Pricey Western donors of conservation in Kenya:
We, the Sengwer, Indigenous individuals from Embobut forest, are writing to you from our ancestral land. That is our forest, our livelihood, our medication, the land the place our ancestors are buried and that we have now been defending for generations.
This forest wouldn’t exist with out us. We’re the house owners and custodians of this forest.
We’re writing to you immediately to induce you to cease funding conservation tasks which might be stealing our land and destroying our life. The cash you’re 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 should 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, we have now the information to handle 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 ought to be within the forefront of any conservation challenge, 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 method we are going to go away this forest. We won’t 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 bear in mind that with out us the forest might be killed too.
We urge you to cease funding violations of Indigenous methods of life, that are sustainable and respectful of the atmosphere. As an alternative, 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 in addition in the remainder of the world.
Yours sincerely,
The Sengwer individuals from Embobut forest
2022
