawyer from the Philippines, says Indigenous people have long been the best guardians of nature but have often been excluded and marginalized by conservation efforts.

She says it’s crucial that any final agreement negotiated at the conference include acknowledgment of Indigenous rights, recognition of traditional territory in conservation targets and direct access to funding to protect biodiversity.

READ MORE: COP15: Latest demonstration sees hundreds gather in Montreal city square

Ronald Brazeau, the interim director of natural resources for the Lac-Simon Algonquin community in Quebec, says he feels decision-makers at the conference still aren’t listening to the voices of Indigenous people.

He says his community in western Quebec is witnessing the effects of biodiversity loss and climate change, and he doesn’t feel governments are going far enough when it comes to conservation, even in protected places.

Brazeau says that while Indigenous groups all over the world have different interests and realities, they’re united by a common desire to protect their lands.

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