F.a: Preserving ethnic customary land and natural resources management to ensure economic, social and culture

General

Ethnic customary land systems are vital for community people for livelihood, social justice and environment. Now these land management systems are in danger by centralized control and foreign direct investments with mismanagement and as ignored by laws and policies. This project documents literally and visually ethnic people's traditional land use and natural resource management systems. We build up communities' collective voice, confidence and space to speak out the truth also to international audience abo ut their rights which government has recognised by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) but which violated by land grab, evictions and globalised natural resource extraction. The 2018 amended Vacant, fallow and virgin land management law threaten ethnic people's right to own, manage and decide on their lands. Under it government insists ethnic people to apply registration for lands under their cultivation but can deny the registration, and all remaining preserved fores t lands could fall under virgin land category. People can thus lose their farmlands and ethnic, religious, cultural lands. By such registration, ownership of customary ethnic lands can be transferred to others. Research on customary land use system, on law s on land and environment and on related human rights will help political stakeholders to recognize ethnic people's customary land use system. Findings and documentary video will be disseminated via media and social media. Project produces and submits to t he CESCR a report on rights to food, livelihood, health, shelter and culture and how imposed land registration causes loss of land, livelihood and violates human rights. Report is supported by land and human rights training, research, advocacy, videos and conference to advocate domestic and international decision makers. It helps communities to protect and assert their human rights and their rights to own, control, manage and decide on their land and to save their bioculturally diverse environment. A joint policy recommendation on ethnic areas will be produced, more awareness and understanding among diverse ethnic and civil society groups, through briefings, media and social media spread out on how customary land use protects human rights and livelihood and community advocacy message for 2020 election. Project is implemented by Pa-O Youth Organization (PYO) with Burma Environment Working Group (BEWG) network, www.paoyouth.org + www.bewg.org.