The State of Rights and Resources

By Dan Klotz, January 30, 2015

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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.

There is good news, however. The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) will hold a panel discussion, “The State of Rights and Resources 2014-2015,” that will explore where Indigenous Peoples and local communities have made inroads on gaining their rights, and where the leadership can emerge in 2015 that continues this progress.

The panel will take place this Wednesday, February 4 in London. For more information, to see the panel’s speakers, or watch a live webcast, click here. Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag, #RRIreview.

UPDATE:

You can now view the full report, Rights and Resources Initiative: Annual Review of the State of Rights and Resources 2014-2015.

To read more about the report and conference, check out the links below.

Could 2015 be a breakthrough year for community land rights?, Thomas Reuters Foundation (UK)

Liberians need legal rights to forest, says report, SciDev.net (UK)