Thread by @CaroRackete

In the next days @IUCN is hosting its world conservation congress. But we need to scrutinise the solutions of the conservation industry from an angle of justice and rights.

A short 🧵why the alternative summit (watch online tomorrow!) is so important.1/x
ourlandournature.org

Why am I so interested in this topic? I studied a MSc in conservation management in the UK and I do think we all should criticise the sectors or industries we work in and push them to improve. Conservation has a racist, colonial past and in some places a neo-colonial present. 2/x

No one in the alternative congress says that conservation of wildlife and ecosystems is not necessary - there is no question the situation is urgent. But we are challenging how this should be done and who takes the decisions. 3/x

Most importantly, Indigenous and local communities want their land rights fully protected and not be evicted when new protected areas are created by gov and big conservation NGOs.

A recent case are Maasai being evicted from Ngorongoro (again!) 4/x oaklandinstitute.org/looming-threat…

While mainstream conservation often pays lip service to "include local communities" or obtain "free prior and informed consent" this is often not respected in practice - particularly in Asia and Africa.

It is our responsibility to make sure they keep their promises. 5/x

The alternative congress highlights the shortcomings and problems with the conservation industry, but also provides an alternative vision how biodiversity could be protected by the communities themselves.

Watch the congress to hear the speakers! It's streamed for free! 6/x

A big part of the discussion is on the 30x30 proposal, to protect 30% of the Earth' surface by 2030. Catchy slogan, but no science in the numbers.

If you don't have time to watch, have a read here to get an overview. 7/x

news.mongabay.com/2021/08/as-cop…

As everyone knows and agrees protecting 30% doesn't magically solve the biodiversity crisis, as long as we don't target the real drivers (habitat loss due to e.g. industrial agriculture; overfishing; climate change; pollution etc) which would mean restricting industries. 8/x

The intergov panel of biodiv experts @IPBES noted in their last global 2019 report that we must steer away from the paradigm of econ growth, in a recent workshop report together with IPCC they also suggested "finding alternatives to capitalism". 9/x

However, a lot of conservation actors are determined capitalists who think they could protect biodiversity by selling forests as carbon credits to BlackRock or creating international biodiversity offset markets. Follow @greenfinanceobs for infos on this. 10/x

Where all of this is headed also depends on how we in the global North support frontline communities.

How media reports about the IUCN conference
Who donors chose to donate to
Who conservation students chose to work for
Whether we protest and engage in direct action

11/x

A connected issue concerning land rights is the resistance of Indigenous people's in Brazil against the #MarcoTemporalNao
Read more and support here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… 12/x apiboficial.org/?lang=en

I am in no ways an expert on these issues, but people who speak in the alternative congress are, so please check out their organisation websites or follow their social media accounts to learn more and see how to support them. 13/x
ourlandournature.org/speakers

To sum up: we need to take care of the living planet, but not in the way the mainstream conservation industry tells us. We need to respect people's rights to their lands, water respected and we need to end capitalism. There are sadly no shortcuts. 14/14

(btw yes, I am also here in Marseille to connect with people, learn from the speakers, plan further projects to support, just no point to put a spotlight on myself)