Forus member in Bolivia, Unitas, is supporting with the organisation of the XI Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (FOSPA), which will take place in the Amazonian cities of Rurrenabaque, San Buenaventura and Reyes (Bolivia) from 12 to 15 June 2024, with the participation of 1,200 representatives of peoples and communities, organisations, movements, networks and alliances. 

The ‘beautiful Amazon’ is under threat, very close to a point of no return, and the States are demanded to stop the extermination of peoples and biodiversity. 

The objective of the XI FOSPA 2024 is to develop an articulated social process from the territories, in alliance with the social actors of the Amazon, with strategic, proactive, mobilisation and advocacy capacity at national, regional, Amazonian and international levels. This effort seeks to defend the Amazon and strengthen the roadmap towards COP 30 in Belem do Para, Brazil.  

This version of the forum is organised into four thematic axes: 1) Indigenous peoples and Amazonian populations, 2) Mother Earth, 3) Extractivism and Alternatives, and 4) Women's Resistance. Each Axis is made up of different Working Groups that are the nucleus from which reflections and actions will be developed. 

As part of the process, a network of indigenous women met to draw up a common declaration.  
 
"We declare that we are still strong, we are in resistance from our territories against the threat of agribusiness, ranchers, miners, loggers, and colonisers. We are tired of being used for partisan political ends. Since colonial times we have been deceived and threatened in our territories, and our knowledge and wisdom has been ignored in spite of so many struggles. We are ready to continue the struggle." 

Unitas informs us that in addition, within the framework of the XI Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (FOSPA), concrete actions are being promoted for the defence of territories and indigenous peoples, protected areas and nature in the Amazon. In addition, the aim is to strengthen and consolidate the articulation between social, indigenous and peasant organisations, agro-ecological producers, activists and civil society institutions in the lowlands and highlands, promoting the role of women in the effective defence of the Amazon, nature and life. We are also strategically strengthening advocacy proposals and actions at regional and international level on issues such as deforestation, mining, hydrocarbons, water, infrastructure, indigenous peoples, women and financing. Likewise, a roadmap is being promoted to follow up on the determinations of the XI FOSPA until COP 30 in 2025 and the XII FOSPA in 2026, with the objective of positioning the Amazon as the heart of an international alliance on climate. 

What is the Pan-Amazon Social Forum? 

The Pan-Amazon Social Forum (FOSPA) arose as a result of the mandate of the World Social Forum (WSF) in 2002 and is a space for reflection, exchange of experiences in defence, struggle, denunciation, exercise, preservation and generation of proposals to influence public policies on human, territorial and natural rights. The countries of the Amazon region that participate in FOSPA are Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Suriname, Guyana and French Guyana. From 2002 to 2022, 10 forums have been held in different countries. 

In its 20 years of existence, the FOSPA has delved into various issues related to the problems and realities of the Amazon, the living conditions of the Amazonian populations, mainly indigenous peoples and peasant communities, as well as the urban population. To date, it has become a very important regional movement that strongly questions the public policies of the governments, since they promote the excessive exploitation of natural resources, generating a ruthless intervention that violates the collective rights of the populations that inhabit the Amazon. This intervention has led to the occupation and expulsion of local populations, reducing their spaces for integral development and causing extreme environmental damage, contributing to climate change and its effects. 

The dynamics of FOSPA respond to this situation and aim to fight to demand from governments respect for the Amazon, its preservation and a balanced management that cares for and projects the living conditions, not only of the populations that currently inhabit it, but of the whole world, since the Amazon is a vital enclave for life on the planet and its affectation could bring irreversible consequences for humanity.