This report highlights the importance and urgency for climate action initiatives of protecting the forests of the indigenous and tribal territories1 and the communities that look after them. Based on recent experience, it proposes a package of investments and policies for climate funders and government decision-makers to adopt, in coordination with the indigenous and tribal peoples.

El propósito de este informe es dejar en claro la importancia y urgencia para la acción climática de proteger a los bosques de los territorios indígenas y tribales y a las comunidades que los cuidan. Con base en la experiencia reciente, se propone un conjunto de inversiones y políticas para ser adoptadas por los financiadores climáticos y decisores gubernamentales, en coordinación con los pueblos indígenas y tribales.

The articles in this Bulletin are written by the following organizations and individuals: National Coordinator for the Defense of the Mangrove Ecosystem (C-CONDEM), Ecuador; Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakya (Bentala Raya Heritage Foundation), Indonesia; Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology and members of the WRM international secretariat in close collaboration with several allies who are part of grassroots groups in different countries.

The battle for land reform is a persistent and intensifying dimension of politics and social life in the Global South where people are struggling to escape the claws of colonialism and capitalism. Here, the violent history of being stripped of the land and forced to sell labor power has left a legacy of enormous destruction both to the land and to society. Various movements are rising up to resist this injustice by advocating for the transformation of the relationship that people have with the land.

By creating a land commission, the Kazakh authorities managed to bring down the protest rallies in 2016, when, under pressure from citizens, the government was forced to abandon the sale and lease of land to foreigners. The goal of the national patriots was achieved, but the key issue for the citizens remained unresolved – the mechanism and procedures for the return of land to the people of Kazakhstan, sold by the authorities as a result of massive corruption deals and now belonging to oligarchs – “land barons”, has not been created by law.

Kazakhstan’s leaders have long harbored ambitious visions for their country’s future. The country’s first President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, launched several far-reaching goals for the country’s development, most notably in 2012 the “Kazakhstan 2050” strategy, which aimed for Kazakhstan to take a place among the world’s 30 most developed states by mid-century.

Land lies at the very foundation of our society and social life; it plays a central role in the livelihoods and cultural identities of communities across the globe, and contains the resources that underpin our now globalised world. However, partly because of this, it is often at the heart of social and political conflicts. Increasing demand for food, energy and other primary products is driving agribusinesses, mining companies and speculative investors in a quest for new land to acquire and exploit.

Often, approaches to investment-related land rights violations are reactive, rather than proactive and preventative: legal support is usually provided after communities have been negatively impacted, displaced or evicted — and after lives have been lost, property destroyed, local waters and soils polluted, and communities devastated. In such cases, legal support has a limited chance of reversing the damage caused.

This document shares emerging ideas, principles, and good practices to socialize the concept of Community Monitoring among companies and investors in land-based sectors, as well as outline steps they can take to meaningfully engage with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples to monitor and respond to the potential environmental and human rights impacts of their operations, supply chains, or investments.