European Development Days 2019_The guardians of the territory

Indigenous peoples and environmental human rights defenders are today under menace: environmental degradation driven by political and economic interests aggravates inequality and impacts on communities, who are denied basic rights and face repression. Indigenous peoples and environmental human rights defenders are at the forefront of defending their territories, notably against projects that exploit natural resources. There is growing evidence that full legal ownership of land by indigenous peoples is key to preserving biodiversity and combating poverty and climate change.