A Shipibo Message on Climate Threat

Sunflower Sutras visited and collaborated with the Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Perú (@conapperu), which represents 900+ indigenous communities to create a short film with the Shipibo Indigenous community of Calleria in the Peruvian Amazon on the effects of climate change on their community. This short film was presented by the Confederación de Nacionalidades Amazónicas del Perú (CONAP) President, Oseas Barbaran, at COP28 in Dubai. We are in ongoing production of a longer film on the effect of globalization, climate change, and evangelism on their community’s environment and loss of traditional knowledge. The preservation of traditional knowledge and perennial wisdom is deeply intertwined with the survival of indigenous communities who are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. Despite the fact that indigenous people represent only five percent of the global population, they are protecting 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity (International Institute for Sustainable Development 2022). Allocating resources directly to indigenous communities’ projects and initiatives is one of the most just and meaningful ways to make progress towards climate solutions and rematriation.

A message from CONAP in their own words:

“It is proven that the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon are the most affected by climate change and those who work the most for its mitigation. Day by day we fight climate change from our territory, with our ancestral knowledge and our relationship with the forests and Mother Nature, but our resources are running out. We are fighting a war of giants and we need support. During recent years, indigenous organizations like us have been strengthened politically and technically. We have demonstrated that we are prepared to receive funds directly to carry out actions in our territories.”