Ashaninka leader Tsitsiri Samaniego surveys the Perene Valley from atop a ridge [Neil Giardino/Al Jazeera]
Ashaninka leader Tsitsiri Samaniego surveys the Perene Valley from atop a ridge [Neil Giardino/Al Jazeera]

‘Nothing left’: How climate change uprooted an Indigenous village

From high atop a treeless ridge, Tsitsiri Samaniego can see his ancestral homeland stretching towards the horizon.

 

Samaniego, 40, is the leader of San Miguel Centro Marankiari, an Indigenous Ashaninka village cradled in the mountains of central Peru. Here, the Amazon rainforest blends into the Andean mountains, turning the rugged slopes to a lush blue-green.

But as he shields his eyes from the blistering sun, Samaniego detects signs of distress in the landscape.

Farmland has supplanted forests. The Perene River that snakes through the valley below has become contaminated, as towns and farms dump agricultural waste and sewage into its waters. Even the village’s cassava crops are blighted, with yellow lesions swelling on their leaves.

The scale of the environmental degradation has brought Samaniego to this high ridge in search of advice — from his ancestors, from the dead.

Pressing further up the incline, Samaniego arrives at a cemetery shrouded in a thicket of green. There, he pauses before an unmarked grave: that of his grandfather, Miguel Samaniego. The village of San Miguel Centro Marankiari still bears the late leader’s name.

Samaniego lays an offering of coca leaves on Miguel’s grave. Then, he lights a pipe to blow plumes of tobacco smoke over the headstone in a ritual blessing.

“This is where the spirits of our ancestors rest. They led the fight for our territory,” says Samaniego, following a moment of prayer. “When I come here, it gives me strength and courage.”

But facing the twin threats of development and climate change, Samaniego has steeled himself to a bitter reality: His ancestral land is no longer providing for his people. The land of his forefathers may not be the land of his descendants.

Read Full Article:

Share This Article

Related Articles

India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi

India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.

COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh

China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.

Why China's climate policy matters to us all

China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.

Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks

A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.