Dear Jack,
This Earth Day, please take 3 minutes to watch our new animated poem, narrated by activist-poet, Nnimmo Bassey. Why? Because if we really want to protect our planet, we must stop the plan to carve out 30% of the globe as “Protected Areas.”
The 30% plan, dreamt up by political and business leaders and big conservation NGOs, will be the biggest land grab in history. It will reduce hundreds of millions of people to landless poverty, and make biodiversity loss and climate change worse.
It’s being marketed as the way to save the planet with more “conservation”; but in reality, it's about money, not science. It’s a dangerous distraction from the real solution, both for the planet and the peoples on it: to recognize indigenous land rights.
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These Khadia men were thrown off their land after it was turned into a protected area. They lived for months under plastic sheets. Millions more face this fate if the 30% plan goes ahead. © Survival
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For decades, we’ve been fighting, alongside tribal peoples and you, our supporters, to #DecolonizeConservation. Too many people assume that anything called “conservation” must be automatically good, but our tireless campaigning has begun to change that: we’ve stopped conservation projects that were destroying indigenous peoples’ lives; we played a key role in highlighting the crimes of powerful organizations like WWF; we supported victims of conservation atrocities with a platform to speak to the world. We have been telling world leaders that the fight against biodiversity loss is doomed to backfire if nature’s best guardians continue to be destroyed by “conservation.” This is far too important a battle to lose, as more and more people agree.
Today we are at a decisive stage. We must recognize indigenous peoples’ rights and stop the theft of their lands. This work for tribal peoples is vital for nature and for all humanity. There won’t be the Earth we know and love without human diversity. If we’re serious about putting the brakes on biodiversity loss, the cheapest and by far the best method is recognizing indigenous lands. It works: this is where we find 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.
So on this Earth Day, we’re asking you to support our fight against the #BigGreenLie – watch the video and take action.
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Spread the word: Watch and share on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag “#BigGreenLie.” Or send round the link to the video on YouTube to your friends and family – via text, WhatsApp or email.
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With thanks,
Fiore Longo
Head of Conservation campaign
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If the button doesn't work for you, please write your own email using the details below.
If you have time to adapt the text it'll make even more impact.
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To: [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]
Bcc: [email protected]
Subject: Stop the push for 30%
Dear Elizabeth Mrema, Boris Johnson and Ursula Von der Leyen,
I'm very concerned at the proposal to set aside 30% of the Earth as Protected Areas, which is likely to be agreed at the next Convention on Biological Diversity summit.
For local and indigenous peoples in Africa and Asia, the creation of Protected Areas on their lands has brought violence, hunger and plummeting health.
It's rarely been done with the consent of indigenous communities. There is no sign that it will be any different now. This will be the biggest land grab in history, and it will dispossess hundreds of millions of people, all in the name of conservation. And it won’t help the environment.
We urge you to drop the 30% target unless and until there are cast-iron safeguards for indigenous peoples and other local communities that will apply to all new and existing Protected Areas. Land ownership rights of tribal and indigenous peoples must be respected.
Tribal peoples are the best conservationists. Guaranteeing the protection of indigenous lands must be the principal mechanism for biodiversity conservation.
Yours,
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P.S. Unlike many NGOs, we reject government funding so our integrity is never compromised. We rely entirely on your donations to keep fighting for tribal peoples worldwide. Please donate today. Without you, there can be no Survival.
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