A new fund, announced Oct. 30, plans to support the territorial land management visions of four Indigenous organizations in Bolivia’s Madidi Landscape. It has so far attracted $650,000 in initial support from the Bezos Earth Fund, and more funding from several other sources is now being explored. “We want these funds to help us move forward,” said Gonzalo Oliver Terrazas, president of the regional organization of Indigenous People of La Paz (CPILAP) and member of the Tacana community. “It will help us reaffirm our strong commitment as Indigenous peoples to advance and to carry out territorial management responsibly, for the territories and our future generations.” According to Lilian Painter, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Bolivia, the money collected will enable the Tacana, Lecos, T’simane Mosetene and San José de Uchupiamonas Indigenous communities in Madidi to secure their land rights and livelihoods collectively. In addition, it will help them continue to conserve and protect portions of the Madidi Landscape that overlap with their territories from encroaching threats, such as illegal gold mining, as laid out in their territorial management plans. Musical band in the T’simane Mosetene Indigenous Land. Image by Robert Wallace / Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). These plans, also known as Indigenous Life Plans, were first drafted by communities in a series of workshops and community assemblies 20 years ago and are updated every five years. Facilitated by WCS technicians, technical staff and leaders from the Indigenous organizations, the groups identified a set of objectives and…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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