The kinds of activities being supported include:

• Supporting food security and resilience by providing seeds, locally sourced food, tools and equipment to allow people from indigenous and other forest communities to remain self-isolated in their territories.
• Supporting increased local production of sustainably-harvested forestry products in the territories.
• Developing and disseminating information on COVID-19 in different languages and through mediums such as radio, video, brochures, and local newspapers.
• Equipping indigenous communities with radio links and other types of communication equipment to keep track of important health information.
• Equipping indigenous communities with protective equipment, soap and hand sanitizer.
• Supporting frontline medical personnel with protective equipment and sanitizing supplies.
• Contributing to the adaptation of healthcare units to treat Covid-19 patients.
• Contributing to the establishment of field hospitals and intensive treatment units for respiratory infections.
• Providing internet and electricity (via solar system or generators) to guarantee smooth functioning of the healthcare units.
• Co-sponsoring a $5M dollar emergency fundraising campaign with a coalition of non-profits, indigenous, and donor organizations in order to deliver urgent food, fuel, medical and other supplies and services to indigenous communities in nine countries across the Amazon.

Some concrete examples:

• In the Madre de Dios and Loreto provinces of Peru, one of earth’s most important but threatened biodiversity reserves, the indigenous peoples’ associations are repurposing forest monitoring systems to send real-time alerts about COVID-19 developments in its communities.
• In Indonesia, the indigenous network AMAN has organized Indigenous communities across the vast archipelago in order to limit the spread of the pandemic. In addition to lockdowns, AMAN launched a new cell phone app to gather data across the archipelago. The app facilitates the tracking of Covid-19 cases and enables the delivery of supplies to neighbouring communities. Available medicines and medical personnel are being mapped out.
• In Indonesia, EcoNusa is supporting education, distribution of sanitary and protective equipment and food-supply efforts across the archipelago to prevent the spread of the virus, protect medical personnel and strengthen the community’s resilience towards current Covid-19 situation.
• In Brazil, our partner ISA has a wide range of activities based on a twofold approach: 1) prevention, by providing indigenous peoples and local communities in remote areas with basic supplies to ensure they can stay in their communities minimizing the need for travel and hence the risks of contagion; and 2) healthcare, making equipment and treatment available and accessible where needed.
• In Colombia, our partner GAIA is reaching out to indigenous communities with a COVID-19 Management Toolbox with which indigenous governments can coordinate, and make informed decisions, strengthen internal organization and address this emergency by promoting autonomy, self-determination and coordination with other state authorities and organizations. In addition, families receive an Isolation Kit that includes inputs to strengthen food sovereignty with a gender focus.
• In the forests of southern Cameroon, where the indigenous Baka ‘Pygmies’ have no rights to lands they have lived on for centuries, our local partner APIFED is working on the ground to deliver vital services, health awareness and much needed supplies to local communities.
• Across the Amazon, our partners are working to restrict access to indigenous lands in order to stop the spread of the virus.

NB. All our partners’ interventions follow the strictest rules in terms of maintaining social distancing and minimizing unnecessary travel and exposure to the virus.