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Urgent call for Amazon protection - 29th October 2021

The indigenous peoples who inhabit the Amazon basin have asked the nations who will meet at the COP26 environmental conference in Scotland to work with them to protect the 8.4 million square kilometres of the Amazon.

Gregoria Mirabal, head of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) is one representative of the 3.5 million indigenous people of the Amazon.

Gregorio Mirabal: "We are not realising that human beings have become the worst enemy of nature and of life itself. So we are simply not the best, but we have shown that we can help the world and we need everyone's help."

The indigenous peoples of the Amazon are spread across 9 countries and territories in South America. United through COICA, these countries submitted a successful plan to the World Congress on Protected Areas to protect 80 percent of the Amazon. Mirabal believes that if this is achieved, future generations will experience the Amazon’s amazing biodiversity.

Gregorio Mirabal: "In 2050, our children will be able to bathe in this river, they will be able to see what is here, they will be able to see the trees, the biodiversity, they will be able to see those macaws slowly flying, and we will be able to drink our chicha as you have seen. This is the scenario that we are offering to the world if you help us protect 80 percent of the Amazon."

Despite this, the combined organisations feel that the lack of political will of the different governments is the biggest threat to its success as Mirabal explains.

Gregorio Mirabal: "At the moment the worst danger is the lack of political will of our governments and this goes hand in hand with corruption. If there is money, and there is a lot of money promised for conservation, for this to remain healthy, but it does not arrive."

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest on Earth. However, it is being burned or destroyed at a rate of 200,000 acres a day. Organisations believe that if 20 percent of the Amazon is destroyed, it will never be able to recover. It’s clear that their call for assistance is a pressing one.