Joan Carling has made it her life’s mission to fight for the rights of her fellow Indigenous peoples. She has led anti-mining campaigns in the Philippines and faced death threats. Her work has since expanded to a global scale, where she now connects with and convenes Indigenous rights organizations while helping raise funds for their grassroots campaigns.

In early October, Carling won the Right Livelihood Award for raising Indigenous voices in the face of global ecological breakdown, and her leadership in defending people, lands and culture.” She became the first Indigenous Filipino to win the award, which is often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize.

Carling is from the Kankanaey tribe of the Philippines’ Mountain Province, which is part of the landlocked and mountainous Cordillera administrative region in the country’s north. Cordillera, known for its rich mineral deposits, has attracted the interests of mining corporations. The region’s lush forests and water resources also continuously face threats of deforestation and destruction due to logging and development projects such as large dams.

It was the Cordilleran people’s fight against the construction of several megadams that served as Carling’s political awakening.

For more than three decades, she’s led local and international campaigns to address discrimination and challenges faced by Indigenous groups. Currently, she’s executive director of Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) and chair of the board at the Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples and the Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity Fund.

Mongabay’s Kristine Sabillo Guerrero recently spoke with Carling about her experiences fighting for Indigenous peoples’ rights. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Mongabay: During the Right Livelihood Award press conference, you talked about how you first became passionate about Indigenous rights. Can you give us some more details on that?

Joan Carling: This was in the 1980s. The Chico dam project was a World Bank-funded project of four dams along the Chico River. So it’s in the tribal areas of Kalinga and Mountain Province. When I spent my summertime there, I saw that the people there were willing to give up their lives … to defend the Chico River, which is providing them not only their livelihood but their culture, their cohesion as community, as tribal people.

They only wanted to live a simple life but they were being pushed aside [and their lands taken away]. I was inspired by their resolve, their strength and their collective action. They were able to stop the dams. But we also saw how they were heavily discriminated [against].

I saw that we need to really work with these kinds of communities who are suffering from discrimination and this kind of imposition. We call it development aggression because it’s being imposed on people. [These projects] are going to change their lives and their futures in the name of so-called national development, completely ignoring the impacts, not only to environment, but to their lives, to their dignity.

Mongabay: You’ve faced personal risks in your fight for Indigenous rights. Can you share a particularly challenging moment and how you overcame it?

Joan Carling: During our anti-mining, anti-development aggression campaign in the Cordillera, four of my closest colleagues were killed. I was the chair at that time of the CPA [Cordillera Peoples Alliance].

For me, that was really intense. I was already in serious depression because of that. You feel so helpless, that you can’t do anything when your colleagues are being killed. I was also under threat. That was really the most difficult [period] of my activism.

I was able to overcome [that] because I took some time [out]. I was taken out of that very stressful situation for one semester [as a human rights fellow and a guest faculty at Colby College, U.S., in July 2006]. Otherwise, I would have collapsed due to stress. When I returned [to the Philippines], I continued my work for human rights.

What kept me going is that I cannot rest with the knowledge that my colleagues sacrificed their lives. And also seeing that in spite of the hardships that [Indigenous] communities are facing, they’re persistent. That became my encouragement.

Mongabay: Every year, the Philippines’ ranking as the most dangerous place for environmental defenders is always high. What is the proportion of Indigenous peoples there?

Joan Carling: We have the highest rate of killings in Asia. The top countries are in Latin America: Colombia and Brazil. In Asia, we are the top and majority of those killed are Indigenous.

There have been a series of killings, including the Tumandok massacre. What happened is that red-tagging intensified under [former president Rodrigo] Duterte, and the military was basically given the license to kill anyone they suspect are rebels or are supporting rebels. That is why Indigenous peoples are very vulnerable because they live in areas [forests and mountains] where the rebels are.

For me, it’s a form of racism and discrimination. They are powerless because of their marginalized situation. They become a target. During Duterte’s time there was a prize. [For] every rebel killed, you get an award [money]. So [the military was] more encouraged and found it easier to kill Indigenous people.

Right now in Cordillera, there are more than 100 dams being planned because we have the headwaters. So red-tagging has again intensified for those who are opposing those projects. [Indigenous peoples are being targeted] because of the anti-insurgency campaign and at the same time for their opposition to government projects.

Mongabay: You’ve been instrumental in stopping unsustainable development projects. Can you share an example of a successful campaign and what strategies were key to its success?

Joan Carling: A good example is our strong anti-mining campaign in Cordillera. Until now, there is no new mining operation that has been able to operate in Cordillera. One factor is the strong awareness-raising on the ground on the impacts of mining. For example, we brought community leaders to show open-pit mining in Itogon [municipality]. They were able to see [the effects of mining] outright. To see is to believe.

We also formed organizations and worked closely with the local governments. The Mountain Province government even created a resolution saying that they will not accept or approve mining applications without the support of communities. So, if there is no free, prior, informed consent, the local government will not provide the permit.

So, the on-the-ground initiatives, working with local governments and global efforts came together. There are attempts to have [mining] explorations but they were all rejected since there is no free, prior, informed consent. There is also no local government approval so it did not push through.

Mongabay: What are the misconceptions surrounding Indigenous peoples and development, conservation and climate change? And what should be done to ensure that local communities are empowered to support conservation efforts and climate campaigns?

Joan Carling: The misconception is that we are anti-development, that we are backward. We don’t want any changes in our territories. But in reality, evidence has shown that because of our lifestyle and our sustainable management of our resources, our territories are better conserved than other areas where governments and even the big international conservation organization are conserving.

So what needs to change? We need to have our land rights secured because they are being claimed [by the government] in the name of development. In terms of conservation, we are being removed from our lands because we allegedly destroy it. Our livelihoods are tied to the land but we are not destroying it. To maintain a harmonious relationship with nature, you need to have an interdependent relationship. So, we will be able to do that if our lands and our ways are secured.

The second is that for any conservation or development plans or projects, we need to be part of the decision-making of whatever plans they have. Because [we need to be able to] present our worldview and our contributions in doing conservation and protection of the environment.

And third is that our traditional knowledge, our sustainable management systems should be integrated. When they say it’s unscientific, that’s another dimension of discrimination. Our knowledge is again treated as inferior. But evidence has shown that it has actually led to better conservation measures.

So those are the three steps needed to empower us to continue to conserve effectively. And that is in the context that 20% of the land base is Indigenous territory. You can already imagine that if we’re able to conserve that for humanity, it’s actually serving humanity and the future generations. It’s intrinsic in our worldview, what we call the intergenerational approach, that we don’t think only of ourselves now, but the future generations.

Mongabay: There are lots of efforts on localization now in the development sector, learning from the local communities and Indigenous peoples. Would you say there is improvement in the appreciation for tribal knowledge compared to when you started out?

Joan Carling: Yes, there is. Now scientists are also saying that Indigenous knowledge is as good as Western knowledge or scientific knowledge. So that’s a big improvement. And also that the actual conservation by Indigenous peoples is also showing better results. So localization is already gaining ground. But what is missing is the recognition of our rights to our lands and resources.

That’s why sometimes it becomes extractive. Everybody wants to talk about our knowledge, how it can be used for climate change adaptation or mitigation, but not our rights.

Mongabay: What are the most pressing challenges that Indigenous communities face today?

Joan Carling: One thing I am very much alarmed about is the tendency to grab, to take away our lands and resources … in the name of climate solutions. For example, in green transition there is the … extraction of transition minerals to develop e-batteries. More than 60% of known critical minerals are in Indigenous territories or near them. Second is the development of renewable energy, like solar farms, wind farms, that are land-intensive. So again, it’s in Indigenous territories.

What hasn’t changed is that we’re still not included in the decision-making or planning. We’re again invisible but they are using our lands and resources for climate change solutions.

And now we’re increasing globally our target for biodiversity conservation to save the planet. But they are not changing the fortress conservation approach where you remove people to conserve [wildlife]. While there is a lot of talk on a human-rights based approach to conservation, that is not translated on the ground on actual changes in policies.

National laws are oriented toward fortress conservation, which is inherently violating our land rights. Even in the Philippines there is a conflict when it comes to law. We have the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act recognizing our land rights, but at the same time we have the NIPAS [National Integrated Protected Areas System] law that … carves out from our ancestral land these protected areas.

[At least] in the Philippines we have a law recognizing our land rights. In many countries, they don’t even have that. So the vulnerability of land grabbing is higher now because of this push [for fortress conservation].

[With the fortress conservation approach] there is worsening human rights violations and criminalization. In Cambodia and even Thailand, every day there are Indigenous peoples being arrested for simply going into the forest to gather wood, herbal medicine or food. We are already tired because every time someone gets arrested, we raise funds to get them out of jail. And then the following day, another one will be arrested, and then another one. So that’s the effect of criminalization.

We might sound like we are opposing [efforts to address] climate change. But we need to change. It cannot be business as usual. We now have buzz words like “just transition,” but in reality it’s not just, especially for us. In the past, we’re asked to sacrifice in the name of economic progress, national development. Now we are again asked to sacrifice in the name of climate change. We’ve never been a central player. This time, treat us as partners, central actors.

Mongabay: How do you plan to use the platform and resources provided by the Right Livelihood Award to further your advocacy work?

Joan Carling: The award provides an important platform to further amplify Indigenous people’s struggles [while] also underscoring the importance that we play as environment defenders, and also the importance of our knowledge in providing real solutions to climate change. It also serves as a platform to strengthen international advocacy, to generate global attention to the issues of Indigenous peoples.

Now, in relation to the cash award [of 750,000 Swedish kronor, or $71,000], my organization Indigenous Peoples Rights International is providing support to frontline defenders. Financial legal political support, that’s what we want to develop.

One of the things that I also want to highlight with this award is women. The contributions of women are not that visible and yet their sacrifice and vulnerability are much. Women are also the ones basically taking care of food security and also taking care of the elderly and the sick, the young. So I think it’s high time to also put a spotlight [on that, especially as I am] an Indigenous woman. Hopefully the award generates that visibility as well.

Banner image of Joan Carling, courtesy of Right Livelihood.