Women leaders of indigenous peoples from around the world asked the delegations participating in COP20 to propose granting direct financing to native communities in a bid to preserve the environment and natural resources.
According to Daisy Zapata, representative of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America and Vice President of the Interethnic Association for Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (Aidesep), women in native communities have specialized ecological knowledge that must be seen as one of the most promising solutions to climate change.
“Women cannot only be considered as climate change victim, since they have developed knowledge that can be useful for both approaches: mitigation and adaptation,” she told Andina news agency.
This fund can finance reforestation projects, improve water and land treatment and traditional cultivation practices in order to guarantee food safety.
“Indigenous Peoples attempt to gain access to the Green Fund, we want to work in conjunction with authorities to tackle climate change, which is a global problem,” she added.
On the other hand, the representative of the Amazon Basin Indigenous Organization (Coica), Nilda Rojas, hopes delegates attending this climate summit will suggest public policies to ensure the sustainable development of native communities.
“We demand land titles and the value enhancement of our organic seeds; we require public policies to support this type of cultivation rather than transgenic crops,” Rojas noted.
(END) SMA/ASH/RMB/MVB
Published: 12/2/2014