World

Water Flowing Up the Mountain: Development Devours Forest Reserve

A forest reserve outside Zambia’s capital has been shrunk significantly to make way for housing and lifestyle developments. Even worse, these new developments are pumping sewage into the Chalimbana River and contaminating the fish and water that local communities rely on. Local activists, like Robert Chimambo (ICCA Consortium Honorary member), are struggling to protect the river and forest, and hope to turn this territory into a community protected forest area.  Read more ▸

Earth Vikalp Sangam: Proposal for a Global Tapestry of Alternatives

“Globally, there is a visible counter-trend to the destructive process of ‘development’ that the forces of capitalism, statism, and patriarchy have imposed”. In this article, Ashish Kothari (Member of the ICCA Consortium Council of Elders) introduces a new global initiative, attempting to weave together the various movements seeking alternatives to mainstream development.  Read more ▸

ICCA Consortium Policy Brief no 6 – Nourishing Life -Territories of Life & Food Sovereignty

The ICCA Consortium is delighted to release its new Policy Brief, which highlights and documents the profound significance of ICCAs—territories of life- and their contributions to the food sovereignty of the peoples and the communities themselves. This is a call for movements that foster food sovereignty and movements strengthening territories of life to exchange knowledge and support each other!  Read more ▸

A Major Victory for Land Rights Defenders

In 2013, the World Bank launched its Enabling the Business of Agriculture Project, with the aim of guiding pro-business reforms in the agriculture sector by “scoring” countries on the “ease of doing business”. After five years of campaigning and advocacy on the part of land rights defenders, the World Bank has dropped a land indicator that aimed at privatizing the commons in the Global South. ICCA Consortium Honorary member Anuradha Mittal explains the process that led to this major victory, and the future perspectives of the campaign.  Read more ▸

ALAPA

Association for Law and Advocacy for Pastoralists

National NGO
Tanzania

QWB

Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board
Local Indigenous People Organisation
Arctic – Canada
Website

GREDO

Green Environment and Development Organization

Local NGO
Afghanistan

Pan-African Alliance Seeks to Protect Territories of Life With a Revolutionary Tool

Among the many existing tools for documenting ICCAs, the one proposed by InsightShare proves to be a powerful way for communities to create participatory media that reflects their unique concerns and amplifies their unique voices. InsightShare shared examples of effective uses of video during the Video4Change gathering, attended by 40 indigenous activists and video practitioners, including Ivan Vaalbooi and Lesle Jansen from Natural Justice (ICCA Consortium Member).  Read more ▸

Sacred Forests and Crocodile Ponds: Key Insights from Binational Gathering on ICCAs in Benin and Burkina Faso

A workshop on ICCAs in Burkina Faso and Benin brought together many Consortium actors from both countries, as well as supporters, partners and resource persons. It was an opportunity to raise the visibility of ICCAs, discuss community governance dynamics, identify threats and possible solutions and formulate recommendations to states, NGOs and communities. Read more ▸

The 9th Southeast Asian Conference on Human Rights and Business

During the conference held in the Philippines, delegates released the Bata’an Statement, committing themselves to continued collaboration on tackling business related human rights abuses in the region, as well as calling on businesses and states to address these abuses. Helen Tugendhat and Hannah Storey from Forest Peoples Programme (ICCA Consortium Member) share the outcomes of the event.  Read more ▸

Beyond the Complexities: How Do We Engage in Community Land Discussions?

In October, Natural Justice organized an Environmental Justice Forum in Kenya, tackling the issue of securing land ownership for indigenous and local communities, as a way to protect their livelihoods and ensure better conservation practices of lands and forests. Maryama Farah, Senior Officer at Natural Justice, offers a summary along with her reflections on the event.  Read more ▸

KRAPAVIS Organizes a Workshop with Partners and Allies to Secure Orans

In India, KRAPAVIS (ICCA Consortium Member) organized a workshop that included representatives from communities, forestry research and other research institutions, universities and colleges, along with the Forest Department, the ‘Rajasthan State Biodiversity Board’ (RSBB) NGOs, and governmental agencies, to agree on the first steps to secure Orans, based on the 2018 “deemed forest” Supreme Court order.  Read more ▸

Fostering Indigenous-led Conservation in Canada

Indigenous-led conservation is making waves in Canada, with autonomous declaration of and federal support for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) and the launching of the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership website at the recent Canadian Parks Conference.  Read more ▸