{"id":78186,"date":"2025-08-29T10:44:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T08:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=78186"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T08:45:07","slug":"we-the-indigenous-people-of-the-forest-refuse-to-be-ignored-any-longer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/78186\/we-the-indigenous-people-of-the-forest-refuse-to-be-ignored-any-longer\/","title":{"rendered":"We, the Indigenous People of the forest, refuse to be ignored any longer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"People
Marking International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in the village of Lokolama, Congo Basin forest, Democratic Republic of Congo. Banner reads: \u201cWe are the forest. We are the solution.\u201d
\u00a9 Greenpeace Africa<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Every year on August 9, the world briefly turns its gaze toward Indigenous People. Our cultures are celebrated, our songs and painted faces put on display. And then, silence returns. Behind the cliche, our communities remain marginalised, dispossessed, and forgotten. This must end.<\/p>\n\n

I am Valentin Engobo Mufia, a son of Lokolama, a land nestled deep within the equatorial forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I have witnessed my people treated as strangers on their own ancestral lands. Our ancestral knowledge is dismissed, mocked, or exploited. My tribe, the Tshwa, has lived in harmony with the forest for generations. We know its plants, its spirits, its secrets. And yet, in the minds of many decision-makers, we are still seen as \u201csub-citizens,\u201d obstacles to development, shadows in the trees.<\/p>\n\n

\"Local
Greenpeace Africa joined local and Indigenous communities of Lokolama, Penz\u00e9l\u00e9 and Mbandaka in the village of Lokolama, Congo Basin forest, Democratic Republic of Congo in celebration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
\u00a9 Greenpeace Africa<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Indigenous communities challenging the status quo\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n

My grandfather was one of the first in our region to challenge this invisibility, refusing to accept the submissive role imposed by colonial powers and local elites. He opened a path. Today, I continue that fight. Not for myself, but so that my children and their children may one day walk in a living forest, with their heads held high.<\/p>\n\n

Because it is not only our culture that is under threat. It is also your future. The peatlands we have protected for centuries are among the most vital carbon sinks on earth. They are a natural barrier against climate chaos. And yet, instead of listening to us, we are sidelined. We are denied land rights over territories we have safeguarded for generations. Destructive projects continue to be approved without our consent, sometimes even in our name, but without our presence.<\/p>\n\n

\"People
Greenpeace Africa joined local and Indigenous communities of Lokolama, Penz\u00e9l\u00e9 and Mbandaka in the Congo Basin forest to learn how they protect their environment and chart sustainable solutions for the future.
\u00a9 Greenpeace Africa<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

I have taken this fight to the highest levels, even filing a complaint against the World Bank for harmful policies imposed on our lands. This is more than a political battle. It is a fight for survival, for dignity, for the right to exist without having our identity erased or hijacked by others.<\/p>\n\n

Today, we no longer accept symbolic gestures or hollow promises. We demand:<\/p>\n\n