Indonesia faces a deforestation crisis: an estimated 55 percent of forests located in concession areas were lost over a period of 15 years (2000-2015), with an estimated total loss of more than 6.7 million hectares within and outside of concession areas. The country has been losing its forests at a rapid rate for decades, and in turn, adat and local communities’ livelihoods are under threat, and the wildlife and plant diversity in their traditional territories is being lost….
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We asked six experts about the biggest opportunities, moments, and potential catalysts for change they see for community land rights in 2018. Here’s what they had to say.
New data gathered from Afro-descendant community councils and state records reveal that the Colombian government has failed to address 271 claims for collective Afro-descendant land rights—threatening cultural and environmental sustainability, the rights of Afro-descendant community territories as established by Law 70 of 1993, and the successful implementation of the peace accords. Although all 271 communities have submitted formal applications for collective land titles, the government has largely delayed recognition of their claims—in some cases for over a decade.
Both the conclusions of the conference and the collaboration that went into organizing it attest to the willingness of the current government and civil society to collaborate toward these goals. In the face of globalization and efforts to promote economic growth in Indonesia, full recognition of the land and forest rights of local and adat communities remains of the utmost importance. There is hope that this collaborative effort represents a step in the right direction toward securing the land rights of adat and local communities across Indonesia.
Alain Frechette of the Rights and Resources Institute said this was the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions. “Community-owned land sequesters more carbon, has lower levels of deforestation, greater biodiversity and supports more people than public or privately owned forest,” he told the gathering of indigenous leaders, supporters and journalists.
The community of Santa Clara de Uchunya, in Ucayali, Peru, is fighting back against both land trafficking and human rights abuses in the region.
Tomorrow, October 4, participants from 65 countries—including representatives from Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women’s groups, governments, NGOs, civil society, multilateral banks, and the private sector—are convening in…
Como se ve en Mongabay el 26 de Abril, 2017 Doña Neria, del campamento El Chiclero, está contenta. Es la primera vez que un grupo…
The US government has failed to adequately consult with Indigenous Peoples and gain their consent for extraction, energy, and infrastructure projects on their lands, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, said in a press release.
Ghana’s forests and the people who depend on them face an illegal logging and mining epidemic.
Community advocates in Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, Taiwan, and 21 other countries call on governments, private sector to recognise that secure land rights are vital to the global struggle against climate change
For Amazonian and native communities, it is not a matter of ignoring or rejecting the land market, but rather finding the best way to relate to it while preserving their ancestral properties, rights, traditions, and knowledge (which are key for biodiversity and intellectual property).
The assassination of Berta Cáceres, underscored the vulnerability of indigenous leaders, and in particular indigenous women leaders, who face violence and criminalization for defending their communities’ lands and livelihoods. A year later, the targeting of land rights defenders continues.
Amid last year’s political shocks and challenges to the primacy of human rights, one consistent and inspiring global trend emerges: the growing recognition that the land rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are key to ensuring peace and prosperity.
Defending nature is a dangerous occupation, especially in Latin America.
Experts at Dakar event point to a significant cause of investment losses, work stoppages and violence across Africa: the failure of governments and companies to respect the land rights of indigenous and local communities
This November, two pieces of good news have come from Brazilian communities that are working with the sustainable management of their forests.
While land-related conflict in India has long posed a threat to communities’ security and investment in sustainable development alike, relatively little research has attempted to…
A new report authored by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), and World Resources Institute (WRI) shows that at least…
Days before the RSPO complaints panel was supposed to issue a final judgment on the complaint filed against them, Plantaciones de Pucallpa withdrew from the RSPO.
Mr. Alfred Brownell, a campaigner for the land rights of Liberia’s local communities, and his staff at Green Advocates have gone underground after threats from the police. This is the latest in a long history of threats, intimidation, and harassment against human rights defenders in Liberia.
Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in Guatemala are organizing in light of new threats from their government. The authorities of the Mayan Ch’orti’, Q’eqchi’, Kaqchikel, and Ixil…
Data on customary lands of local communities is crucial to advocacy, securing legal recognition of land and resource rights, and measuring global progress.
Honolulu (AFP) – Some of the world’s leading conservation groups are violating the rights of indigenous people by backing projects that oust them from their…