RAN’s Community Action Grants program served as a lifeline to activists attending the COP16 Conference on Biodiversity in Cali, Colombia, in November 2024.
One of the organizations RAN supported was CENPAZ, an umbrella organization of Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, and Peasant organizations. In anticipation of the COP in October, CENPAZ organized a gathering to honor Phanor Guazaquillo Peña, an Indigenous land defender murdered in December 2023. The group created a magazine that highlighted the connection between peace and biodiversity in Colombia, which was circulated among attendees at the COP. The magazine informed conference attendees from every corner of the Earth about the unique challenges that Afro-Colombian and Indigenous peoples face in Colombia when protecting the environment and their territories. RAN’s CAG program also supported a delegation of activists from Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities throughout Colombia to attend COP16, providing critical opportunities for learning and networking with other activists and decision-makers from different countries.
CAG also provided support for delegations for frontline communities outside of Colombia to participate in the conference, including women-led Indigenous delegations from Brazil, organized by ANMIGA, and Ecuador, organized by Mujeres Amazónicas, as well as Indigenous youth from the Bolivian Amazon involved in a decade-long fight to stop the construction of major dams that would impact traditional territories and biodiversity. These delegations were able to share their knowledge of women-led deforestation, traditional practices to protect biodiversity in the Amazon, and the presentation of a toolkit to ensure the protection of land defenders within the framework of the Escazú Agreement.
CAG grants played a crucial role in bringing frontline communities to COP16, ensuring their voices were heard, and reminding policymakers of the communities’ role as true stewards of global biodiversity.