Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Posts
The Pope’s Climate Change Role Models
The Pope’s environment and climate change encyclical exploded on the scene this week, unleashing debate about humanity’s relationship to the planet. While the document, entitled Laudato Si, was generally critical of the way people have treated the planet, it praised one group for its respect for the earth: indigenous people.
In Bonn, Forest Peoples Share Their Stories
Indigenous leaders from Africa, Asia and the Americas came together in Bonn to share their experiences at the frontlines of an often deadly battle to guard tropical forests. A recent report suggests these conflicts kill at least two people every week.
Red Tape Cripples Global Sustainable Forestry Model
Although the last 25 years have seen significant strides in the development of community forestry in Mexico, a new study by the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry reveals that a web of burdensome rules and regulations are preventing these communities from legally and sustainably harvesting their forests.
Scientists Share Tyler Prize for Protecting Forests and Oceans
Jane Lubchenco and Madhav Gadgil, scientists working on land and in oceans, have spent their careers identifying solutions that protect our planet’s biodiversity and some of our most at-risk environments. They are this year's Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement laureates.
Honduran Indigenous Leader Wins Goldman Environmental Prize
Berta Cáceres is not like most people. Her close friends and colleagues carry around a eulogy for her, even though she is very much alive and just won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize.
New President: Hope for Indonesia’s Besieged Indigenous Peoples?
Imagine living in a world where your home could at any time become a national park, or a giant plantation—and you have no say. And if you should stand up to this injustice, you’d likely go to jail. This is the reality of many of the forest peoples of the archipelago of Indonesia.
Shedding a Light and Engaging on Land Rights
In an opinion piece that appeared in the Reuters Sustainability online portal, Nestlé Executive Vice President José Lopez writes that Indigenous land rights must be addressed before any economic development project proceeds.
The State of Rights and Resources
In 2014, we saw a number of studies showing that when Indigenous Peoples and local communities have control of their land and the natural resources the land contains, they do the best job of keeping those resources—including tropical forests and fresh water supplies, for example—intact. But often times, governments claim control of the land and the disposition of its resources.
Indigenous Peoples + Rights = Living Forests
This past December, Peru became the first Amazonian forest nation to host the UN climate change conference, commonly known as the COP. The event attracted the usual committed global advocates, researchers and policy makers who flock to the COP every … Continue reading Indigenous Peoples + Rights = Living Forests
Conversations in Development: Guardians of the Forest, Protectors of the Climate
Tropical forests are critical to the future of the planet. They harbor millions of species of plants and animals, and, as natural storers of carbon, they play a key role in combating climate change. They are also home to millions of indigenous people, who have protected the forests and their resources for thousands of years.
