A new high: Indigenous Thai farmers swap opium for coffee, land

The Doi Tung Development Project, run by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Thai royal patronage, is held up by the United Nations as a model for ending narcotic drug cultivation and improving the lives of indigenous communities. Yet in other parts of the country, indigenous people continue to live in poverty and face challenges in accessing land, livelihoods and citizenship, according to tribal rights groups.

Thai community forest bill won’t benefit all, campaigners say

A new community forest bill that aims to give Thai villagers more say in managing natural resources is too limited in its scope and risks further marginalising those living outside areas covered by the act, land campaigners said on Thursday.

Thai activist to appeal sentence for trespassing in national park
Thai activist to appeal sentence for trespassing in national park

Indigenous and local communities own more than half the world’s land under customary rights. Yet they only have secure legal rights to 10 percent, according to Washington D.C.-based advocacy group Rights and Resources Initiative.

The rapid growth of protected areas from Peru to Indonesia has exacerbated their vulnerability: more than 250,000 people in 15 countries were evicted from such areas from 1990 to 2014, according to RRI.

Bangkok Post: Forest locals need a voice
Bangkok Post: Forest locals need a voice

As seen on the Bangkok Post In an apparent move to prove that a military regime can do what civilian governments could not, the National…

The Kathmandu Post: Seed of hope
The Kathmandu Post: Seed of hope

As seen on Khatmandu Post June 12″ 2012 The age-old famous African saying” “when the branches of the trees in the forests are fighting” their…

Forest Peoples Programme February E-Newsletter
Forest Peoples Programme February E-Newsletter

The newsletter can be downloaded from the FPP website by clicking here Dear Friends”Balancing human beings’ need for decent livelihoods against the imperative of securing…