News on Land

• In August, the village of Taba Padang in southwest Sumatra was recognized by the Indonesian government for practicing the best community-based forestry management this year.
• Less than a decade ago, however, many of its residents were being arrested for planting in a nearby forest, deemed off-limits because of its protected status.
• In 2010, newly elected village chief Yoyon embarked on a years-long process to obtain state approval to allow the farmers to manage nearly 10 square kilometers of land in the forest.

• The government of Nigeria has announced its plans to restore four million hectares, or nearly 10 million acres, of degraded lands within its borders.
• The West African nation is now one of 26 countries across the continent that have committed to restoring more than 84 million hectares (over 200 million acres) of degraded lands as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), an effort that aims to bring 100 million hectares of land under restoration by 2030.

• Recent research found that 20 different “natural climate solutions” have the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 23.8 billion metric tons every year — and that nearly half of that potential, or some 11.3 billion metric tons of emissions, represent what the study’s authors call “cost-effective climate mitigation.”

New group could help put pressure on Brazilian government to protect rights of Indigenous Peoples

With a population of 163 million people and an area of only 147,570 square kilometers, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Land scarcity, insecure tenure, and other factors have contributed to a high volume of land conflicts. Such problems are compounded by Bangladesh’s weak land governance systems, extensive informal settlements in urban areas and widespread landlessness in rural areas.

The conflict in Argentina between the indigenous Mapuche community and the national government has claimed another victim: Rafael Nahuel, an indigenous 22-year-old who was killed while resisting a raid by government forces on indigenous activists in the province of Río Negro.

NAIROBI: In a major global action against climate change, two UN environmental organisations on Monday signed a pact on increased cooperation and also for mobilisation of private finance and investment for climate action that is crucial for achieving the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement goals.

Colombia's palm oil industry and big businesses have pledged to eliminate deforestation from their supply chainsefore

BOGOTA, Nov 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Colombia's palm oil industry and big businesses have pledged to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains as the country battles to reverse the growing destruction of its tropical rainforests.

Small island state leaders at U.N. climate talks have spoken consistently of loss of life and property caused by powerful storms

BONN, Germany, Nov 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - From Fiji to St. Lucia, small island nations have taken every opportunity to flag the growing risks of climate change to their land and people at U.N. talks in Bonn - but their cry for help has fallen on deaf ears, officials and experts said on Friday.

We all know the first and most basic lesson of economics: incentives matter. This is surely why, as a new investigation by The Guardian has revealed, fires in the favelas of Sao Paolo are happening where land values are greater.

Members of the Brazilian indigenous Guaraní community took part in peaceful protests against privatisation of state parks. Their demonstrations were also calling attention to their dire living conditions. For instance, Guarani living in São Paulo are confined to two tiny villages the size of four football pitches. Land is a vital part of the Guaraní culture and tradition, however their current condition means that they are slowly losing touch with their cultural past by not being able to utilise their land for fishing, gathering and planting.

Forest Minister B. Ramanath Rai says he will write to Centre to simplify rules for allotment of forestland

Providing title deeds to forest dwellers under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was the focus of the interaction between children who live in forest areas and Forest Minister B. Ramanath Rai.