STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Secure land rights are not only a matter of justice and human rights. They are also vital to achieving global goals on climate change, peace, and equality.
"If we don’t immediately start to demonstrate that forest services will be fairly paid, we will have serious problems," said environmental minister Jose Sarney Filho
BRASILIA (Reuters) - The best way to further reduce deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is paying owners to preserve their land, and Brazil plans to discuss how to fund such a program at a climate summit next month, the country’s environmental minister said on Monday.
Land empowerment for women is cardinal in the acceleration of development at community and national level. The picture may not look so encouraging in Zambia with regards to women making strides in accessing land. And even the very few women who have access to land are utilising it to full capacity. One such woman is 27-year old graduate Tamara Kaunda who is a shining example of women in leadership who can inspire others.
The government had reclassified four economic land concessions as state property, reclaiming almost 20,000 hectares earlier handed to private firms to use for rubber plantations.
A sub-decree issued on August 31 said the land in Kratie, Kampong Thom and Ratanakkiri provinces was to be taken back from four companies following an Agriculture Ministry proposal in March.
The companies were all supposed to develop rubber plantations, but failed to do so, clearing the land and then abandoning it.
Rome—Considerable gains have been made in land-tenure governance in the past five years, but more must be done to improve the lives of billions of people—that was the message at a high-level event cohosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Union (EU) to mark the fifth anniversary of guidelines to recognize and secure tenure rights.
STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Indigenous peoples are all but invisible on the development agenda but a hoped for change is on the cards with the launch of the world’s first and only funding institution to support the efforts of local and native communities to secure rights over their lands and resources.
Indigenous leaders say operations in the remote Amazon violate rights and risk fatal epidemics
There are more indigenous peoples living in “isolation” in Peru than any country in the world except Brazil. All live in the Amazon - the majority in poorly-protected reserves, or areas where reserves have been proposed but never established, or “protected natural areas” such as national parks.
In the world's second most populous country, there is an estimated shortage of about 20 million homes in urban areas
CHENNAI, India, Oct 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sustainable, low-cost homes must become the default option for builders and buyers amid increasing pressure on land and the environment, according to a leading architect in India, which has among the most densely populated cities on the planet.
Mining companies have faced community protests and threats to shut operations, but many residents believe only tribal leaders are benefiting
MOGALAKWENA, South Africa, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A new power struggle is unfolding in South Africa’s old homelands between global mining giants, traditional leaders and an impoverished rural populace.
The People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) led the demonstration to demand government action, saying they had been campaigning on this issue for four years but there had been no improvement. Many people who have been involved in land conflicts across the country joined in the protest.
Land rights defenders from 29 countries call for greater vigilance in ensuring governments comply with laws
MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Dozens of land rights defenders from 29 countries have written to the United Nations to draw attention to the increasing violence they face from states and corporations, and calling for greater vigilance in ensuring governments comply with laws.
Monrovia – The Civil Society Organization (CSO) working group on Land Rights in Liberia, in collaboration with the National Civil Society Council of Liberia has alarmed that the current Land Rights Act passed by the House of Representatives and currently before the Senate is not in the interest of ordinary Liberians.