Relocation of the ITS
The International Secretariat of the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests (IAITPTF) which has been based in Chiang Mai, Thailand since 2003 will be relocating to Panama by the end of this year.  This is in conformity to the decision of the 4th International Conference in 2002 and the decision of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) made in New York in 2005.

The Fundación  Para la Promoción del Conocimiento Indígena (FPCI), a local indigenous organization and a member of the IAITPTF, has offered to host the International Secretariat during the transition period.  The process is underway.  We will keep all members informed about its progress.

Development of the Alliance’s Common Protocol
 
The International Alliance (IA) is a loose networking organization of indigenous organizations which covers regions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific. It currently has nine member regions.  The IA respects the principle of regional autonomy and the need for the structure and functions of regional mechanisms to reflect regional realities and regional priorities.  This has been used as a guideline for implementation of the IA’s activities to date.  In order to strengthen its existing structure and functions, the IA is attempting to develop an appropriate and common protocol to be used by all member regions to improve and advance the work of both individual regions and inter-regions.  In so doing, the Secretariat will prepare the draft text and then send it to the region for comments before submitting to the 5th Conference for adoption.

Membership and Indigenous People’ Situation Update

The International Alliance is going to publish a directory of its member organizations by the end of this year or early next year.  The main contents will include organizations’ profile and general descriptions of the situation of indigenous peoples in the particular locations.  This is of importance for the IA not only for strengthening coordination work within the IA members, but also for networking with other partner or support organizations.  We therefore request your cooperation in providing information to the concerned Regional Offices/ Regional Coordinators. 

IPNC-Bahasa holds roundtable discussions on palm oil plantations

As part of the IPNC project,  a round table discussion among members from Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia was  held last  March 15 in Jakarta, Indonesia.  The discussions focused on the Guidelines and Principles for Sustainable Palm Oil Plantations and also served as preparatory activities for CoP9 and UNPFII.  The participants were  also  able to participate in the AMAN 9th anniversary celebrations scheduled on March17.
 
The participants agreed that a statement will be presented at the UNPFII and CoP9 strongly rejecting the development of new plantations and urging relevant bodies to ensure the effective participation of indigenous peoples in the development of guidelines.

The participants also had a meeting as the NUSANTARA region of the Alliance on March 16 in Bogor.  The participants discussed updates and had some preliminary discussions on the future of the Alliance in the region.