Sorong, West Papua, Sept. 29, 2025 – Indigenous forest defenders forged a new alliance this past week in the heart of West Papua’s rainforest. The Forest Defender Camp, constructed among the trees by the Sira Village community on Tehit-Knasaimos Indigenous territory,  accommodated Indigenous youth from all seven customary regions of West Papua. The camp also drew Indigenous youth representatives from the Congo Basin, the Amazon, and Borneo, who gathered to show unified resistance against the forces driving the climate and biodiversity crises.

Ahead of scheduled international biodiversity and climate talks later this year, the Forest Defender Camp was conceived as a means of strengthening the movement to defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to amplify their voices. Over several days of intensive discussions, the camp’s 89 Indigenous participants agreed upon a call to action for world leaders, captured in the Sira Declaration. 

The declaration outlines demands reflecting the common challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples across the Congo Basin, the Amazon, Borneo, and West Papua, including calling for legal protection for Indigenous rights and direct access to climate funding for those who are the most reliable guardians of the world’s critical ecosystems.

For Gylain Mbale Mola, an Indigenous leader from the Congo Basin and forum participant, the Forest Defender Camp was an opportunity for us, young indigenous people from tropical forest regions around the world, to share our experiences, our struggles, and also our hopes for the protection of forests and our land rights.

“From the Congo Basin, the Amazon, Borneo, the Mekong, and Papua, we face the same challenges. For three days, we joined forces and spoke with one voice. We have come together to defend the Earth, demand our inclusion, direct access to climate  finance, and the recognition and integration of our traditional knowledge into policies to combat climate change,” he said. 

Nabot Sreklefat of the Knasaimos Indigenous Youth Community believes the presence of representatives from throughout West Papua and from the other major tropical rainforest regions of the world is a source of profound inspiration. “Shamefully, the voices of youth, and especially Indigenous youth, are routinely sidelined in decision-making. My hope is that from this forest defender camp our voices will carry to the national and international stage,” he said while opening the camp.

“The Sira Declaration is an essential advocacy tool, embodying the collective commitment of Indigenous youth from tropical forest regions. It reaffirms their determination to defend their rights, demand their inclusion in decision-making processes, and make their voices heard on the international stage. As COP30 approaches, this declaration must serve as a compass for world leaders to make courageous and equitable decisions that recognize and support those who protect our forests on a daily basis,” said Bonaventure Bondo, Congo Basin Forest Campaigner.

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Read the full Sira Declaration, French version Photos and videos are available for use.