From the heart of the Amazon to the living forests of the Congo Basin, from the sacred woodlands of Mesoamerica to the islands and jungles of Southeast Asia, we are preparing to come together as one voice, one territory, one struggle.

From May 26 to 30, 2025, we will gather in Brazzaville to hold the First Global Congress of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities of the World’s Forest Basins—a landmark space for unity, strategy, and territorial leadership.

This Congress is more than an event: It is a vital opportunity to strengthen our global alliance to protect the forests that sustain the balance of the planet. It is a time to align our agendas, exchange grounded solutions from our territories, and bring our priorities directly to COP30 in Belém do Pará, Brazil.

We know there can be no climate solution without us Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We are the ones protecting the forests that store carbon, safeguard biodiversity, and preserve life and culture. But we are also the ones facing growing threats: land grabbing, criminalization, false climate solutions, and the lack of direct funding and meaningful participation.

Why this congress matters

We know that when our communities hold the rights to our territories, forests thrive. We are the most effective protectors of the world’s last standing forests, yet we continue to be excluded from the decisions that shape our future.

This Congress sends a clear message to world leaders: we are not asking for space, we are claiming it. We are no longer accepting symbolic inclusion. We are organizing for real power, direct financing, legal recognition, and territorial security—because our forests, cultures, and rights are not negotiable.

“It is time to humanize climate processes. Our territories are not carbon credits. They are life, balance, and resistance,” said Joseph Itongwa one of our C0-chairs.

Co-organized with a key allied Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and with the participation of our grassroots organizations from Africa, Asia, Mesoamerican and South America, we are building a powerful global movement rooted in territory, intergenerational dialogue, and gender equity.

From the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), we are preparing with strength and conviction—because this gathering will mark a turning point.

The answer is us, the answer is all of us, including you!