NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Using digital technology to record land deals in Honduras can help clean up a corrupt system, protect the poor against eviction and stem violence in the world's most dangerous place for environmental activists, according to an analyst.

Nearly 80 percent of the country's privately held land is either untitled or improperly so, and acquisitions for mining, dams, tourism and other developments are often enforced through violence.

With the who’s who of the state machinery in attendance, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples was celebrated with much pomp and fanfare in Ooty on 9 August. While the traditional dances and official speeches painted a rosy picture, it was what was left unsaid during the celebrations that deserves looking into.

INDIGENOUS leaders will meet on Wednesday at a forum in Lismore as part of a state government review into the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

Lismore is one of nine locations where the forums are being held as part of consultations to review the act to ensure its relevance for indigenous communities.

Ngulingah Local Aboriginal Land Council interim chief executive Daniel Rose is one of the Aboriginal Land Council executives who will be attending Wednesday's meeting, facilitated by former indigenous senator Aden Ridgeway.

Unclear regulations on land ownership have led to overlapping claims, with some indigenous people occupying the concession areas of palm oil companies JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian security companies have seen a surge in demand for guards to protect palm oil plantations from fruit thieves and land grabbers, amid a rebound in prices of the commodity used to churn out everything from cooking oil to soap.

Fishermen say changes will lead to environmental damage, displace coastal communities and hurt the livelihoods of millions who depend on the sea for their survival

LONDON, Aug 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A land activist from Papua New Guinea at loggerheads with the police and developers in his home country has vowed to continue the fight for his community from Britain. Joe Moses has accused PNG authorities of treating people unfairly in demolishing the Paga Hill seafront settlement in the capital Port Moresby to make way for a luxury hotel and apartments development and a ring road. The government granted a lease to the Paga Hill Development Company (PHDC), a joint venture between local and international investors, to build on Paga Hill.

Santiago Maldonado was last seen when security forces evicted Mapuche Indians from land owned by clothing company Argentina’s government has offered a reward for information about the whereabouts of a missing activist who was last seen when security forces evicted a group of Mapuche Indians from lands in Patagonia owned by the Italian clothing company Benetton.

THE Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) has admitted agricultural production in the country has been on a downward trend and on Tuesday announced it would introduce a new section aimed at encouraging farmers to improve their yields.

ZAS CEO, Anxious Masuka, told reporters at a press conference in Harare they would launch the Eleven Tonne Plus Club which will celebrate the cream of Zimbabwean farmers who have excelled in maize production.

Villagers of Klong Sai Pattana say palm oil company responsible for targeted killings and harassment of their community. Chai Buri District, Thailand - As he manoeuvred his pick-up truck along the dirt track leading to his village of Klong Sai Pattana one afternoon, Supot Kalasong, 42, heard a loud bang. He had been driving home after getting an oil-change in a nearby town and for a split second, he thought one of his tyres had exploded, burst by one of the sharp rocks on the path.

On top of the socio-economic reform demands being pushed by the National Democratic Front, collectively dubbed as the comprehensive agreement on socio-economic reforms (CASER), is the free distribution of land for the country’s landless rural poor. During the ill-fated peace talks in Amsterdam in July, the question was raised: where will the government get the land to distribute for free to would-be agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs)? One of the answers: public lands.