The Relationship Between Conservation and the Legal Security Over Indigenous Territories

The Peruvian Amazon, apart from being the most biodiverse place in Peru, gathers the majority of ethnic groups of indigenous peoples that inhabit the Peruvian territory. These peoples have managed to maintain a harmonious relationship with their natural surroundings, due to the fact that they have been able to adapt their practices for the management of natural resources and the way they see and interpret the world, to the natural laws that operate in the ecosystems in which they are immersed. This event sought to generate a space for constructive dialogue and discussion over the intimate relationship that exists between the ability of Amazonian indigenous peoples to participate actively from conservation within their territories, and the legal recognition and security in the long term over their territories.

Two case studies that were presented by the leaders of the country’s most important indigenous organizations demonstrate how certain strategic actions have helped these organizations to generate positive changes. The case studies sites are based in the iconic regions of Madre de Dios and Loreto, which are the most biodiverse regions of the country -and likely of the world- and the most populated area of the Peruvian Amazon (in terms of quantities of indigenous communities).

As a result of this discussion, an enriching exchange of knowledge and experience were shared regarding the interlink that exists between nature conservation and legal security over indigenous territories; which helps promote collaboration and the collective development of strategic action lines regarding this complex subject, and will contribute to facilitating the generation of alliances among the different actors that, directly or indirectly, are linked to this subject.

Key Themes:

Governance, Rights & Conflict, Places & Spaces, Indigenous Issues, Livelihoods

Presenters:

Silvana Baldovino (Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental)

Martín Vasquez (Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental)

Lizardo Cauper (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana)

Julio Cusurichi (Federación Nativa del Río Madre de Dios y Afluentes)

Presented Material: