News on Land

The arrival of huge mining corporations has left thousands in Marange feeling like prisoners in their own ancestral land.

Main photo banner: Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar chairs a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday. — Screengrab via Govt of Punjab Twitter

LAHORE: The Punjab cabinet on Tuesday approved leasing out of state land for corporate farming under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Rangelands cover 54 per cent of the earth’s terrestrial surface and provide valuable ecosystem services such as water retention and carbon sequestration. They also support the livelihoods of millions of pastoralists who turn rangeland resources into food and livestock products. However, in the face of unsupportive policy and legislation, blocked mobility routes and climate impacts, many of the world’s rangelands have become degraded. 

(AFP)

El gobierno hondureño de Xiomara Castro declaró al país "libre de minería a cielo abierto" y anunció la "cancelación" de las licencias, permisos y concesiones, hecho celebrado por ambientalistas y que pone en jaque a la industria.

"Se declara todo el territorio hondureño libre de minería a cielo abierto (...) y se procederá a la revisión, suspensión y cancelación de las licencias ambientales, permisos y concesiones", dijo el lunes en un comunicado la Secretaría de Energía, Recursos Naturales, Ambiente y Minas.

There have been a lot of discussions on the urgency of climate change. But it’s universally accepted that the steps that have been agreed to stop global warming are too little too late.

Why is this?

Main photo: Dushanbe, capital city of Tajikistan. Image: Shutterstock/Vershinin89

The World Bank has approved $45 million (£33.6m) in grant financing to help Tajikistan to protect its natural resources and increase climate resilience.

In early 1997, a cohort of members of parliament from the long-neglected pastoralist rangelands defied President Daniel arap Moi to hold a meeting that formed the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group. Paul Goldsmith looks back his contribution to the meeting.

The Community Land Act, No. 27 of 2016 (the Act) came into force on 21 September 2016. The Act gives effect to Article 63 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (the Constitution) which provides for the classification of land known as community land. While the law is progressive on paper- it enables local communities to register and own their communal lands legally, its application has been slow.

• The Indonesian government’s decision to revoke permits for plantation firms to operate in forest areas could lead to lawsuits filed by the companies, environmental law experts say.
• The permits were rescinded at the start of the year, not because of any environmental violations, but rather because the concession holders were deemed to be moving too slowly in exploiting the resources.
• But the unilateral revocations have set up an unprecedented legal mess, observers and industry representatives say, with no clarity over whether a company that has lo