News on Land
Get the latest news on land and property rights, brought to you by trusted sources from across the globe.
Ecuador’s indigenous Cofán hail court-ordered end to mining on their land
- A court in Ecuador’s Sucumbíos province has ordered that the mining concessions already in operation on territory claimed by the Cofán indigenous people, and those currently in the process of being granted, must be canceled, affecting some 324 square kilometers (125 square miles) in total.
- The ruling also requires that reparations be made for any impacts caused by recent mining.
- For the community, the court’s decision is a victory that represents a milestone for the rights of all indigenous communities in Ecuador.
In January 201
Advocacy for the implementation of environmental laws
CANBERRA — A report from the U.N Environment Programme released last month seeks to make governments look beyond environmental law, and focus on gaps in implementation.
The report analyzes the global environmental rule of law and provides an important evidence base to help advocacy efforts on proper enforcement of laws.
“Governments talk about how good their laws are but they don’t necessarily talk about how these are being implemented.”
Create More Awareness On Land Registration And Rights, Women Farmers Ask Government
KAMPALA – Rural women farmers have asked government to create more awareness about land registration processes and land rights Issues in order to save many from land grabbers.
The farmers, who met at Hotel Africana in Kampala on February 8 during the Women in Agriculture conference, told State Minister for Lands Persis Namuganza that majority of the rural women are still ignorant about land rights and Registration.
They say this has paved way for their rights on land to be violated by their spouses and land grabbers.
Xolobeni activist defies death threats to protect her ancestral land
Johannesburg - Wherever she goes, Nonhle Mbuthuma expects to feel the cold metal tip of a gun pressed against her head.
The land and environmental rights campaigner knows she could pay the ultimate price in her unwavering fight to protect her unspoilt, ancestral land from mining.
“I don’t feel safe at all,” says Mbuthuma, a founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), of the threats she receives from pro-mining interests.
“My voice is now the loudest. I’m seen as a ‘nuisance’ because I’m protecting my forefathers’ land and my children’s land.”
To fight deforestation first tackle inequality, study says
- Agriculture is the leading cause of tropical forest loss in Latin America.
- New research from the University of Bern says institutions – including environmental policies, laws and regulations – are vital in preventing agricultural expansion, and deforestation.
- Higher inequality can cause ruptures within communities, and prevent collective action needed to protect the environment.
Conflict expected to deepen Africa's hunger crisis in 2019
ABIDJAN — Ongoing conflict in Africa could exacerbate the magnitude and severity of food crises in five countries and regions that already have some of the world’s greatest emergency food needs, a new report has found.
Palm oil industry expansion spurs Guatemala indigenous migration
Death of Jakelin Caal in US custody highlights how land conflicts and displacement fuel flight from indigenous villages.
San Antonio Secortez & Guatemala City - The plantations' outer edges begin fewer than 20km from where seven-year-old Jakelin Caal is buried. The deep green rows of oil palm stretch along rural roads in the Alta Verapaz department of Guatemala.
Married women get nod to inherit their fathers’ land
A court ruling asserting that married women qualify to inherit properties of their fathers and should not be excluded during distribution has stirred debate between defenders of women’s and men’s rights.
The ruling was made by the Environment and Land Court in Nyeri, and stopped a woman from disinheriting her step-daughters. Justice Lucy Waithaka held that married daughters are also entitled to inherit their father’s estate, contrary to customary law and many traditions in the country.
The 2019 Grassroots Justice Prize
Celebrating Great Deeds in Legal Empowerment
The biennial Grassroots Justice Prize competition is the world’s only competition recognizing grassroots organizations and institutions, large and small, across the globe, that are working to put the power of law into people’s hands.
This year, we are offering 3 prizes of $10,000 USD.
On solid ground: armed with land titles, Tanzania's slum dwellers tackle poverty
The documents form part of a nationwide programme to secure property rights for home owners in informal settlements
DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - For Maria Mkwawa, the Tanzanian government's decision to issue her with a formal land title to her home in January was a pleasant surprise.
"It will help me in many ways," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"My family has a bright future."
Agricultores da Cela apresentam preocupações ao governador
Agricultores do município da Cela, província do Cuanza- Sul, solicitaram ao governador da provincial, Job Capapinha, apoio para relançarem a produção agro-pecuária.
