Territorial dispute behind the forced exodus of residents of Chalchihuitán

It’s been 14 months since some 5,000 people in Chiapas were forced to flee their homes in Chalchihuitán. And although about 4,000 have since returned, 1,200 remain homeless, a situation for which they hold the municipal government responsible.

Representatives of the displaced people told a press conference this week that they have yet to recover their properties, which were occupied by armed civilians after the residents fled.

Last month, top Colombian economic minds gathered in Bogotá for a Grand Economic Forum on attracting investment as the country emerges from a decades-long civil war.

THE GOVERNMENT’S latest policy addressing the problem of overlapping rights on forested land will be a major turning point for residents, as it will allow them to live in forested areas and sustain themselves legally and also bring a halt to further encroachment, officials said yesterday.

However, civil groups, including those at a recent forest governance forum, pointed out that many forest residents were still uncertain if the new policy will maintain their land rights. 

Illegal gold mining in the Amazon has reached "epidemic" proportions in recent years, causing damage to pristine forest and waterways, a conservation group said Monday as it released an unprecedented new map of the activities.

• Colombia’s deforestation rate has been accelerating since the country’s peace accord in 2016, which formally ended a more than 50-year civil conflict.
• The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative in Colombia was launched in November to bring together scientists, development experts, indigenous peoples and religious leaders.
• The aim is to use their combined expertise to reduce deforestation via public policy and grassroots action.

The Indonesian government launched the One Map Policy Geoportal (KSP Geoportal). This policy involves a more detailed map of land use, hence aiming at resolving overlapping claims - as well as preventing the emergence of new cases - across the country, including in forest areas. The map was launched by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday (11/12).

A herder in Kenya's northern Laikipia was shot dead last week when police tried to confiscate his cattle

NAIROBI - Renewed invasions of white-owned ranches by herders in Kenya's northern Laikipia region a year after similar invasions led to deadly conflicts is a sign of cracks in the country's land use system, experts said on Wednesday.

A herder was shot dead when police tried to confiscate his cattle after they invaded one of the ranches last week, police and ranchers said.

Julius Nkhata, a local villager, says the increasingly dramatic seasonal dry-out of the lake - blamed by experts on man-made climate change - has displaced local people and increased joblessness.

KACHULU – Just four months ago, the fishing harbour at Kachulu on the western shores of Lake Chilwa in Malawi was bustling with fishermen and traders haggling over the catch of the day.

For rural communities in the highlands of eastern Africa, water for domestic use is not piped. They have to collect, or use it from springs or rivers and it’s accessible to anyone.

The community of Xolobeni, Wild Coast, won a historic battle on Thursday against an Australian company’s attempts to mine the area. The judgment further strengthens communities’ right to decide what happens on their land. 

Thursday would have been a proud day for Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe. The Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) chairman spent years fighting against attempts by Australian mining company Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC) to mine titanium in Xolobeni, on the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast, before he was murdered outside his home in March 2016.

The government has approved 116 projects valued at MAD 81 million for 93 “sulaliyat” groups, who hold the rights to communal agricultural land.

The projects, which were approved this year, aim to support income-generating projects for rights holders, said Minister of the Interior Abdelouafi Laftit on Wednesday, November 7.

Efforts to Improve Oversight of Mining Need to Benefit Affected Communities

Earlier this month, looking out over the vast swathes of barren red land that make up a fast-growing bauxite mine, I witnessed first-hand the rapid growth of Guinea’s bauxite mining boom. Bauxite from Guinea is used to produce aluminum used around the world in automobile and airplane parts and consumer products like beverage cans and tin foil.