Indigenous Peoples and Nations Set Out Shared Mandate for Their Territories
A collective declaration reaffirms ancestral rights, self-governance and the protection of Indigenous lands.
Indigenous Peoples and Nations have issued a shared mandate reaffirming their rights to their territories and their long-standing role as their guardians.
The declaration was highlighted by Amazon Watch, an Ecoflix partner that supports Indigenous communities across the Amazon basin.
The statement opens by recalling that Indigenous Peoples and Nations existed before the creation of States.
Since ancestral times, it says, they have inhabited, governed and protected their territories, drawing on their own forms of government, knowledge and ways of life.
The mandate underlines a set of collective, territorial and self-determination rights that the communities hold and continue to exercise.
By setting these principles out together, the Peoples and Nations offer a clear and unified expression of who they are and what they stand for.
It is a reminder that the protection of these lands is rooted in generations of stewardship and lived experience.
Such declarations help bring Indigenous voices to the centre of conversations about the future of the territories they call home.
You can watch the story of the communities and the landscapes they protect through Amazon Watch.