Pricey Western donors of conservation in Kenya:
We, the Sengwer, Indigenous folks from Embobut forest, are writing to you from our ancestral land. That is our forest, our livelihood, our drugs, the land the place our ancestors are buried and that now we have been defending for generations.
This forest wouldn’t exist with out us. We’re the homeowners and custodians of this forest.
We’re writing to you at this time to induce you to cease funding conservation tasks which might be stealing our land and destroying our life. The cash you might be giving is just not getting used to guard nature however to fund human rights violations. As proof of this, when the EU suspended after which cancelled its funding for the Water Towers Safety and Local weather Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme on Sengwer land, evictions considerably went down.
If you wish to do conservation, the very first thing you need to do is to safe land tenure for us, the Sengwer, and different Indigenous Peoples. With out our rights revered there can’t be any forest left. Our lifestyle is determined by the forest, now we have the data to care for it, we don’t exploit it however use it sustainably. Our conventional lifestyle is conservation. We co-exist with nature and make this forest wealthy. We’re those who must be within the forefront of any conservation undertaking, not the Kenyan authorities.
This mannequin of nature safety that you simply fund comes from colonial instances and can result in genocide. There isn’t a means we’ll depart this forest. We is not going to give up an inch of this land. If the Kenyan authorities desires to kill us, it’s higher they kill us on our land. However remember that with out us the forest can be killed too.
We urge you to cease funding violations of Indigenous methods of life, that are sustainable and respectful of the setting. As a substitute, work with us to guard our forest, by defending our rights. And this not just for us, the Sengwer, however for all communities in Kenya and likewise in the remainder of the world.
Yours sincerely,
The Sengwer folks from Embobut forest
2022
