Nia Tero Annual Report 2023 ENGLISH Single pages - Flipbook - Page 9
It is not a coincidence that many of Earth’s
healthiest and most biodiverse regions
are found in the lands and waters that
Indigenous Peoples call home. Mounting
studies demonstrate that Indigenous
Peoples are the most robust defenders of
healthy ecosystems, and therefore also the
most critical defenders of Earth’s climate
and biodiversity. Despite this, Indigenous
Peoples and their territories are under
existential threats from extractivism and
outside greed, ongoing colonization,
logging, mining, and the extreme and
increasing effects of climate change.
This must change.
Nia Tero was founded in 2017 with the
purpose of supporting Indigenous Peoples
who are committed to protecting their
collective territories, which are key to
combating climate change and the loss of
biodiversity. In the last six years, we have
established partnerships with Indigenous
Peoples’ organizations in 33 biocultural
settings, spanning our priority regions of
Amazonia, Pasifika, and North America.
During this time, we have also demonstrated
that it is possible to provide funding directly
to Indigenous Peoples’ organizations at
scale. In 2023 alone, we distributed a total
of 122 grants and 24 fellowships to our
partners, totaling over $25.6 million in US
dollars, representing a 47% increase in
grants from 2022. And, since inception, we
have distributed 681 grants, totaling $85
million, inclusive of multi-year commitments.
The work we do at Nia Tero brings together
people from all over the world across
many disciplines and experiences – from
Indigenous leaders to youth activists,
funders and investors to heads of state
and policymakers. Within our organization,
our Board, Advisory Council, and global
team are also of diverse experiences,
backgrounds, and Indigenous and
non-Indigenous identities.
Coming from these many different spheres,
we have all found ourselves drawn to the
shared goal of figuring out how to solve the
crises Indigenous Peoples and our planet are
facing and chart a path for a healthier, more
sustainable future.
I am proud to share our 2023 accomplishments
in the following pages, where you will read
stories of our partners’ triumphs alongside
ongoing struggles against threats to land and
life. You will learn about our partners’ fights
against pressures to their collective territories,
and initiatives they successfully led for the
demarcation of lands and strengthening of
self-governance. You’ll also learn about our
global mentorship and fellowship programs,
bridging spaces with youth and elders,
emerging and seasoned leaders, and creatives
across mediums through storytelling, policy,
leadership, and cultural programming.
It is clear that the most significant way that
we will be able to turn the tide for a more
sustainable future is to respect Indigenous
ways of being, which underscore the deep
commitment of Indigenous Peoples to their
places and their relationship to the natural
world within them.
And so, I look to everyone who has felt that
spark of relation and I see each of us who
engage in this work as messengers. Not
everyone may get it right away, but when
they do, we can mobilize more allies to stand
with us in this work and join in supporting
Indigenous Peoples who are facing immense
challenges and outside pressures while staying
committed to caring for their communities,
homelands, and a thriving Earth.
PETER SELIGMANN
CEO
Thriving Peoples. Thriving Places.
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