Tag: indigenous people

Counting on … 192

21st  November 2025

Deforestation of tropical rainforests also takes place to make space for oil-palm plantations. Palm oil is widely used in products as diverse as hair shampoo and chocolate. Clearing the forest to replace it with a monoculture not only impacts climate change but also biodiversity and a loss of the traditional ways of life of the indigenous inhabitants.

“West Papuan Indigenous people call for KitKat boycott over alleged ecocide” Thousands of acres of rainforest is being cleared to produce palm oil, used in popular Nestlé and Mondelēz brands. West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits and Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory. All are products that contain palm oil and are made, say the campaigners, by companies that source the ingredient directly from West Papua, which has been under Indonesian control since 1963 and where thousands of acres of rainforest are being cleared for agriculture.”(1)

This year’s COP has seen a more visible presence of indigenous people and hopefully their particular insights are being listened to and their particular needs incorporated in the decision making processes. 

  1. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/west-papua-indigene-bevölkerung-ruft-zum-boykott-von-nestlé-und-mondelēz-produkten-auf-inkl-unternehmenskommentar/

Further reading:-

https://theconversation.com/finally-indigenous-peoples-have-an-influential-voice-at-cop30-theyre-speaking-loud-and-clear-269403
https://netzero.co.uk/news/cop-30-a-landmark-move-for-indigenous-rights/

Counting on …. Day 1.153

19th August 2023

Balancing the needs of the planet, the needs of indigenous peoples for sustainable livelihoods, and the pressures of developing countries who see industrialisation as the way forwards, how can places like the Amazon rain forest survive? The Amazon is “home to an estimated 400 billion trees belonging to 16,000 different species, more than 1,300 species of birds, tens of thousands of species of plant, and 20% of the world’s freshwater resources. It is also estimated to contain more than 120bn tonnes of carbon, making it a vital carbon sink. But over the past half-century, the advance of cattle ranching, logging, mining, soy farming and oil exploration has devastated huge swathes of the region, pushing it towards what scientists fear could be an irreversible tipping point that would cause the forest to die off.” 

The recent Amazon summit at Belém tried to address some of these issues, including how the rainforest can be protected whilst providing for the indigenous people so that there wellbeing  and living standards can be improved. “The rainforest is neither a void that needs occupying nor a treasure trove to be looted. It is a flowerbed of possibilities that must be cultivated,” said Lula da Silva, the Brazilian President. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/08/brazilian-president-lula-pledges-new-amazon-dream-at-rainforest-summit?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other