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The following is an excerpt from two chapters of the newly published The Archipelago of Hope (2017) by Gleb Raygorodetskyan enlightening global journey revealing how the inextricable links between Indigenous cultures and their territories are the foundation for climate change resilience around the world. The Indigenous traditional territories are islands of biocultural diversity in the ever-rising sea of development and urbanization.

Photo: Screen grab of OHCHR video marking the 10-year anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, showing a Maya village in Toledo, Belize.

In a regional international court on Monday, October 23rd, 2017 Maya leaders attested there has been a “complete failure” by the government of Belize to abide by the court order to identify and protect the proprietary rights of the Maya Peoples to their customary lands.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Deadline: October 27, 2017

Keepers of the Earth Fund

Cultural Survival is pleased to announce the Keepers of the Earth Fund (KOEF) Call for Applications. The KOEF is a small grants fund that supports Indigenous values-based community development.  These grants have supported Indigenous-led projects on the leading edge of solutions to the most pressing issues for Indigenous Peoples everywhere.  

The first world conference for one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN Ocean Conference, focused on SDG Goal 14: Life Below Water, to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”  Fiji and Sweden co-chaired and coordinated the June 5 - 9, 2017 global gathering at the UN headquarters in New York. More than 6,000 people from all sectors of society attended the conference where 150 events and 41 exhibits were held.

By John McPhaul

In October 2016, a number of Costa Rican Indigenous representatives attended a meeting in the regional hub of Buenos Aires in southern Costa Rica. Called by the government’s Ministry of the Presidency as part of a consultation process, the meeting was an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples to voice their opposition to a giant dam proposed on the Diquis Reservoir that would inundate part of their land.

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