Thread by @StefSimanowitz

1/. On Sunday - the day of the #BrazilianElections & week before the start of #COP27 - a traffic island in front of the Brazilian embassy by Trafalgar Sq, London, will be transformed into a tropical rainforest, the first of many #RainforestIslands to spring up around the world...

2/. #Rainforestisland – a cornucopia of trees, plants & forest creatures – will be a platform for activists to gather throughout the #COP27 & is intended to amplify Indigenous voices who’ve yet again been excluded from their rightful place on the top table beside decision-makers.

3/. Indigenous communities have conserved & sustained our planet for thousands of years & are the true experts at protecting biodiversity

It is time for us to listen to them, not because they need our help, but because we need theirs! #COP27

@IndiMiro👇

4/. #RainforestIsland will host a programme of activities: 11am - 6pm

Music, performances & talks by political & cultural figures as well as Indigenous People

A vigil will be held for #DomPhilips & #BrunoPereira, & the 1,733 environmental activists murdered over the last decade

5/. “I’m so sorry for what my nation did to your nation. For what my ancestors did to your ancestors”

At #RainforestIsland we’ll also hold a redemption ceremony

Redemption requires
🌻Acknowledgment of the wrong
🌻Contrition
🌻Penance (i.e. making amends)

6/. “We have a big problem with deforestation. Factories are being built. Our rivers are being polluted. That is why I have travelled to COP. To ask the leaders of the world to really act.”

Chief Ninawa Huni Kui from the Amazon at COP26, with Mindahi Bastida of @MingaIndigena.

7/.. “Don’t close your eyes. Don’t bite your tongue. Look at what’s happening & raise your voice because each one of us is responsible for looking after our planet”
(Manuela Dahua from Ecuador)

#RainforestIsland is a place to reforest our thoughts, & our hearts & our actions.

8/. Indigenous communities around the world speak 4000+ languages

On the #ClimateEmergency, they speak with one voice

“We’ve come to COP because leaders are here. But these world leaders are not listening to our leaders; to the indigenous leaders”
(Uboye Gaba from Mexico, 2021)

9/. “We are physically kicking out loggers, mining companies & land grabbers every day. We need your support to bring attention to what is happening”

Puyr Tembe, president of @FEPIPA_Oficial in Brazil

With #BrazilElections & #COP27 the future of the Amazon hangs in the balance.

10/. “The wind has carried me here across the ocean like a bird. I’ve brought with me the hearts & souls of my community. I’ve also brought a message: that Indigenous People are the solution to the problem”

Waorani Enqueri, Ecuador, at COP26

#COP27 must embrace these solutions

11/. Indigenous communities have conserved & sustained our planet for thousands of years & are the original “climate scientists”.

Their cultures are inextricably connected to their lands & they have lived sustainably with their ecosystems for generations.
westcountryvoices.com/honour-our-kno…