NAIROBI - Chiefs across Liberia are petitioning lawmakers while activists prepare for a sit-in protest in the nation's capital as they push to secure ancestral land rights, regarded as key to averting renewed bloodshed in the resource-rich country.

About 100 women marched on the presidential palace last week to kick off a campaign to amend the Land Rights Act (LRA), a watered-down version of which was passed by the House of Representatives in August, after years of delay, activists said.

Winner of "Green Nobel" prize says illegal mining is a scourge as it pollutes rivers with toxic mercury and cuts down forests

BOGOTA - Colombian environmental activist Francia Marquez has faced death threats and been forced from her home in her battle against the mines that she says are polluting rivers and ruining land.

But she has no intention of giving up the work that this week earned her a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, known as the "Green Nobel", which honours grassroots activism.

Land and water-related conflicts are flaring up across Kenya, amid drought, population growth and high unemployment

By Kagondu Njagi

CHUKA, Kenya - Phyllis Mugeni was watering her greens when she spotted a dozen armed men advancing from the lowlands to attack farmers working on the banks of the River Naka in the foothills of Mount Kenya.

"They killed, therefore they do not deserve to be given land. The community members are angry with them"

GULU, Uganda - When Julius Peter was finally freed after seven years held hostage by Uganda's notorious Lord’s Resistance Army, he and his family hoped their lives would finally return to normal.

Instead, it was the start of a whole new ordeal.

A 300-year-old community in Bangkok will have its homes demolished as part of the city's modernisation plans

BANGKOK  - For more than two decades, a community of more than 300 people living next to an old fort in Bangkok staved off drug dealers keen to extend their turf, and city officials eager to tear down their homes and build a park to draw more tourists.

As climate-driven drought takes hold, Mongolia's nomads are retreating to the city - and facing choking pollution

ULAANBAATAR - With about 100 sheep and goats, Jugder Samdan makes just enough to scrape by as a nomadic herder in Mongolia, basking in the sun as he watches over his animals, but he worries about the future.

By Mary Hodgett (TIMBY)

In Liberia, two small communities are fighting to protect their homes, and land rights against a powerful wave of environmentally destructive industries.

The Land Portal is continuously trying to improve its services to valued users such as yourself.

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The increasing demand for land and natural resources brings diverse users into competition. There is a clear need to secure legitimate rights and develop effective processes to resolve disputes without conflicts. Natural resources degradation, which is an increasing challenge in many Feed the Future regions, can be addressed by integrating environmental management practices that boost agricultural productivity, increase incomes and enhance resilience to drought and other environmental shocks.

Hundreds of people gathered on Samoa's biggest island on Saturday to protest the abuse of customary land rights.

A spokesperson for the Samoa Solidarity International Group said 700 people came from across Savai'i to push for a repeal of the Lands and Titles Registration Act 2008.

According to Unasa Iuni Sapolu, the act allows communally held customary lands to be leased to third parties without the consent of all landowners.

She said this alienated some of the owners from their land and the opportunities it offered.