Friends of the Earth International an Environmental NGO, has warned that any proposal on reducing carbon emissions, that increases the economic value of forests may trigger an increase in land right abuses. This will lead to corporate control over forest resources, without consideration for customary or territorial rights of indigenous peoples and other forest dependent communities.
The Co-ordinator in charge of Forest and Biodiversity programmes of the Friends of the Earth International, Belmond Tchumba who made the point at the ongoing Accra Climate Change Talks, emphasized that if the value of forests increase, local communities, may lose their rights to forests, from governments and forest management institutions.
Mr. Tchumba therefore called for land rights to be prioritized. He regretted that the climate talks continue to take place without the participation of indigenous people An International Climate Campaigner, from the Friends of the Earth US, Kate Holmer, stressed that, the inclusion of forests in profits accruing from carbon rights promotes what she termed business as usual, pollution practices in industrialized countries and diverts attention from real efforts to tackle climate change. Sixty million indigenous people are dependent on forests for livelihoods, food and medicines.
