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Europe Land for Communities: Fulfilling Human Rights and Protecting the Planet
Half the land in the world today, including forests, grasslands, and small farms, belongs to and is managed by local communities and indigenous peoples. Two and a half billion people depend on this land for their livelihoods. Yet it is estimated that these communities have recognized rights over only one fifth of their land. National governments are obligated by international human rights law to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples and to protect the right to food and other rights of rural communities. In addition to fulfilling human rights, there are many additional benefits of protecting community land rights: reduction of conflict, reduction of involuntary migration pressures, and protection of the ecosystems that cool our warming planet. Unfortunately, much community-held land is at risk of being grabbed by business interests, with the complicity of governments.
... read more Burned – Deception, Deforestation and America’s Biodiesel Policy
A trip down a dusty dirt road in northern Argentina provides a picture of the reality of the modern biodiesel industry. On the left-hand side lies a pristine forest, teeming with wildlife: howler monkeys, tapirs, and jaguars. On the right, new soy fields are being carved into pristine forest. Burnt trees and the white ash they leave behind stretch for as far as the eye can see.
... read more Land Rights, Palm Oil and Conflict in Guatemala
Indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers in Guatemala, especially women, are facing an ongoing threat to their existence due to loss of their land to agribusiness plantations. Indigenous communities in the municipality of Raxruhá in Alta Verapaz are confronting land grabbing by palm oil companies. The State of Guatemala must recognize community land rights, and governments… read more
Implementing the Tenure Guidelines for Women and Small-scale Food Producers
This report assesses the legal framework and tenure governance arrangements in Mozambique, Tanzania, Senegal, and Haiti, with a concentration on women and small-scale food producers.
... read more New Alliance, New Risk of Land Grabs: Evidence from Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania
Ten African countries have signed up to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition – the G8 countries’ main strategy for supporting agriculture in Africa that was launched in 2012. As the New Alliance has been under way for three years, some of its likely impacts are becoming clearer.
... read more Take Action – Stop EcoEnergy’s Land Grab in Bagamoyo, Tanzania
Rural communities in the Bagamoyo district of Tanzania are opposing a much-lauded sugar cane plantation project planned by EcoEnergy, a Swedish-owned company that has secured a lease of over 20,000 hectares of land for the next 99 years and which is about to push smallholder producers off their land.
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