Indigenous leaders from the Amazon to the Andes bring their demands to the COP30
A boat with dozens of Indigenous leaders landed at Belem, Brazil, a day before the United Nations COP30 Climate Summit.
They wanted to have a bigger say in the management of their territory, especially as climate change continues to escalate and more industries, such as mining, oil drilling, and logging, are pushing deeper into forests.
Lucia Ixchiu said, "We are not just interested in securing money or funding," a K'iche Indigenous from Guatemala. She was one of the approximately 60 passengers. "We want to achieve a consensus so that Indigenous territories are not sacrificed anymore."
She told the crew from the boat, which was in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon.
Earth Insight, the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities and other organizations released a report last week that said 17% of the Amazon rainforest is now under threat of oil and gas drilling and mining concessions.
Global Witness reports that between 2012 and 2024, 1,690 environmental activists were either killed or disappeared in countries sharing the Amazon rainforest: Congo, Indonesia Mexico Central America.
Ixchiu stated that "Mother Earth is not a business, and therefore it doesn't have to revolve around the money." Indigenous people have been practicing other ways to relate with biodiversity and the life on our planet for more than 12,000 years.
CELEBRATORY ARRIVE
Ixchiu was wrapped in woolen chullo and jackets when she joined the expedition to protect her from the cold Andean glacier. The look changed with the warmer weather, from the purple and black short-sleeved top she wore on landing to the scene of celebration at the banks of Belem.
The group presented an offering, including candles, chants and sweets. They also included coca leaves, seeds, and a llama foetus. The group was performing a ritual to honor Mother Earth and deities before embarking on their journey.
The passengers of the flotilla, who had changed boats on their journey, celebrated with caipirinhas and a banquet.
Ixchiu stated that they started the journey at the headwaters rivers that feed into the Amazon in order to show the dangers faced by mountain glaciers due to climate change and extraction.
The Andes range is the longest in the world and contains over 99% the tropical glaciers. According to the UN World Water Development Report 2025, the Andes have lost between 30 and 50 percent of their glacier water since the 1980s.
The group made stops in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil along the way to highlight the challenges faced by different Amazonian community.
In Coca, Ecuador they held a funeral of fossil fuels. In Manaus (Brazil), they screened short films and held workshops for local communities.
The team also had a few political discussions and periodically delayed their journey due to the logistical difficulties and changing conditions of the river while they observed the debris and pollution.
The group, which changed vessels regularly, arrived in a wooden three-story boat, nicknamed Yaku Mama or Water Mother.
Ixchiu, who traveled for 30 days with Indigenous youths, said that despite the geopolitical tensions and the slow pace of the COP negotiations she felt optimistic about the future.
She said, "I can see their commitment to the defense of the territory," upon her arrival in Belem. "This is the Amazon COP because we are here and demanding the places we deserve." Reporting by Karen Toro on the expedition; Alexander Villegas, in Santiago, Chile; and Valerie Volcovici, in Belem Brazil. Editing by Katigle Daigle and Diane Craft.
(source: Reuters)