Sorong, West Papua, Sept. 29, 2025 – Indigenous forest defenders forged a new alliance this past week in the heart of West Papua’s tropical 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.
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.
Nathalia Kycendekarun Apurinã, an Amazonian Indigenous leader and forum participant, delivered a powerful message: the world’s equatorial rainforests and the people who protect them are the very foundation of life on Earth, safeguarding biodiversity and providing air, water, and climate stability. She stressed that Indigenous youth share a commitment to protect their ancestral lands, honour their heritage, and secure a future for their descendants.
“The climate crisis requires everyone – governments, businesses, and international organisations to join us. The solution exists, and it is rooted in our traditional knowledge and our connection to nature. The time for action is now. For this planet to survive, the tropical forests of the Congo Basin, the Amazon, Borneo, and West Papua must remain intact. Leaders say they’re searching for an answer, but the answer has always been here. The answer is us,” said Nathalia, who is a spokesperson for The Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB).
Kiki Taufik, Global Head of Greenpeace’s Indonesia forests campaign, hopes the Sira Declaration will carry Indigenous Peoples’ demands to the 30th climate conference in Belem, Brazil, this November. “The twin climate and biodiversity crises pose an existential global threat to the future of the younger generation. The voices that reach the ears of world leaders must be those of the true protectors of our forests. Indigenous youth are the key to Earth’s future,” Kiki said.
Notes:
Read the full Sira Declaration.
Photos and videos are available for use.
Media Contacts:
Igor O’Neill, Greenpeace Indonesia, [email protected] +61-414-288-424
Amos Sumbung, Greenpeace Indonesia, +62811486327
