Dolah Tekai on recognizing the land rights of Orang Asli as climate solution
Dolah Tekai on recognizing the land rights of Orang Asli as climate solution.
"WHAT DOES CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS"
From Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS) https://tinyurl.com/ush5y228
1. Climate change is a phenomenon or time cycle process that involves the effects of changes in the environmental system over the past 50 years and in the future.
2. Starting in 1992, an important agreement called the Paris Agreement was drawn up by the world body (UN) to deal with the problem of carbon dioxide emissions or the greenhouse effect (factories and pesticides), because they believe that in the next 50 years the world's climate system will definitely will change from the usual which will have a bad effect on every country and people of the world.
3. The significant effects that will occur are water pollution, questionable air quality, monsoon changes involving flooding and global warming, long droughts, increasing sea water due to melting glaciers, and severe soil erosion that bring mud to dry the source of water from the earth's crust, then the earth's water resources will decrease.
4. The above things will definitely be experienced by all the inhabitants of the earth, especially the indigenous people (Orang Asli) who are synonymous with the forest and the sea where they are the real victims (obvious victims) because they are aggressive users of the environment in terms of resource needs and way of life.
5. Climate change is like the journey of a train where it has already started and is difficult to stop, therefore various laws and measures have been drafted by the international community in preparation for it, including drafting strategies and strict environmental law controls.
6. However, even though various guidelines have been established, there are still many who do not understand environmental protection and deliberately destroy it for the sake of profit (with the excuse of progress) such as deforestation (logging), damaging the earth's ecosystem (mining), carbon emissions dioxide (uncontrolled industrial and vehicle fumes) and others that pollute the earth. It is not just done by the capitalists but by the government of every country in the world, Malaysia is not an exception.
7. And for Orang Asal (indigenous people) they are greatly affected in many things such as life stress (stress), loss of cultural customs (traditional beliefs), loss of economy from natural resources (forest and sea products), low health standards (term reduced life) and lost the power of self-determination.
8. This has become more apparent since the last 30 years where various conflicts have occurred between the Orang Asli and the earth (such as victims of large floods, landslides, erosion and disturbance by wild animals to the point of killing humans), as a result of climate change caused by government policies that prioritizing profit and neglecting environmental care.
9. It is made worse by the existence of a new market called the carbon market and renewable energy which the Orang Asli do not understand at all about the system because there is no clear explanation made with them according to the permit procedure, advance notice , free and transparent (IMABT) while this carbon market has begun to approach life and will threaten the rights of the Orang Asli community silently.
10. Therefore, I would like to tell the Orang Asli out there to be more aware of climate change and the adverse effects we will face in the future by reading articles and writings by experts and always attending programs related to climate change.
Mr. Dolah Tekoi,
Chairman of the Johor Indigenous Village Network (JPOAJ)
14-11-2023
