THE Whanganui River has been granted the same legal status as a human being by New Zealand’s House of Representatives.
Explaining the world-first decision, the country’s Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson said the river would “have its own legal identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person.”
Date: 2 March 2017
Source: Telesur
The Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community of Marmato won a major court victory in their 10-year fight against a massive Canadian gold mine.
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) is seeking an Executive Director to take up appointment as soon as possible, and invites applications from suitably qualified candidates.
UNCCD is now inviting qualified nominators to nominate candidates to be considered for 2017 Land for Life Award.
Date: 27 January 2017
Source: Telesur
By:
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil has announced changes to the procedure for demarcating indigenous lands in a move campaign groups fear will weaken the land rights of communities facing mounting pressure from illegal logging and big agricultural operations.
Under the decree, demarcation of indigenous lands will be decided by the Ministry of Justice rather than the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), a government body set up to carry out policies relating to Brazil's 900,000 indigenous people.
The International Land Coalition (ILC) is a global alliance of 300+ civil society and intergovernmental organisations, working together to put people at the centre of land governance. It does so through shifting power to the women, men and communities who live on and from the land.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Author: Matthew Ponsford
Picture: Andres Cordoba; A photograph taken during the filming of Colombia's Best Foreign Language Film nominee "Embrace of the Serpent" shows Antonio Bolivar as the protagonist Karamakate, the last surviving member of an Colombian Amazonian tribe.
Editing by Paola Totaro.
Friday 10 June : 15:06
Tribes that inspired Oscar-nominated Colombian film fear destruction within a generation - director
