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Indigenous groups in the Amazon have proposed the creation of the world’s biggest protected area, a 200m-hectare sanctuary for people, wildlife and climate stability that would stretch across borders from the Andes to the Atlantic.

The plan, presented to the UN Conference on Biodiversity in Egypt on Wednesday, puts the alliance of Amazon communities in the middle of one of the world’s most important environmental and political disputes.

Colombia previously outlined a similar triple-A (Andes, Amazon and Atlantic) protection project that it planned to put forward with the support of Ecuador at next month’s climate talks. But the election of new rightwing leaders in Colombia and Brazil has thrown into doubt what would have been a major contribution by South American nations to reduce emissions.

The indigenous alliance, which represents 500 cultures in nine Amazonian countries, has now entered the fray with its own proposal for a “sacred corridor of life and culture” that would be the size of Mexico.

“We have come from the forest and we worry about what is happening ,” said Tuntiak Katan, the vice-president of Coica (Coordinator of the Indigenous Organisation of the Amazon River Basin). “This space is the world’s last great sanctuary for biodiversity. It is there because we are there. Other places have been destroyed.”

The organisation does not recognise national boundaries, which were put in place by colonial settlers and their descendants without the consent of indigenous people who have lived in the Amazon for millennia. Katan said the group was willing to talk to anyone who was ready to protect not just biodiversity but the territorial rights of forest communities.

Colombia’s initial proposal was smaller and focused only on biodiversity and climate. But government enthusiasm has waned since an election in June in which the rightwing populist Iván Duque took power. Brazil was more sceptical but had previously engaged in ministerial-level talks on the corridor-plan. Its opposition is likely to grow under its new rightwing president, Jair Bolsonaro, who will take power in January.

Last month Bolsonaro indicated he would only stay in the Paris climate agreement if he had guarantees ensuring Brazilian sovereignty over indigenous land and the “triple A” region.

“136 million hectares of land and the Solimões and Amazon rivers would not be in our jurisdiction because they would be considered essential for the survival of humanity. So I ask you, with that Paris agreement, would we take the risk of giving up the Amazon?” he said at a press conference.

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Amazon indigenous groups propose Mexico-sized ‘corridor of life’

this naked paint party celebrates trans and gnc bodies

projectqueer:

When HRC and UCONN conducted a survey of 12,000 LGBTQ youth last year, they received responses from 5,600 ‘gender-expansive’ youth. This term includes trans and non-binary teens.

The results from those respondents created the new Gender-Expansive Youth Report.

It reveals the realities for gender-expansive youth in the US. Last year, the Williams Institute reported that approximately 150,000 people aged 13-17 identify as trans.

CLICK THE HEADER LINK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

Trans youth are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted or raped in the US