• For decades the Papua region in Indonesia has remained the country’s least-understood, least-developed and most-impoverished area, amid a lack of transparency fueled by a strong security presence.
• Activists hope their new website, Mata Papua, or Eye of Papua, will fill the information void with reports, data and maps about indigenous welfare and the proliferation of mines, logging leases and plantations in one of the world’s last great spans of tropical forest.

After lengthy treks through the muddy Amazon, indigenous men, women and children will greet Pope Francis Friday in a visit to the world's largest rainforest that indigenous leaders hope will mark a turning point for the increasingly threatened ecosystem.

After lengthy treks through the muddy Amazon, indigenous men, women and children will greet Pope Francis Friday in a visit to the world's largest rainforest that native leaders hope will mark a turning point for the increasingly threatened ecosystem.

The women noted that “foreign concepts” and exploiters supplanted traditional ways of life, resulting in the environmental catastrophe of the island.

Mothers Against Re-Opening the Panguna mine have released a statement championing traditional land rights of the Indigenous Black people of the South Pacific island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, expressing their emphatic opposition to re-opening the Panguna Mine located in the Guava Mountains.

Attacks have raised concerns about further violence from illegal miners who often look for gold in protected areas or indigenous lands amid rising tensions over land ownership

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brazilian army and police officers have ramped up security in the northern town of Humaitá in the Amazon region after illegal gold miners set fire to the offices of government environmental watchdogs, officials said on Sunday.

Deaths of environmental activists locked in conflict with mining, logging and agricultural companies across three continents has passed 150

• Interactive: recording the deaths of environmental activists around the world

The number of people killed this year while defending their community’s land, natural resources or wildlife has passed 150 – meaning 2017 is on course to be the deadliest year on record.

Mining companies have faced community protests and threats to shut operations, but many residents believe only tribal leaders are benefiting

MOGALAKWENA, South Africa, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A new power struggle is unfolding in South Africa’s old homelands between global mining giants, traditional leaders and an impoverished rural populace.

[JURIST] Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment John Knox [official profile] called [press release] on Mongolia Wednesday to protect the environment.

As a 53-year civil war winds down, coca growers face growing pressure to shelve their lucrative crop.

Mauricio Quiróz has always had a plan.

The 38-year-old farmer and entrepreneur lives with his wife and three kids on a small ranch on the lush, steep mountainside that surrounds the municipality of Briceño, in the department of Antioquia in northwestern Colombia.

More precious than gold: 10 years of indigenous land rights under the UN Declaration

en years ago today, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

(Ecofin Agency) - In an open letter sent to the president of Madagascar on August 17, the Tany group exposed its concerns about land grabbing by foreign investors in the country. For the civil society group, whose objective “is to support the development of Malagasy farmers and citizens and defend their lands and natural resources”, it is urgent to boost land tenure and establish a stricter framework for land related transactions.

Monrovia – Multi Stakeholders’ Platforms (MSPs) in Project Affected Communities in Sinoe, Maryland, Nimba and Grand Cape Mount Counties have benefitted from series of trainings on Land Use and Land Verification.

The exercises are in continuation of the implementation of activities under the Assessed Funding Project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and in partnership with the Government of Liberia through the National Bureau of Concession (NBC).