16 December 2019
Bernardo Caal is an indigenous Q’eqchi leader from Guatemala currently serving a seven year prison sentence. His crime? Defending the Cahabón River, one of the largest in the country, against two hydroelectric dams.
The river is of plays a central role in the lives of 195 Q’eqchi communities in
16 December 2019
Ercilia Araya is the President of Pai-Ote, a Colla Indigenous community of 60 people in the Atacama Region of Northern Chile. Since 2014, Ercilia has been criminalized and harassed for defending her community’s land rights against mining projects, and denouncing the pollution of sacred water
3 December 2019
Ignoring environmental laws in Timor-Leste to build a petroleum infrastructure project could mean serious problems for communities including environmental destruction, loss of land, and loss of livelihoods. Communities are already facing some of these problems because project proponents haven’t
2 December 2019
Both the climate crisis and inequality require a democratic overhaul. And governments globally should start by turning over legal control of land and natural resources to local communities and indigenous land users. Their rights are key to survival for all of us.
22 November 2019
Next week the Conference on Land Policy in Africa - Winning the Fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation, will take place in Abidjan. The African Union recognises that corruption is a key factor hampering efforts at promoting governance, socio-
18 November 2019
Two weeks after Malagasy Forest Landscape Restoration experts came to Yaoundé, their Cameroonian counterparts visited Madagascar to intensify their South-South exchange on Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) in Africa.
The African Union Development Agency (AUDA) pilots targeted exchanges between
15 November 2019
In Madagascar 70% of the population depends on the traditional exploitation of natural resources, and land degradation affects more than 46% of the country's surface area, with costs to 21% of the Gross Domestic Product.
Under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), which is a
6 November 2019
The people of Indonesia’s Aru Islands fended off a land grab that would have led to the destruction of a vast area of rainforest, through a sophisticated grassroots campaign that held power to account.
The campaign holds lessons for rural communities facing similar threats, but their prospects
24 October 2019
Restrictions on land leasing in India have made it more difficult for marginal farmers to access land and finances, pushing them into informal leases that heighten their insecurity
Farming is a way of life in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, where three-quarters of the state’s 200
10 October 2019
Individuals from Indonesia and Liberia embroiled in land disputes with oil palm plantations have visited the Netherlands to call on the Dutch banks facilitating these companies’ operations to take action.
The companies in question are PT Astra Agro Lestari in Indonesia and Golden Veroleum Liberia,
7 October 2019
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of New Communities Inc., the world’s first Community Land Trust, and as planners and community members alike gather to celebrate October 2-5 at the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia, RioOnWatch issued a call for articles
4 October 2019
Protecting land from development provides numerous ecological and social benefits, but many people debate whether it hurts or helps local economies. Some worry that land protection will inhibit economic growth by restricting local resource use or building opportunities.