Land Rights, Biodiversity and Global Health: How Can Indigenous People Help Prevent Future Pandemics? | Land Portal
Contact details: 
Stacey Zammit, stacey.zammit@landportal.info
Organizers: 
TR Foundation.jpg

The Thomson Reuters Foundation was created to advance and promote the highest standards in journalism worldwide through media training and humanitarian reporting.

For over three decades, we have been informing, connecting and empowering people around the world through our free programmes and services.

We support our work through a combination of core annual donation from Thomson Reuters , other donations and sponsorships, through external funding from other organisations as well as grants specifically dedicated to supporting our core programmes.

The Tenure Facility

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility is focused on securing land and forest rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We are the first financial mechanism to exclusively fund projects working towards this goal while reducing conflict, driving development, improving global human rights, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Ford Foundation

We believe in the inherent dignity of all people. But around the world, too many people are excluded from the political, economic, and social institutions that shape their lives. 

Language of the event: 
English
Portuguese
Spanish
French

The Ford Foundation, the Land Portal Foundation, the Tenure Facility and the Thomson Reuters Foundation launched a webinar on May 20th on the the link between “environmental imbalances” and “emerging infectious diseases".  This is well established in literature; studies have shown that activities associated with deforestation, and subsequent biodiversity loss, contribute to the spread of disease vectors and associated diseases. Maintaining intact forest cover and preventing the associated consequences of deforestation, would reduce virus emergence events.  There are many other good reasons to do it: forests store carbon, protect wildlife and sustain peoples' livelihoods. 

The argument resides that protecting Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities land rights is key in preventing future zoonotic disease spillover as their lands have been found to have less intensive deforestation, higher biodiversity and less environmental degradation in comparison to forests under other management strategies. Studies  have found that the health of tropical forests interconnects to global health, due to biodiversity protection and mitigating the consequences of global warming. The One Health initiative suggests “collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment.” Put simply, if we protect the health of the Earth, animals and environment around us, we protect our own health.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the imbalance in ecosystems being driven by human activities, and the urgent need for us to take action for the future of all species, including mankind. This webinar aims to highlight the role of Indigenous People and Local Communities land rights in this crisis. Putting them at the front lines of decision making will be vital in collaborations towards global health. To do this, this webinar will highlight the support these communities need to continue their work protecting their territories.

This event was the second of a series of webinars organised under the “Land Dialogues” series, a Tenure Facility, Land Portal, Ford Foundation and Thomson Reuters Foundation initiative promoting the importance of recognizing legal ownership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities land rights as a prerequisite for achieving national and international goals for forest governance, food security, climate mitigation, economic development, and human rights. 

 

 

Moderator

 

Jonathan Watts Jonathan Watts
Global Environment Editor
The Guardian

 

 

Panelists

 
 
Joji Carino, Forest Peoples Programme
Joji Carino
Forest Peoples
Programme
  

 
 
Carlos Zambrana, Torrelio EcoHealth Alliance
Carlos
Zambrana Torrelio

EcoHealth
Alliance

 
 
Dr. David Nabarro, World Health Organization
David Nabarro
 World Health
Organization
    
  

          
 
Eric Fevre, University of Liverpool

Eric Fevre
Institute of Infection
Veterinary and
Ecological Sciences
University
of Liverpool

   
 
Francisco Piyako, leader of the Indigenous Ashaninka people

Francisco Piyako
leader of the
Indigenous
Ashaninka
people
   

   
 
Gladys Kalema Zikusoka, Conservation Through Public Health

Gladys Kalema
Zikusoka

Conservation
Through
Public Health

     

   
Related content: 
News
2 November 2021

The UN Climate Change Conference (the official name for climate Conferences of the Parties) has happened every year since 1995. The two-week summits are an important space for stakeholders to discuss the climate crisis on a global level. These annual conferences bring together those that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international environmental treaty addressing climate change .Each year representatives from every party come together to discuss action on climate change in what is known as a COP. The 26th COP was meant to take place in Glasgow, UK last November, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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