Land News

MONTREAL — Forest areas managed by indigenous and local communities store nearly 300 billion metric tons of carbon — five times more than previously estimated — yet failure for these communities to have their rights formally recognized may lead forest-dependent people unable to protect carbon reserves, a new report claims.

JAKARTA — Indigenous rights activists in Indonesia have expressed concern that the government is stalling the passage of a long-awaited bill on indigenous rights by tangling the legislative process in red tape.

The government said in July that it had agreed with members of the House of Representatives to stat discussions on the bill on Aug. 16. But the legislative docket seen by Mongabay shows the start of those discussions has been pushed back to Sept. 27.

One similarity between the three Asian economies, namely Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, is their success in becoming high-income countries after World War II while maintaining a more equal distribution of income. Currently the Gini Index of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are in the low 0.30s, while Indonesia’s index (a lower middle-income country) is around 0.40. Key to the ability of the three countries in maintaining a more equal distribution of income is land reform, which they conducted as early as the 1940s and 1950s. 

MASAITA, Kenya—Twenty years ago, when Rael Chemutai and her husband heard about the fertile land that was for sale near the Mau Forest, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, they decided to sell their belongings and set out on a journey to finally settle on the productive land.

Up to now, there is no announcement on a date when the trial will continue until the Court of Appeal resolves the legal objections filed.

Knowing where deforestation is happening is critical for efforts aimed at stopping or slowing it. Major breakthroughs toward this goal have been made over the previous few years, with NGOs harnessing the power of satellites to monitor and identify canopy loss in forests around the world. Now, a new study sheds more light on forest loss, determining the primary causes of deforestation around the world.

After the death of her husband, Sinodia Moyo* (58) was left with nothing in terms of moveable assets after her in-laws took everything away from her. She was left with a small piece of land after property such as livestock and household goods were distributed among her in-laws, leaving her in the cold.

Moyo, of Maribha Village, Goredema in Gokwe North, is among many widows in Zimbabwe who face tremendous hardships following the death of their spouses.they are denied the right to access, own, control or inherit property including the land they live on.

The organizations claim the bill hurts both Indigenous people's rights and the environment.

Indigenous organizations in the Amazon have demanded Peru's Congress backtrack a recently passed Hydrocarbon bill, arguing it ignores the right of Indigenous peoples and undermines environmental conservation efforts.

Delayed payments of compensation for compulsory acquired lands by the state have been cited as a major cause of land litigation and inadequate security of tenure in the country.

Dr. Benjamin Armah Quaye, National Coordinator, Land Administration Project (LAP) explained that the yet-to-be compensated owners become frustrated by the delays and resort to encroaching the land, leading to litigations.

Faced with groundwater depletion, Uganda is restoring its wetlands and planting millions of trees to improve supply

MBARARA, Uganda - In the village of Katebe, Ugandan schoolchildren have little choice but to drink from the same water supply as animals.

During the dry season from June to August, Kyakatarihwa dam is the only source of water for people and livestock alike in this remote part of southwest Uganda's Mbarara district.

"We have no (other) option," said Arinaitwe Kenneth, headteacher of Katebe Primary School, which has 420 pupils.

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Indonesia has been slow in granting forest tenure to indigenous peoples and local communities after an historic court ruling five years ago mandated that the government recognize their tenure rights.

A study released by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) on Monday revealed that the total amount of land designated for indigenous peoples and local communities only grew from 0.22 million hectares  in 2002 to 0.79 million in 2017. The total areas owned by local peoples only reached 0.01 million ha last year.