Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Posts
How Do You Conserve a Place That’s Inhabited?
When a government decides to conserve land by making it a national park, what happens to the Indigenous Peoples who have lived there for generations?
What if Defending Your Home Got You Killed?
In 2015, a hidden war claimed the lives of more than three people each week, according to a new report by NGO Global Witness. The cause of this war: land.
Home Is Where the Forest Is
After centuries of caring for their forest home, the last remaining forest dwellers of Kenya find themselves trespassers on their own land, which has been designated a national game reserve.
Not For Sale: Indigenous Peoples Protect Their Lands—Sometimes with their Lives
There are few people who would refuse to sell their home—if the price were right. So investors might assume that money would mollify indigenous and other rural peoples whose land is wanted for gold mining, oil, timber or other extractive projects. But new findings released last month in London by the Rights and Resources Initiative and by TMP Systems revealed the opposite.
Burness Mourns Killing of Indigenous Activist Berta Cáceres
We are saddened and outraged by the assassination of Berta Cáceres, Indigenous and environmental rights activist from Honduras. She was and is an inspiration to all of us.
Indigenous Communities Bring Mahogany Back
What happens when a government turns over forest conservation efforts to the people who live off the resources the forest provides?
US Aid for Peace in Colombia Sounds Like a Good Idea, But Here’s What’s Missing
President Obama announced that he would ask for $450 million in aid to help Colombia end "half a century of wrenching conflict" and usher in a peaceful era. This sounds like good news, but notably absent from the commitment was any mention of those hardest hit by the country's 50-year war.
Our Creative Portfolio
Videos, graphics, gifs, Twitter, blog posts, websites – these days, there are so many ways to communicate beyond traditional media, and Burness does ‘em all. To showcase some of our recent creative work, we’ve put together a new creative portfolio.
Indigenous Peoples ‘Paddle to Paris’ for COP21
Hundreds of indigenous peoples from the major tropical forest regions of Latin America, Africa and Indonesia traveled to Paris for COP21, hoping to be heard above the cacophony of voices shaping the long-awaited climate agreement.
What Happens When Cartoonists Get Serious
Kenyan cartoonists are getting serious about putting an end to land grabs. Read on to learn (and see!) how they're doing it.
