“What happens in the Peruvian Amazon Affects the Heart of Nine Countries”

Servindi, June 20, 2019.- "The struggle you are going through is the struggle for life in the Amazon; what happens in the Peruvian Amazon is serious for the whole heart of the nine countries," stated Gregorio Mirabal, coordinator of the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) in Bonn, Germany.

The Mirabal’s intervention took place during the forum "The Alarming Dredging of the Amazon Rivers and its Global, National and Local Impacts", which took place on Tuesday June 18 at Gustav Streseman-Institut.

Mirabal expressed his support to Richard Rubio, vice president of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (AIDESEP), who participated in the forum as a panelist denouncing the irregularities and the severe impact of the Amazon Waterway project and the dredging technique for the Amazon and indigenous peoples.

"We need results, we need countries to commit themselves, to respect prior consultation, to respect indigenous organizations that respect the right to Mother Earth"

The coordinator of the COICA also called for unity to fight and demanded greater attention against the great economic interests that endanger Mother Earth.

He said: "We are a single biome, a single ecosystem and we are the same indigenous peoples who live from that river and that forest, we have no other option, we have to keep fighting."

"We need results, we need countries to commit themselves, to respect prior consultation, to respect indigenous organizations, to respect the right to Mother Earth," he added.

Finally, the indigenous leader argued that the key to success for the conservation of territories and life in them is the unity of all indigenous peoples and the development of a joint strategy.

"The same thing that is happening in the Peruvian Amazon is happening in the Colombian, Ecuadorian and Bolivian Amazon. We need to seek our unity, articulate the actions and really see who is promoting this from very powerful spaces that many times we cannot reach, that's why we have to hit hard today."

It should be noted that Mirabal is also participating in conferences framed in the 50th session that brings together the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA50) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI50), preparatory events for the Environment Summit.