Regional Workshop on Governance, Management and Indigenous Territorial Law concludes with a view to 80x25

On July 11th and 12th, 2022, a Regional Workshop on Governance, Management and Indigenous Territorial Law, organized by COICA and IUCN South America through the Amazonia 2.0 project, was held at the Hotel Quito in Quito, Ecuador.

The workshop was attended, either in person or virtually, by COICA leaders and technicians and their bases: AIDESEP (Peru), CIDOB (Bolivia), COIAB (Brazil), CONFENIAE (Ecuador), OIS (Suriname), ORPIA (Venezuela) and APA (Guyana). Also in attendance were local representatives from the Amazonia 2.0 implementation areas in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru; as well as part of the project's technical team from IUCN South America, Fundación EcoCiencia (Ecuador), Fundación Natura (Colombia) and ECO REDD (Peru).

The first day began with the inauguration of the event presided over by Gregorio Díaz Mirabal, General Coordinator of COICA; with words from Gabriel Quijandría, Director of the IUCN Regional Office for South America, and Elcio Manchineri, COICA's Territory and Natural Resources Coordinator.

The workshop began with a presentation by Zack Romo, COICA Technical Coordinator, on COICA's current situation and perspectives regarding the territorial indigenous agenda, which included information on the main advances to date, difficulties and challenges. An introduction was also given to the initiative "Amazon for Life: Let's protect 80% by 2025", proposed by COICA and approved in September 2021 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille (motion 129).

Next, Michael McGarrell, COICA's Human Rights and Policy Coordinator, and Nadino Calapucha, Head of COICA's Defenders Defense Program (PDDD), gave a powerful presentation on the current situation of indigenous defenders. They mentioned the dimensions and implications of the problem, as well as strategic actions to prevent risks and confront threats.

The morning of the first day of the workshop ended with a panel of local experiences of the Amazonia 2.0 project. The panel began with a presentation by the project's Regional Coordinator, Braulio Buendía (IUCN), followed by interventions by local representatives and national technical teams of the A2.0 project: Gilberto Nenquimo (President of NAWE, Ecuador), Javier Vargas (Fundación EcoCiencia, Ecuador), Fanny Jamioy (Inga Niñeras Indigenous Reservation, Colombia), Helena Cendales (Fundación Natura, Colombia) and Margot Gonzales (Indigenous Women's Program of ORAU and ECO REDD, Peru).

In the afternoon of July 11th, the workshop continued with a presentation of the Amazon Network of Geo-referenced Socio-environmental Information (RAISG), given by Carmen Josse, Executive Director of Fundación EcoCiencia. This presentation made it possible to visualize key data for the implementation of the Amazon for Life (80x25) initiative.

Subsequently, the working sessions began with all the participants, led by Anabel Perez, COICA consultant. The first working session focused on diagnosing the current situation in governance and territorial management, identifying the problems, challenges, difficulties and needs of the grassroots. The day ended with a plenary discussion on this topic.

The second day of the Regional Workshop continued with working tables, this time with dynamics that served to identify key actors and the level of relationship with the initiatives and actions from each base or organization.

The day continued with a section dedicated to regional spaces and instruments for advocacy. This section included presentations by Braulio Buendía (Amazonia 2.0 - IUCN), on the Leticia Pact and the Biodiversity and Forest Programs of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO); and by Jackeline Borjas, from COICA's Defenders Defense Program, on the Escazú Agreement.

The afternoon of July 12th was dedicated to the finalization of the working groups. First, a work dynamic was carried out on the current rights situation, reflecting on the problems, main advances to date, challenges and opportunities. Subsequently, a roadmap for each country was validated for the implementation of the indigenous agenda, based on the workshop inputs.

The workshop was closed with a summary of the work carried out and follow-up agreements, with interventions by Sofía Murgueytio and Jessika García on behalf of COICA, and Braulio Buendía, Regional Coordinator of the Amazonia 2.0 project. In addition, a protocol closing ceremony was held with the participation of Gabriel Quijandría, Director of IUCN South America, and closing remarks by Gregorio Díaz Mirabal, General Coordinator of COICA.

The Regional Workshop on Governance, Management and Indigenous Territorial Law was attended by more than 40 people from all the countries of the Amazon Basin, making it a space for a diverse exchange, which allowed the construction of roadmaps looking forward to the V AMAZONIAN SUMMIT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: SOLUTIONS FOR A LIVING AMAZON and the XI COICA CONGRESS.

The workshop also strengthened the strategic alliance between COICA and IUCN, with the agreement to continue developing a joint agenda that will culminate in an Implementation Plan for the "Amazon for Life: Let's protect 80% by 2025" initiative.

Amazonia 2.0 is an initiative coordinated by IUCN, executed by a consortium in 6 countries of the Amazon Basin and financed by the European Union.