A canoe for Survival and tribal peoples at the Canoe Slalom World Championships

A canoe for Survival and tribal peoples at the Canoe Slalom

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Having grappled with national tests at Bratislava and at Augsburg, and qualified for the pre-world championship tests in Tacen, Slovenia, the young Italian athlete and ambassador for Survival International Angela Prendin has reached the final hurdle: she will compete at the Canoe Slalom World Championships, held this year at La Seu d’Urgell in the heart of Catalonia from the 9th to the 13th of September.   Angela will compete with a special canoe, inspired by the traditional kayak used by the natives of North America and the Inuit peoples of the Arctic. Her canoe will be emblazoned with Survival International's logo. This will enable the young athlete to combine her passion for canoeing with a solid humanitarian cause, so helping the world’s indigenous peoples to defend their basic human rights.   "I first became involved with Survival some years ago” says Angela. “A friend of mine sent me one of their <a href="../../../../../shopping/product_listing.php?id=2">Christmas cards</a>, which was very evocative for me: an Inuit pulling a canoe across the Artic ice. From that day began my interest in indigenous peoples and the work of Survival. I was very busy at the time and my income was very little... however, in spite of this, I knew I wanted to do much more than simply <a href="../../../../../donate">make donations</a>. My competitions take me around the World, and I began to think about international advertising. The violations that are perpetrated against indigenous peoples around the world are unacceptable and I believe it is crucial that more people know about what is happening to them. Giving a voice to the most threatened tribal peoples through my sport, I hope to contribute in a effective way to the defence of their rights and futures.”   Angela, 24, is competing for the Canoe Club of Mestre and took up the sport at the age of 11. Since 2000 she has been a member of the Italian women’s canoeing team, and has won many titles, both national and international. In 2008 she missed qualifying for the Olympics by only 29 hundredths of a second.   The Olympic Games Park at Segre, where the Canoe Slalom Championships will be held, is renowned for having hosted the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. It has a special place in the heart of Italian athletes and water-sport enthusiasts, as it was in that same canal in 1992 that Italy won its first Olympic gold medal in the Canoe Slalom World Championship with Pier Paolo Ferrazzi.

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A canoe for Survival and tribal peoples at the Canoe Slalom World Championships

http://bit.ly/3AKfdf

A canoe for Survival and tribal peoples at the Canoe Slalom World Championships

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2009-09-15T10:33:50+01:00

Sign tribal peoples’ law and help save rainforests

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As the UN Day of Indigenous Peoples approaches on Sunday, Survival is renewing its call for countries to sign up to the <a href="../../../../../campaigns/law">international law</a> for tribal peoples. ILO Convention169, which marks its twentieth anniversary this year, is the only international law to recognize and protect the land rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. It is also a key instrument in the battle to save the world’s rainforests, putting control of the land back in the hands of the people who have looked after it for generations. Davi Kopenawa, a <a href="../../../../../tribes/yanomami">Yanomami</a> shaman from the Brazilian Amazon dubbed ‘the Dalai Lama of the rainforest’, says, ‘I’m asking all governments to sign ILO 169 to guarantee our rights.’ To date, just twenty countries have ratified ILO 169, only three of which are members of the EU. The UK refuses to ratify ILO 169 on the basis that there are no tribal peoples in the country, ignoring the impact of British-run projects on tribal communities. So far, 93 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion in parliament calling on the government to ratify the Convention without delay. Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Tribal peoples are among the most marginalised and vulnerable peoples in the world. When their land is taken from them, often in the name of development, they lose everything. If world leaders are serious about human rights, and about saving the rainforests, they will ratify this law.’<a href="../../../../../campaigns/law">Read more about ILO 169</a>For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross: T (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504543367 E <a href="mailto:mr@survival-international.org">mr@survival-international.org</a>

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Davi Kopenawa Yanomami is appealing to governments to sign ILO 169

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As the UN Day of Indigenous Peoples approaches on Sunday, Survival is renewing its call for countries to sign up to the international law for tribal peoples.

Sign tribal peoples’ law and help save rainforests – call for action on UN Indigenous Peoples’ Day

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Top 3 places not to go on holiday

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As the holiday season enters full swing, Survival International today names three destinations holidaymakers should avoid: •    <a href="../../../../../about/barefoot">Barefoot Resort</a>, South Andaman Island, India •    Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana •    ‘First contact’ expeditions, West Papua Barefoot India has established a tourist resort near the edge of the reserve created to protect the <a href="../../../../../tribes/jarawa">Jarawa</a> tribe. The resort puts one of the world’s most recently-contacted tribes at risk from swine flu and other diseases to which they are likely to have little immunity. The Botswana government is promoting the Central Kalahari Game Reserve as a tourist destination, and is allowing a safari company to build a lodge that will use large amounts of water. But it refuses to allow the <a href="../../../../../tribes/bushmen">Bushmen</a> to use a single water borehole inside the reserve. Treks to meet isolated tribes in <a href="../../../../../tribes/papuan">West Papua</a>, Indonesia – including one offered by American ‘adventurer’ Kelly Woolford to an area where tribes supposedly ‘have had no contact with the outside world’ – could, if true, have catastrophic consequences. Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Responsible tourists should keep well away from areas where <a href="../../../../../campaigns/uncontactedtribes">uncontacted</a> or recently-contacted tribes live. There are numerous cases where at least half of a tribe has died from disease soon after their first contact with outsiders. ‘Many of the Kalahari Bushmen would welcome tourism on their own terms. But promoting tourism while the Bushmen go thirsty is a slap in the face. Visitors will be sipping cocktails in the bar while the Bushmen living nearby are forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to access water. ‘There’s nothing wrong with tourists visiting tribal peoples who have been in routine contact with outsiders for some time, but only if the tribal people want them to, have proper control over where they go and what they do, and get a fair share of the profit. Unfortunately, this hardly ever happens.’ <a href="http://assets.survival-international.org/documents/63/tourism_brochure.pdf">Download Survival’s tourism advice leaflet </a>For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross: T (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504543367 E <a href="mailto:mr@survival-international.org">mr@survival-international.org</a>

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Jarawa men, Andaman Islands

2009-08-03T01:00:00+01:00

As the holiday season enters full swing, Survival International today names three destinations holidaymakers should avoid.

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Top 3 places not to go on holiday

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New report reveals five uncontacted tribes most at risk

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One year after <a href="../../../../../news/3340">photos of uncontacted Amazon Indians</a> made headlines around the world, a <a href="http://assets.survival-international.org/documents/14/One_Year_On_Survival_Report.pdf">new report from Survival International</a> reveals the five uncontacted tribes most at risk of extinction. They are: * Indians of the Pardo River, Brazil * The <a href="../../../../../tribes/awa">Awá</a>, Brazil * <a href="../../../../../tribes/isolatedperu">Indians between the Napo and Tigre Rivers</a>, Peru * <a href="../../../../../tribes/isolatedperu">Indians of the Envira River</a>, Peru * The <a href="../../../../../tribes/ayoreo">Ayoreo-Totobiegosode</a>, Paraguay These groups are all experiencing the invasion of their lands – by loggers, ranchers, colonists and oil companies – and all are at grave risk of being decimated by diseases to which they have no immunity.The Awá, Rio Pardo Indians and Envira River Indians are all falling victim to the blight of illegal hardwood logging which is penetrating even the remotest parts of the Amazon.The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode of the Chaco scrub forests in western Paraguay, on the other hand, are experiencing the illegal clearance of their forests by cattle ranchers. Satellite photos taken over the past year have revealed huge areas illegally cleared in the Indians’ heartland.In the far north of Peru, the Indians living between the Napo and Tigre Rivers are caught in the middle of Peru’s oil boom. In recent years 75% of Peru’s Amazon has been carved up into oil and gas exploration concessions. Peru’s President has denied the existence of isolated Indians in the Napo/Tigre area, despite abundant evidence of their existence.Survival’s report calls on the governments of Paraguay, Brazil and Peru urgently to protect the tribes’ lands.Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Publication of the photos a year ago caused a huge groundswell of support for the plight of uncontacted tribal people. Many had not realised that such people exist, let alone that there are more than 100 uncontacted tribes around the world. But many governments still refuse to take the simple step – properly protecting their territories – that will actually ensure the tribes’ survival.’ <a href="../../../../../news/kits/uncontacted1year">Read Survival's report and access images and video clips </a> <a href="http://assets.survival-international.org/documents/14/One_Year_On_Survival_Report.pdf">Download report (PDF) </a>Note to Editors: One month after Survival released the photos of the uncontacted Indians to the world’s press, Britain’s The Observer newspaper cast doubt on the story. Their article in turn prompted further reports falsely alleging that the photos were a hoax.  In August 2008 <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/31/voluntarysector" target="_blank">The Observer printed a retraction</a>, admitting that its article was ‘inaccurate, misleading [and] distorted’, and making clear that the photos and Survival’s accompanying press release were ‘perfectly valid’. For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email <a href="mailto:mr@survival-international.org">mr@survival-international.org</a>

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One year after photos of uncontacted Amazon Indians made headlines around the world, a new report from Survival International reveals the five uncontacted tribes most at risk of extinction.

http://bit.ly/MD7rH

One year on – New report reveals five uncontacted tribes most at risk

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'Mother Earth in climate crisis' say indigenous people

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A statement by indigenous representatives from around the world describes ‘Mother Earth (as) no longer in a period of climate change, but climate crisis.’ The statement, known as the Anchorage Declaration, was released after indigenous people from the Arctic, North America, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and Russia met in Anchorage, Alaska for the ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change’. ‘We are deeply alarmed by the accelerating climate devastation brought about by unsustainable development,’ the Declaration says. ‘We are experiencing profound and disproportionate adverse impacts on our cultures, human and environmental health, human rights, well-being, traditional livelihoods, food systems and food sovereignty, local infrastructure, economic viability, and our very survival as Indigenous Peoples.   ‘Mother Earth is no longer in a period of climate change, but in climate crisis. We therefore insist on an immediate end to the destruction and desecration of the elements of life.’ The Declaration lists fourteen specific calls for action. These include reducing levels of global carbon emissions; indigenous participation in climate change debate; the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in schemes to ‘Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation’ (REDD); the abandonment of ‘false solutions’ to climate change such as nuclear energy, ‘clean coal’ and agrofuels; the recognition by governments of indigenous peoples’ rights; and the return and restoration of ‘lands, territories, waters, forests, sea ice and sacred sites’ taken from indigenous peoples by governments in the past. The Declaration ends with an offer to ‘share with humanity our traditional knowledge. . . relevant to climate change, provided our fundamental rights. . . are fully recognized and respected. We reiterate the urgent need for collective action.’ <a href="http://www.indigenoussummit.com/servlet/content/declaration.html">Read the Anchorage Declaration </a>

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A statement by indigenous representatives from around the world describes ‘Mother Earth (as) no longer in a period of climate change, but climate crisis.’

'Mother Earth in climate crisis' say indigenous people

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Commonwealth Day: 'shameful' failure for indigenous peoples

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Only four members of the UN voted against the Declaration on Indigenous Rights in 2007: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Three are members of the Commonwealth. Of the 53 countries which now make up the Commonwealth, only two of the smallest (Dominica and Fiji) have ratified the 1989 <a href="../../../../../campaigns/law">international law </a>recognising indigenous and tribal peoples' rights. The UK refuses to recognise this law, claiming it is because there are no indigenous peoples there, but that has not stopped countries such as the Netherlands from signing. One hundred and fifty-eight members of parliament have rejected the UK government's argument and asked it to sign the law, all to no avail. Stephen Corry said today, 'The Commonwealth was partly built on the dispossession of indigenous peoples. It's time for it to catch up with the rest of the world which is finally recognising their rights. For a family of nations which claims to put human rights at the top of its agenda, it is failing, utterly and shamefully.'

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Aboriginal boy in northern Queensland, Australia.

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Only four members of the whole UN voted against the Declaration on Indigenous Rights in 2007: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Three are members of the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth Day: 'utter' and 'shameful' failure for indigenous peoples

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UN talks on climate change exclude tribal peoples

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Tribal representatives at the UN conference on climate change in Poznan, Poland, have slammed the proceedings for excluding indigenous voices and refusing to recognise tribal peoples’ rights to the forests they live in and protect. The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada acted together to delete all reference to tribal peoples’ rights in a draft agreement prepared for the conference. All four countries also refuse to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and none have ratified the international law for tribal peoples, known as <a href="../../../../../campaigns/law">ILO 169</a>. The Poznan draft agreement sets out how an international scheme to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) could be implemented. It had initially referred to ‘noting the rights and importance of engaging indigenous peoples’, but rights are not mentioned in the amended version. The REDD scheme, where rich industrialised countries pay less industrialised countries to keep their forests intact, is rapidly becoming a centrepiece for global action on climate change, and is expected to form a large part of whatever agreements replace the Kyoto Protocol when it runs out in 2012. The scheme risks seriously damaging tribal peoples’ lives and health, unless their rights to the land are recognised and respected at the outset. Research has shown that one of the best ways to protect the rainforest is to protect the rights of the people living in it. 162 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest have been recognized as indigenous territories, and are secured against deforestation. Davi Yanomami, a Yanomami shaman from Brazil, has said ‘The forest cannot be bought; it is our life and we have always protected it. Without the forest, there is only sickness, and without us, it is dead land. Give us back our lands and our health before it’s too late for us and too late for you.’ The lands of many tribes remain unprotected, and even land which has already been recognised is under threat. The Indians of <a href="../../../../../tribes/raposa">Raposa Serra do Sol</a> are reaching the end of a battle in the Supreme Court of Brazil to maintain <a href="../../../../../news/4021">recognition of their land</a> after a powerful consortium of farmers and politicians tried to overturn the demarcation.

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Makuxi children at Uiramutã, Raposa Serra do Sol, Brazil

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UN talks on climate change exclude tribal peoples

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BRUCE PARRY AND STARS OF MUSIC CREATE ALBUM FOR SURVIVAL

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Bruce Parry, star of the BBC series ‘Tribe’ and ‘Amazon’, has teamed up with some of the music world’s brightest stars to create a fundraising album for Survival International, entitled <a href="/about/amazonalbum">"Amazon/Tribe - Songs for Survival"</a>. Bruce has worked with producer Martin Terefe on the album that includes KT Tunstall, will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), Johnny Borrell (Razorlight), Tom Baxter, Mystery Jets, Jason Mraz, Yusuf Islam, Hot Chip, the Go! Team and Mike Oldfield. In addition, Guy Berryman, Jonas Bjerre (MEW) and Magne F. (A-ha) have formed a new band specially for the CD called Apparatjik, and recorded a track that will also be used for the end credits of ‘Amazon’. Every track on the album is exclusive, and has been written especially for the project. The first CD of the album is titled ‘Amazon’ and features songs inspired by Bruce Parry’s new series of the same name, to be shown on BBC2 in the UK from 15 September. The second CD, entitled ‘Tribe’, is a collection of dance/experimental songs which all use samples of music Bruce recorded when living with indigenous people during the making of his hugely popular BBC show. Bruce Parry has spent years immersing himself in some of the world’s most remote tribal cultures. His first hand experience of the threats so many tribal people face to their very survival lay behind his determination to help them. He says, ‘I’ve got so much from my time with tribal people that I really wanted to do something for them in return. Being able to bring together this fantastic group of musicians seemed like a brilliant way of doing that – and it’s been wonderful to see how they’ve been inspired, in turn, by some of the incredible tribal music we’ve recorded.’ <object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gRVafSeUKfc&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gRVafSeUKfc&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object> Bruce Parry on 'Songs for Survival'Bruce’s new six part series Amazon starts in the UK on BBC2 tonight. The album is also released <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=290852168&s=143444">on iTunes</a> today, and the double CD will be released on 6 October. It can be pre-ordered now at <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruce-Parry-Presents-Amazon-Tribe/dp/B001EDG2GS/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_3">Amazon.co.uk</a> or <a href="http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/6375851/Bruce-Parry-Presents-Amazon-Tribe-Songs-For-Survival/Product.html">Play.com</a>Bruce Parry is available for interview.Photos and video of some of the recording sessions are available.More information is available from <a href="/about/amazonalbum">'Songs for Survival' on Survival's website</a>.Heather Finlay at Sainted PR on <a href="mailto:heatherfinlay@saintedpr.com">heatherfinlay@saintedpr.com</a> or (+44) (0)20 8962 5700Miriam Ross at Survival on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email <a href="mailto:mr@survival-international.org">mr@survival-international.org</a><

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Bruce Parry, star of the BBC series ‘Tribe’ and ‘Amazon’, has teamed up with some of the music world’s brightest stars to create a fundraising album for Survival International, entitled "Amazon/Tribe - Songs for Survival".

Bruce Parry brings together music world's brightest stars for 'Survival' album

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2008-09-15T12:46:01+01:00

Britain, the former colonies, and the exporting of misery

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One year after the UN General Assembly approved the Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Britain and four of its former colonies have not shaken off their reputation as leading opponents of tribal peoples’ rights. The four countries which voted against the declaration – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US – are all former British colonies. And the British government continues to resist calls to sign up to ILO Convention 169, the leading international law on tribal peoples. In addition, many of the companies in the spotlight for targeting tribal lands are based in Britain, Australia, the US or Canada. Perhaps the most controversial is UK-based Vedanta, which is planning a massive bauxite mine on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe in India, despite their steadfast opposition. Other mining companies mired in controversy are US-based Freeport McMoran, operators of the world’s biggest gold mine at Grasberg, in Papua, Indonesia, and Canadian TVI Pacific, whose mine in the Philippines has been fiercely opposed by the Subanen people. Norway’s government has recently sold its shares in British company Rio Tinto, a joint venture partner in the Grasberg mine, due to ‘a risk of contributing to severe environmental damage’. Stephen Corry, Survival’s Director, said today, ‘For centuries the colonial policies of Britain and other European countries were directly responsible for the deaths of millions of tribal people around the world. How tragic that today Britain and its former colonies are exporting another kind of misery – commercial exploitation under the guise of ‘development’.’ For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

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One year on - Britain, the former colonies, and the exporting of misery

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UN Indigenous Peoples’ Day – Survival names ‘unholy trinity’

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To mark the UN Day for Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, Survival International today named its ‘unholy trinity’ – the three worst companies abusing tribal peoples’ rights. They are: 1. VEDANTA. This FTSE-100 company is determined to construct a bauxite mine on the sacred hills of the <a href="../../../../../tribes/dongria">Dongria Kondh</a> tribe in Orissa, India. It has already built a $1 billion aluminium refinery at the foot of the hills. The Dongria Kondh, one of India’s most isolated tribes, are resolutely opposed to the mine, which will destroy them as a people. 2. PERENCO. A Franco-British oil company, Perenco is pushing ahead with drilling in the nothern Peruvian Amazon, despite being warned that its operations risk the lives of <a href="../../../../../tribes/isolatedperu">uncontacted Indian groups</a>. The company’s plans have attracted two lawsuits from Peru’s Amazon Indians, but it has vowed to carry on. 3. SAMLING. Active in Sarawak, Malaysia, for four decades, Samling has been responsible for logging vast areas of rainforest, including the ancestral lands of the nomadic <a href="../../../../../tribes/penan">Penan</a> tribe. The Penan have repeatedly blockaded logging roads in an attempt to halt the devastation of their forest, but much of it has now been destroyed. Many Penan have been arrested, and James Ho, Samling’s Chief Operating Officer, has said, ‘The Penan have no rights to the forest.’ Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Mining, oil drilling and logging – these three companies work in very different fields, but they have one thing in common – a total disregard for the lives of the people whose lands they are destroying. It’s the same old story – these companies want the resources, and don’t care what happens to the people. They may refer to ‘corporate social responsibility’ these days, but few are taken in – it’s the absolute pursuit of profit and the sweeping aside of self-sufficient people.’ For further information please call (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email <a href="mailto:mr@survival-international.org">mr@survival-international.org</a>

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2008-08-08T01:00:00+01:00

To mark the UN Day for Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, Survival International today named its ‘unholy trinity’ – the three worst companies abusing tribal peoples’ rights.

UN Indigenous Peoples’ Day – Survival names ‘unholy trinity’

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2008-09-15T18:10:12+01:00