More generally, indigenous methods of agricultural management protect against disease, pests and other damage. Taken as a whole, such knowledge constitutes an irreplaceable resource for world food security. But if recognition and remuneration continue to be withheld, there is a significant chance that these commodities will be lost forever. It is because the forest is what makes us, and what makes our hearts go. With these words, a leader of Brazil's Kayapo people captured the sentiments of the 50 million indigenous peoples who inhabit the world's rainforests and whose lives are threatened by deforestation.
Indigenous peoples have a vital role to play in helping to reverse and prevent forest degradation.
The Mebengokre people, for example, have responsibly managed parts of the Brazilian Amazonian Rainforest for centuries. Indeed, Mebengokre practices provide a model of diverse sustainable forest management for others to emulate. Mechanisms need to be found to compensate the sharing of this valuable ecological resource. In 1984, the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, an association of indigenous organizations from various countries, adopted the Declaration of Principles of Indigenous Rights. Though this declaration demonstrates one way in which indigenous peoples have tried to articulate and assert their rights, it carries little political weight and is considered inadequate in its ability to protect these rights.