Championing diverse voices
Getting the right people in the room
All too often, the right people are not in the room. When big policy decisions are being made about how we treat nature, the people who will be most affected are not even consulted. Forums where the use of land, water, and nature on local, regional, and global levels are being discussed frequently lack input from ethnic groups, women, disabled people, and youth, who find themselves excluded. Consequently, the actions taken (however well-meaning) often only benefit a select few or, worse, have unintended negative consequences which could have been foreseen.
Local communities dependent on their lands and waters for their livelihoods find fences built for protected areas before they have any opportunity to advocate for their right to access the land they rely upon. Indigenous Peoples whose ways of life and cultures are intrinsically linked with their rivers learn that the government has approved a new hydropower dam without considering the cultural and ecological impact. It is critical that the perspectives of the communities who know the land best and depend on healthy ecosystems are are empowered to influence the decisions which will impact their futures.
Members of the Dusun community, in the Papar region of Malaysian Borneo, are working with Synchronicity Earth partner TAKAD to protect their land under threat from the Kaiduan dam project. Image © Chris Scarffe
Deeper engagement in conservation forums
Many of our partners recognise the potential impact of engaging in these decision-making spaces, but they can sometimes struggle to access them. They may lack the financial support to attend, have difficulty with the various visa requirements, or experience language issues. By the support we have provided over time, we have learned more about some of the barriers which can prevent organisations, communities, and individuals invested in these decisions from being welcomed into local, regional, and global forums.