Sanctuarization of forests: meeting – debate with indigenous leaders / guardians of nature

This workshop was organized by the MRSH in the framework of the Normandy Chair for Peace with the participation of members of the Alliance of Mother Nature’s Guardians, under the scientific responsibility of Émilie Gaillard. The session was moderated by Vassili Rivron (anthropologist, specialist in Brazil, CERREV, University of Caen Normandie) and Nadia Tahir (Associate Professor in Spanish-American Studies, ERLIS, University of Caen Normandie), with the assistance of Catherine Leterrier (translator).

The human adventure is at a crossroads. Climate change is threatening, forests are burning, global biodiversity is collapsing… States seem powerless since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to take the necessary measures. Terra Libre, both a logbook and an investigation, covers nearly 30 years of a global fight for life, following in the footsteps of the legendary indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire, who has been warning us for so long. Accompanying him and discovering the little-known figures and the new guard of the planet’s sentinels, is to carry out a moving immersion in the heart of planetary stakes, from one emblematic UN summit to another (Rio 92, Rio+20, COP 21…).

The call for the sacred union of Amazonian indigenous leaders to protect future generations is a hope and inspiration for humanity.

Magdalene Setia Kaitei is a member of the Maasai people (800,800 people) of Kenya. She is the Executive Director of Emayian Integrated Development Organization, which works to improve the living conditions of the Maasai herding community, to protect natural resources, forests and wildlife from logging and to combat climate change in Kajiado County. She has worked with the Maasai community for fifteen years, addressing issues of development and social injustice.

Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Muñoz is the director of the Original Caretakers Initiative of the Center for Earth Ethics. He is the General Coordinator of the Otomi-Hñahñu Regional Council in Mexico, guardian of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi people. He is also responsible for the Otomi ritual ceremony since 1988. Born in Tultepec, Mexico, he holds a doctorate in rural development from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and is president of the Mexican Council for Sustainable Development.

Bastida Muñoz is a member of the steering committee of the Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative and has been a delegate to several commissions and summits on indigenous peoples’ rights and the environment. He has written extensively on the relationship between the State and indigenous peoples, intercultural education, collective intellectual property rights and associated traditional knowledge, among other topics.

Director, journalist, photographer, author, Gert-Peter Bruch has been committed to the protection of the Amazon rainforest for over 25 years and the first international campaign of Cacique Raoni. He is the founder of Planète Amazone, which supports indigenous peoples in their international fight against deforestation and has organized numerous field and awareness campaigns, including three international tours of Cacique Raoni.