Published October 17,2024
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The Colombian authorities issued a decree recognizing indigenous peoples as environmental authorities of their territories.
“With this new regulation, indigenous authorities will build, together with other entities, direct mechanisms to guarantee the protection of the country’s ecosystems and their territories, taking into account their ancestral knowledge,” the Environment Ministry stated Tuesday in a press release.
The resolution comes as Colombia prepares to host the UN’s COP16 convention on biodiversity from Oct- 21-Nov. 1 in Cali. The summit will carry collectively 196 nations which have ratified the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, a world environmental treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of organic range.
Environment Minister Susana Muhamad reported that underneath the decree, 115 Indigenous communities will wield new powers inside their territories, together with land use, ecosystem safety and conservation rulemaking.
“This is one of the main messages of COP16. It is the constructive dialogue between science and institutions with ancestral and traditional knowledge that is really going to be able to make peace with nature,” stated Muhamad.
Critics of the decree, together with departmental companies that oversee conservation efforts within the nation, have stated the decree would permit indigenous governance to conflict with community-led tasks, from agriculture to eco-tourism.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro celebrated the brand new regulation.
“No one knows better than indigenous communities how to achieve a balance between humanity and nature,” he stated. “Today, we reaffirm their rights by signing this decree, which acknowledges their role as custodians of the environment.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr