News on Land

Via Reuters.com

By: Megan Rowling

BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indigenous people and local communities lack legal rights to almost three quarters of their traditional lands, sparking social conflict and undermining international plans to curb poverty, hunger and climate change, researchers said.

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Maasai herders used to fighting to survive on the savannah have moved to a new battleground - a Tanzanian court - in a case highlighting increasing conflict in Africa between traditional culture and foreigners investing in land.

The Maasai, a semi-nomadic people known for dressing in distinctive red blankets and colourful beads, say they are trying to reclaim 12,617 acres of grazing land in northern Tanzania from a US safari company.

Date: 20 July 2016

Source: INQUIRER.net

A European Union-backed project aimed at enhancing the protection of rights defenders working on land and environmental issues was launched on Wednesday.

The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) is pleased to offer two grants of $10,000 each for innovative uses of www.OpenLandContracts.org, the world’s first searchable online repository of publicly available commercial agriculture and forestry contracts. The grants are offered to support and advance innovative uses of the repository and of the content available through it.

By: Kinshu Dang
Date: August 5th 2016
Source: NDTV Every Life Counts

By: Fionuala Cregan
Date: January 20th 2016
Source: IC Magazine

NEW REPORT DOCUMENTS CHALLENGES OF DEFENDING INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS IN THE PARAGUAYAN CHACO

"We don't care if our struggle involves going to prison or even dying. Our struggle is about justice because the land is ours and our children's." –Alejandro Servín

By: Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu

Date: August 17th 2016

Source: Human Rights Watch

Enact Proposed Law to Protect Rural Communities