New Google Earth Conservation Applications

If you take a look at the Amazon region of the world its interesting to see how the deforestation, biodiversity, tribes, endangered species, and oil spills seem to all converge together in the Amazon. What a great open source tool for monitoring and tracking environmental change.

Check out these new applications for conservation on Google Earth: http://david.tryse.net/googleearth/

Viva la Salsa! Latin Dance Party Fundraising Event

What: Village Earth is hosting a Latin Dance Party to benefit our work with indigenous communities in Peru. Lots of great music and even a quick dance lesson for those that want to learn to dance salsa! Also, beautiful and unique arts and crafts from indigenous artisans in the Peruvian Amazon. And beer will be provided by Odell's brewing company!

When: Friday, April 24, 2009, 7:30pm

Where: Club Tico in City Park. 1599 City Park Drive, Fort Collins, CO.

Who: Everyone's invited!!

Why: We are trying to raise money for the many projects we are working on to support the self-determination efforts and alternative development plans of the Shipibo people.

How: It's only $5 to get in at the door the night of the event. (We're not doing advanced ticket sales for this event.)

We hope to see you there! It's going to be lots of fun and all proceeds benefit Village Earth!

For more information contact Kristina Pearson at kristina@villageearth.org or 970-491-5754.

Isla creates new 8-week service learning trip to Peru starting June 20, 2009

Isla (International Service Learning Alliance) is excited to offer you their newest sustainable development and service-learning opportunity in the Ucayali Region of the Central Peruvian Amazon, hosted by Village Earth. People interested in ecotourism, environmental conservation, wildlife species research, and teaching English should apply at
http://isla-serve.org/apply.html

The deadline to apply has been extended to May 1, 2009.

This is a great opportunity to work with Village Earth in the field! Training for all of Isla's programs is provided by Village Earth.

Isla's Peru program is a great opportunity for small groups who want to learn, travel and serve together through sustainable development. Program fees are significantly reduced for groups of 2 to 10 people. Volunteer programs available from 2-8 weeks.

For more information contact Chelsea DeFoort at cdefoort@isla-serve.org or 970.372.9516.

Additional programs are available for the summer and fall of 2009 in Bulgaria, Ghana, and India.

Service-learning builds your professional profile while expanding your perspectives in global development. Isla offers you a unique experience by matching your skill sets and passion with their program partners across the globe. If you have felt the need to learn how to make a difference in your own life and share in the lives of your fellow citizens across oceans, now is your opportunity!

Peru Solidarity Tour

July 20-29, 2009

Ucayali Region, Central Peruvian Amazon

The purpose of the Peru Solidarity Tour is to connect Village Earth supporters with our Shipibo partner communities. The indigenous organizations and communities with which we work enjoy these tours because it is their chance to form new strategic alliances with supporters like you from around the world. Also, almost the whole entire trip cost goes directly to the local people with whom we work as local guides, staying in local lodging, etc. These tours have also helped these communities to create community-based tourism plans so that the benefits of tourism can be more equitably shared amongst members of the community. This is a great opportunity to travel off the beaten tourist track and support Village Earth's work. So we hope that you will join us and the Shipibo for an adventure of a lifetime!

**This year Village Earth is also offering a special trip to the Andes

Peru Solidarity Tour Schedule:

July 20 - Meet in Lima. The Village Earth guide will be at the airport to meet you when you arrive. The group will stay the night in Miraflores, and if you arrive early enough you can even get to know a bit of Lima with some local guides visiting beach side communities.

July 21 - The group will travel by airplane to Pucallpa in the central Peruvian Amazon department called the Ucayali. This is a great one hour flight over the Andes, and then you drop down into the Amazon Basin where you can see the massive Ucayali River from above. A Shipibo delegation will meet us at the airport and we will then be transported to the port of Yarinacocha where we can stock up on supplies before we get on the boat. We will travel one hour by boat to the Shipibo community of San Francisco de Yarinacocha. The community will greet you with a welcome dance celebration. You will also be situated in your lodging in a new community jungle reserve where we will spend the night listening to the sounds of the jungle.

July 22 - You can really spend this day to get to know the people of this community. We will take a tour of and get to know some of the local animal residents in the jungle reserve. The artisans will also put on an exhibition of their arts and crafts for the group to browse. We will also be able to go on fishing trip to a nearby piranha fishing site, where you can learn to fish with a bow and arrow.

July 23 - This day we will visit with local indigenous leaders from the group ODDPIAP (Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon) who will inform the group about their work and the political struggles of the indigenous movement in the Peruvian Amazon.

July 24 - We will travel to another Shipibo community for lunch and then we will take a hike to a natural kolpa (mineral clay lick) in the jungle where animals and parrots gather to lick the clay for its rich mineral content. (Weather and environment permitting).

July 25 - We will travel to another much more remote Shipibo community where we will be greeted by a community dance welcome party.

July 26 - The community will have many activities planned to showcase their various sustainable development projects. They would also like to take you on a tour of their botanical garden where you can learn about their extensive knowledge of natural medicines. They will also have an artisan exhibition to showcase the arts and crafts of their women's group.

July 27 - We will head back closer to Pucallpa and spend another night in the jungle reserve lodge.

July 28 - We will take a day trip to one more Shipibo community where they will present to us a traditional Shipibo song and dance performance. This community is located on a beautiful lake.

July 29 - We will travel by airplane from Pucallpa to Lima.

For more information about this trip including prices, information on how to find cheap flights, and a packing list please visit the Peru Solidarity Tour website

Andean Spiritual Journey to Cusco & Machu Picchu

July 30 - August 5, 2009

Visit the ancient Incan capital of Cusco, see the archaeological and spiritual treasures of the Incas. Visit Sacsayhuamán, Ollaytaytambo, Pisac, and Machu Picchu. Participate in ceremonies with Andean shamans of the Q'eros tribe. Participate in meditations at Machu Picchu and other spiritual sites all with a very knowledgeable English-speaking local guide.

Declaration of the Coordinator of the Amazon Basin Indigenous Peoples Organization (COICA)

Reposted from: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1707/68/

Written by COICA

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

The Amazon Basin Indigenous Peoples Organization (COICA) with our worldview, diversity of languages, history, cultures, spirituality, territory, economy, have existed since before recorded time. We have adopted different forms of organization and identity under the framework of the nation states which have established laws and regulations according to their own interests, not recognizing the ancestral rights of the first inhabitants of the amazon region. Attempting to arrive at a consensus between 390 ethnic groups, representing a population of 2,779,478 people in the 10,268,471 square kilometer Amazon basin, we gathered in Belem do Para, Brazil from Jan. 27th through Feb. 1st for the World Social Forum. While at the forum we held intense meetings and in-depth debate and analysis about the reality of the indigenous peoples living in the Amazon and those from other biomes, offering our support and leadership in the process of the World Social Forum. We affirm the rights of Indigenous peoples, considering the principles of the declaration by the U.N. in regards to the rights of indigenous peoples (UNDRIP) and the good faith and follow through on the obligations by the nation states that have adopted said declaration, to be considered different, and to be respected as different, and that we contribute to the richness and diversity of civilizations and cultures that make up humanity. We condemn all doctrines, policies and practices based in the superiority of a determined people or nationality, and the persons whom perpetuate said doctrines, policies and practices through use of rationality based on national origin and racial, religious, ethnic, or cultural differences which are socially unjust, scientifically false, morally condemnable, judicially invalid and otherwise racist. We affirm that indigenous peoples have the right to self determination over their political condition and must freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Therefore: We demand the immediate zoning and title over our ancestral territory, which has been used as alway by its legitimate inhabitants. We denounce and condemn the violent intimidation through the murders of our leaders for the defense of our territories and rights as indigenous peoples. We denounce the advance of the agricultural border and agricultural development (agro-industry) responsible for the violation of our rights in reference to discrimination, the plundering of our territories, deforestation, burning of the forest and grasslands, the contamination of soils and rivers, the use of transgenetics and agrochemicals, the expansion of monoculture, bio-piracy, illegal timber traffic, industrial residues and waste, all factors that put at risk our food sovereignty, the lost of ecosystems, and finally the the lost of our cultural values and identity. Furthermore, these impacts deepen the vulnerability of our sister indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, living without outside contact or in the early phase of outside contact- we demand, on there behalf, the integral guarantee of there territories by the part of the nation states concerned. We denounce to the world the genocide of indigenous peoples and the depredation of the amazonian forests by mega-projects of South American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative (IIRSA) and PAC, which are operated by the nation states and governments. We demand abolition of these mega-projects. We reject the levels and processes of policy decisions that obstruct and manipulate the participation of indigenous peoples in regards to the subject of climate change. We demand the broad diffusion of information and critical debate by indigenous peoples in relation to the financial mechanism and negotiations underway relative to the use and marketing of carbon in indigenous territories. In regards to UN-REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries) we understand that as principle any and all concer on financial mechanism dealing with the protection of forests in our territories must unconditionally recognize the rights of indigenous peoples, in agreement with the U.N. declaration of indigenous peoples rights (UNDRIP): Our rights are non-negociable. We are currently in the process of information gathering and internal debate with our members in regards to potential negative impacts and risks within our territories of this program (as was the case with MCD, Mechanism of Clean Development, with many of our communities). Furthermore, the experiences and interpretations of climate change by our indigenous peoples, according to our worldview, is that this change interacts with multiple factors, both social and environmental and therefore must be consider in an integral way and not merely reduced to market concerns. We reject all mining, petroleum and hydrocarbon exploitation, the same way that we denounce the advance of agriculture based fuel (ethanol) production in the Amazon Basin (palm oil, sugarcane, and soy), all of which are highly destructive to our ecosystems. We refute the model of production that is sustained by by the consumerism of the "developed" world and of the elites of the "developing" world in our nation-state which depends on the extracting industries. We insist that conservation organizations and other n.g.o's dispose of any imposing attitudes and rather we demand that the support be made by the legitimate and institutional representation by our own indigenous organizations. Finally, we communicate to the entire world that we the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, lead by our spiritual guides, inspired by our history, processes, and experiences, maintain and reinforce societies that respect the collective rights of peoples and diversity, and we have had the wisdom to renew our initiatives to promote, protect, and enforce our rights and by so contribute to the survival of the human race. By means of this Declaration we enthusiastically express our respect for all the member organizations of COICA, and in particular the COIAB organization for hosting this event, together with the other indigenous organizations from Brazil and all indigenous organizations present here at the World Social Forum, Belém, Brazil, 2009. Signed by present members of the COICA, on the 1st of Febuary, 2009.

Peru throws out Amazon land laws

Reposted from BBC News

The Amazon region is home to some of Peru's poorest communities

Peru's Congress has voted to repeal two land laws aimed at opening up Amazonian tribal areas to development, which led to protests by indigenous groups.

Correspondents say the repeal of the laws is a blow to President Alan Garcia, who had approved the legislation by decree.

Mr Garcia had described the initiative as pivotal to the improvement of life in Peru's poorest regions.

A leading indigenous rights campaigner welcomed the repeal of the laws.

Alberto Pizango called it a new dawn for the country's indigenous peoples.

During the protests, which lasted more than 10 days, indigenous groups took several police officers hostage, and took control of both a major natural gas field in southern Peru and an oil pipeline.

'True democracy'

Congress repealed the laws by 66 votes to 29.

Mr Garcia had said repealing the laws would hold up progress

Speaking before the vote, Roger Naja, president of the National Commission for Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples, had urged Congress to vote to rescind the laws.

History, he said, would remember Friday as "the day that the disappearance of the indigenous communities in the jungles and mountains was avoided".

Mr Pizango, leader of the Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Forest (Aidesep), hailed the repeal as "a moment of true democracy and true inclusion".

"This is a new dawn for the people of this country, and for all Peruvians who wish to develop in freedom, not in oppression," he said.

On Wednesday, President Garcia had warned the repeal would be "a very serious, historic mistake".

"If that were to happen out of fear of protesters, fear of unrest, Peru would some day remember it as the moment when change came to a halt and hundreds of thousands of people were condemned to poverty, exclusion and marginalisation," he told reporters.

The laws would have allowed the sale of tribal lands by a simple majority vote in a community assembly, which the protesters say would make it easier for big energy companies to grab their land.

Around 70% of Peru's Amazon is leased for oil and gas exploration and many of its tribal people say they do not want the companies on their land, the BBC's Dan Collyns reports from the Peruvian capital Lima.

A message from ODDPIAP to Village Earth Supporters

Photos: Courtesy of AIDESEP

Dear Village Earth Supporters,

Protests have ended today after more than a week of armed blockades on roads and energy installations. More than 60 ethnic groups have come together in solidarity leaving behind their political divisions and organizational alliances to form a unified front against the state and the allied oil companies. The President of ODDPIAP (Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon) has said this is a fight for everything.

"We are tired of being silent against the abuses of the government such as recent legislation passed which makes it easier for foreign companies to buy up indigenous lands in the Amazon. And over 70% of Amazon lands are now in the hands of oil companies. Over 1500 police have been deployed to Camisea, Bagua, and Marañon. Government helicopters have been circling locations taken over by indigenous protesters. The government had declared a state of emergency and had given permission for police to shoot protesters on the spot, but we indigenous peoples think this cause is worth dying for and are not scared anymore."



Roads and rivers have been blockaded, oil pipelines were closed, oil operations have been occupied, and major industry was blocked from river travel between, in and around Iquitos and Pucallpa, the two major urban centers of the Peruvian Amazon.

What the indigenous front is asking for is direct dialogue with Alan Garcia, President of Peru, and his administration and the repeal of a number of destructive laws. The President claims that bringing industry and foreign investment into the furthermost reaches of the Amazon will bring people out of poverty. This is a clash between two different development paradigms. Many indigenous peoples have already determined their own development path and it does not include the wide-scale exploitation of resources and the industrial take over of their lands.

Much of the legislation being passed right now in Peru is a direct result of the recently signed Free Trade Agreement with the United States which requires opening up communal indigenous lands to foreign investors.

US citizens can help by contacting your local congressman and make them aware of the human rights abuses Peru's government is perpetrating against the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the negative affects of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

Just because the protests have ended does not mean the struggle has ended. The government of Peru needs to respect the fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples and international laws that allow for self-determination and rights over land and resources.

In solidarity,
Organization for the Defense and the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon