Source: SFGate
“Indigenous leaders from across the Amazon are urging South American presidents meeting in Bogota this week to turn promises to protect the region’s rainforest into concrete action, and to give indigenous groups more say in the region’s future. The Fifth Presidential Summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, opening Tuesday in the Colombian capital, brings together leaders alongside scientists and Indigenous representatives. The agenda includes public forums, cultural events and high-level meetings, culminating Friday with a joint declaration setting regional priorities on environmental protection and climate policy. Indigenous leaders hope to meet with national leaders face-to-face for the first time at such a summit. Indigenous groups from all eight Amazonian nations issued a statement Monday evening, calling the rainforest a global lifeline that provides about one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and acts as one of the planet’s largest carbon sinks, absorbing vast amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.” (08/19/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/indigenous-leaders-demand-action-from-south-20823959.php