2.2.9 Natural Resources
Property rights, management and control of natural renewable resources have serious obstacles, one of them is the creation of natural parks and other protected area over our territories (be them legally recognized or not). It is a topic present in all Amazon countries. To overcome the conflicts that this situation generates, in some countries the States have created a double modality, indigenous territory-protected area, whereas in others, they have opened participation spaces within the entities found in the area or through specific actions. In others, they continue imposing restrictions towards us, while, at least in some cases, they approve even oil exploitations.
In all these cases, the contradicting elements are the same. On one hand, that of property (who is the owner of a given territory) and in the other, authority (who has the competence and faculty for the control and management of such territorial spaces). This latter one, takes place also in the areas of double condition, where our authority is considered as subordinate to the authority of the area. Our stance in the diverse countries, although some have common elements, such as that of insisting on the prevalence of territorial rights over any protection figure, as well as the free access and control of existing natural resources, presenting a few variables.
In Colombia, OPIAC maintains that “…the parks and protected areas make collective rights of the indigenous peoples vulnerable. Which one of the two laws- that of the State or that of indigenous peoples is the one that rules over protected areas? Indigenous peoples do not want parks within their territories. If the government has already recognized Defense Areas in the Amazon, why do they want protected areas and natural parks? If the State will truly recognize the role of indigenous peoples in conservation, it wouldn’t have a reason to create different figures (3rd Congress of the OPIAC, 2001).
In Peru, the conformation of communal reserves is a strategy of the organizations to attain a territorial expansion and environmental protection, AIDESEP counts with a proposal to include the topic in the rulings over Natural Protected Areas. In Ecuador, there are several initiatives from the organizations, which are not connected into a joint indigenous strategy at the regional level. Therefore, there is a proposal to implement a double condition category (Shuar-Condor), where the Achuar analyze the option that their territory does not coincides with any protected areas and be recognized as such. This is a territorial defense strategy against oil exploitation. Many others see in the recognition of determined protected areas, such as indigenous territories, a territorial extension strategy, as is the case of the OPIP.. In Guyana, APA has manifested its concern with the creation of protected areas, however, they plan the need that the management be direct when these are found in ancestral lands.
We’ve pointed out other central points that must be taken into account, in addition of the prominence of our territorial rights: the prohibition of all kinds of external extractive activities in already declared protected areas and guarantee that we account with the economic benefits over environmental services. The elimination of superposed protected areas, particularly those that affect our own territories. The direct participation of our representative organizations on political, legal and other decisions that affect us as peoples.
