The clamor of indigenous peoples for recognition of their ancestral lands resounded among the delegates of 195 countries at the climate summit taking place in the Peruvian capital. “I want my land…that’s where I live and eat, and it’s where my saintly grandparents lie,” Diana Ríos shouted with rage.

The 21-year-old Asháninka woman is the daughter of Jorge Ríos, an indigenous leader who was killed in September for defending the forests of his community, Alto Tamaya Saweto, in Peru’s Ucayali jungle region.

The families blame his death and the murders of three other native leaders in that area on illegal loggers, and protested Friday at COP20 – the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – to demand formal title to their land.

The main demand set forth by indigenous activists at COP20 is focused on gaining recognition of their land ownership, and with that the protection of their forests and respect for their ancestral knowledge and collective rights.

In the eight countries that share South America’s Amazon jungle, formal collective title is lacking on nearly 100 million hectares of native land, according to the Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA).

In Peru, where the widows from the community of Alto Tamaya Saweto came from, there are still 633 native communities without title to their land, according to the non-governmental Instituto del Bien Común (Institute for the Common Good).

For the complete article, please see Inter Press Service.