News on Land

KUALA LUMPUR (July 22): Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok has come out to respond to allegations by environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) that native customary land rights (NCR) are being violated in the palm oil industry.

In a statement today, Kok reiterated that it is mandatory for companies registered under the Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) to recognise land use rights and NCR.

INVESTIGATIONS into the claims of ancestral land by the commission of inquiry established by the government may not necessarily lead to restitution for the dispossessed communities.

The deputy minister of information Engel Nawatiseb made these remarks in a statement issued last week.

New Delhi: Less than a year ahead of assembly elections in the national capital, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that residents of unauthorized colonies in Delhi will soon have ownership rights of their land.

He said the central government had given approval to the Delhi government’s proposal and the state government will begin registrations in 1797 unauthorized colonies.

At the beginning of the 20th century, 80 per cent of India was covered in thick forests. Now the forest cover has dropped to a mere 17 per cent.

Recently, Forest Survey of India (FSI) released its biennial State of Forests Report 2017 that stated that forest cover in the country has increased by about one per cent, but several other reports highlight that this increase is not due to increase in forest area but is the artefact of increase in agricultural green cover.

NEW YORK, USA – Without the full participation and leadership of women, “we have no hope” of realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the president of the United Nations General Assembly told gender equality leaders on Monday.

“This is an obvious point to make, but it is, sadly, one that we cannot repeat enough”, she said, opening the day-long discussion at UN Headquarters in New York to identify best practices aimed to knock down barriers hindering women’s full participation and leadership, in what she called “our shared mission this year”.

2.4 million people who live mostly on the 2,251 sand bars that dot the entire river system in Assam, are living at the mercy of nature for long, and are now fighting another battle to keep their Indian identity alive.

Kamal Khan’s life is as fragile as the char (sandbar) on which he lives. Unlike many char-dwellers, who shift to the riverbank or beyond when the river Brahmaputra erodes their land, Kamal moved to Balartari from Chenimari char along the river bank.

The project has long been lamented by residents in the southern region of Arequipa where farmers say the mine will pollute their fields and affect water supplies

LIMA - Protesters blocked a portion of Peru's main coastal highway on Monday in the start of a new challenge to a billion-dollar copper mining project that has been a lightning rod for conflict.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has announced that the state will begin a conversation about a pathway to treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

WINDHOEK – The Presidential Commission into Claims on Ancestral Land Rights and Restitution yesterday told President Hage Geingob that there is strong opposition to the proposed sale of Namibia’s biggest privately-owned game reserve, Erindi.

Some communities have called for the sale to be put on hold pending the outcome of the commission’s work, commissioners told the Head of State. 

• The highly climate- and biodiversity-friendly agricultural practice of agroforestry is now practiced widely around the world, but its roots are deeply indigenous.
• Agroforestry is the practice of growing of trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables together in a group mimicking a forest, and its originators were indigenous peoples who realized that growing useful plants together created a system where each species benefited the others.
• Agroforestry is now estimated to cover one billion hectares globally and sequester over 45 gigatons of carbon from the

A conservation group has purchased almost 400 square miles of land in a project that could offer a new model to protect natural environments

WASHINGTON - Private investors have backed what supporters say is one of the largest conservation acquisitions ever in the eastern United States, offering a promising new model to protect land.