Peter Seligmann has spent his whole adult life studying environmental issues. He co-founded global non-government organisation Conservation International in 1987 and, more recently, Nia Tero — an organisation that works with indigenous peoples to secure their rights and well-being — which he leads as chief executive. He spoke to Sustainable Views during the FT Global Carbon Forum conference, on June 30.
Does working with indigenous peoples make a difference to global environmental issues?
What most people are not aware of is that one-third of the planet is under the guardianship of indigenous peoples: 80% of the biodiversity and 40% of the healthy ecosystems on this planet, which we all need, are in indigenous territories. So, they are really important players. If a third of the Earth and 20-30% of the above-ground carbon is on indigenous territories, it’s in the self-interest of every single one of us to support their efforts to take care of their territories.
Surely not everyone agrees: deforestation in the Amazon has now reached record highs. What next?
Today, 40% of the Amazon is under the control of indigenous peoples. Those territories have been the healthiest, and are the ones that have actually had people on the ground preventing fire and destruction.
But they’re under assault. How do you address that? Constitutionally, in Brazil, indigenous peoples are protected, but the executive branch has said it will look the other way if someone wants to invade.
So, first, we need to follow the law in Brazil. Second, in other countries, the key thing is political reform to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples to take care of their place. And third, we need to think about how we provide financing and financial support to these communities.
What would that kind of financing look like?
There’s the challenge of carbon financing, which has become a very important conversation: how do you value and compensate landowners for the carbon locked on their territories? We need to figure out ways to do this that both provides security for everyone.
The shaping of that carbon market is really important, so it can be verified and so that the benefits go to the people that actually own and live on the land. There are opportunities for the private sector, there are opportunities for the government and there are clearly opportunities for the non-governmental entities that work closely with indigenous peoples. The most important thing to do is to earn trust, and to do that you need to build a relationship.
There are many reasons why indigenous peoples distrust outsiders. When I say that a third of the Earth is still under the guardianship of indigenous peoples, remember it used to be 100%. The history of colonisation has created a great challenge in making indigenous and non-indigenous peoples not trusting each other.
