Following is the introduction to the proceedings:

At the Penang meeting, we agreed to hold the II Conference of the Alliance in the city of Iquitos, Peru from 25-31 August 1993. The Conference was attended by 63 official delegates from all the tropical forest regions of the world, which are organized into 7 regions: Continental Asia, Bahasa Region, Maritime Asia and pacific, Southern Cone, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and the Amazon Basin.

The Conference of Iquitos also included delegates from international organizations, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT), European Economic Community (EEC); some environmental NGOs; and special guests from national and international authorities.

The topics discussed were: The Report of the Interim Secretariat of the International Alliance, the Organic Structure of the Alliance, Autonomy and Self-determination, International Legislation and Human Rights, Demarcation of Indigenous Boundaries, Resource Development and Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development and Self-governing Development, and Intellectual Property.

The indigenous-tribal peoples of the tropical forests have found in the Alliance an adequate space where common policies can be formulated for the problems that affect them. Due to this, different governments and international organizations have seen in the Alliance a confluence of representative organizations with which they have already started projects and programs of cooperation. This reality, which we are now living out, presents challenges not only for us, but also for the whole of humanity which is eagerly searching for a new model of development based on living together in harmony with different ecosystems, so-called sustainable development.

However, it is necessary to recognize that these achievements by indigenous-tribal peoples need to be assisted by legal mechanisms to make them effective in each country. The agreements and resolutions reached by the Conference of Iquitos now depend in great part on the efforts made by member organizations to realize them.

The International Alliance of the Indigenous-Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests, wants to thank NOVIB and the Dutch Government (DGIS), who made the Conference of Iquitos possible through their financial contribution. We are also grateful for the cooperation provided by BOTHENDS and the Working Group of the Indigenous peoples (WIP) from the Netherlands.

For more information on the proceedings of this conference, please click on the links near the top of this page for a Word or PDF version of the complete record.