The Santa Clara de Uchunya community has lived in a remote section of the Peruvian Amazon for generations. Like many indigenous groups, this community of the Shipibo-Konibo people have traditionally managed and relied on forests for hunting, fishing and natural resources.

But in 2014, someone started cutting down large sections of the community’s ancestral forests.

Antes de sediar os prédios mais importantes de Brasília, a Esplanada dos Ministérios abrigava um campo aberto onde descendentes de escravos levavam bois para pastar. Eram moradores do Quilombo Mesquita, instalado na região desde o século 18 e que teve um papel importante – e pouco conhecido – na fundação da cidade.

Por : Wilmar Harley Castillo Amorocho (Rebelión)

En Colombia ha sido histórico que el campesinado se movilice por la tener la tierra y trabajarla con fines populares. Agricultura orgánica, producción de alimentos, comercialización en redes locales, junto al despliegue de dinámicas sociales y políticas alrededor de la tierra, cuyo proceso crea otro tipo de relacionamiento entre las personas, con la naturaleza y con el resto de comunidades. Es decir, se construye territorio.

The failure to secure the property rights of rural communities shows a clear policy gap between citizens and rights to land as per the Constitution and the attitude and practices of the state, traditional leaders, white farmers and mining companies in relation to such rights. 

Absent from the discourse spurred by the motion passed in the National Assembly on 27 February is what could be achieved in the interim for land reform programme using existing legislation while the country awaits a verdict on the constitutional amendment to determine whether is possible to expropriate land w

Há um ano e meio, no dia 1º de janeiro de 2017, dezenas de famílias indígenas, que moravam antes na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, MG – expulsas de seus territórios e sobrevivendo em diáspora forçada -, apoiadas pela Associação dos Povos Indígenas de Belo Horizonte e Região Metropolitana (APIBHRM), ocuparam parte de uma das três fazendas da FUCAM (Fundação Educacional Caio Martins), Fazenda Santa Tereza, no município de Esmeraldas, RMBH, fazenda de propriedade do Governo de Minas Gerais.

Uma entrevista com Patrícia Chaves, da organização brasileira Espaço Feminista,  explica as discrepâncias no acesso à propriedade e aos direitos de herança por mulheres no Brasil, bem como a dados que informem as mulheres nas comunidades sobre seus direitos. O texto traz também relatos poderosos de experiências pessoais das mulheres.

The Second Regional Land Forum kicked off in Bangkok, Thailand in the early morning of May 28th and the opening session was certainly one to remember! Live drones, talk of big data and using NASA related technology to propel land rights forward, were but a few of the impressive topics on the table. Participants gathered to hear a variety of ‘flash talks’, quick yet effective pitches about notable initiatives relating to data, technology and land rights.

Há exatamente um ano, a Prefeitura de São Paulo, em conjunto com a Polícia Militar do Estado, realizou uma ação violenta em um conjunto de quarteirões do bairro dos Campos Elísios, onde então se localizava um cenário de consumo e venda de drogas a céu aberto denominado pela imprensa, desde o final dos anos 1990, de “Cracolândia”.

Access to justice is a key governance concern in developed and developing countries alike. Community legal workers aim to help poor or comparatively powerless people defend themselves against land grabs, obtain public services, and challenge corruption. Can this bottom-up approach counter powerful interests seeking to entrench their control? Can legal empowerment help respond to rising authoritarianism and repression of civil society?

Por: Taran Volckhausen

On Wednesday, 6 September 2017, Barbuda, the less known sister isle of the popular resort island of Antigua, bore the full brunt of Hurricane Irma as it struck the Leeward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean. The island suffered near total destruction: 95% of the island’s buildings were damaged, 60% of the population were rendered homeless, and a 2-year-old child was tragically killed. Antigua, on the older hand, was relatively untouched.

Imagine you're a local sustainability officer developing an initiative to reduce emissions. But you don't know how many emissions the city produces, or where they're coming from. You don't know who the city's biggest energy users are, how many cars are on the road, or the amount of waste produced every year. And even if you can set goals for reducing emissions, you have no way of measuring progress against them.