Montenegro community successfully prevents military training in Sinjajevina pastures
In snowy and sub-zero conditions from October to December, a protest camp by local community members prevented NATO from entering the area. Read more ▸
Europe and Russia
EU should suspend Montenegro membership talk until it stops militarizing Sinjajevina
Montenegro must stop militarizing Sinjajevina highland pastures, global and local civil society rights groups urge in a new campaign. European Union has been asked to suspend membership talks with Montenegro. Read more ▸
Community-led restoration in the Jukajoki river basin raises hope for boreal territories of life
In Finland, the Selkie village community’s success to restore territories of life in the Jukajoki river basin raises hope for national-scale landscape restoration. Mining and other extractive activities degraded boreal peatlands in the Nordic country. But the villagers and fishers of Selkie successfully used local ecological knowledge and legal actions to stop destructive mining. Read more ▸
Celebrating Indigenous and Community Contributions to World Oceans Day
ICCA Consortium Members and Honorary members elevated the voices of Indigenous peoples and local communities in events on small-scale fisheries and ocean governance. Read more ▸
The Evolving Crisis in Sinjajevina
Last September, we published an alert about Sinjajevina, Montenegro, where local communities and civil society were organizing to defend their pasturelands, in the face of government plans to occupy and use it as a military artillery testing range. Our Honorary member Pablo Domínguez tells us how the Sinjajevina communities have been confronting the crisis since then. Read more ▸
BIOSEC podcast on community conservation in Romania and Rwanda
Emerging biodiversity and wildlife policies may have the potential to change the same-old-same-old approaches of colonialist fortress conservation. Read more ▸
Third ICCA Site Registered in Finland: GoldCrest Forest
“GoldCrest” is a small old-growth forest site of great importance to the local Selkie village that is now registered in the global ICCA Registry hosted by UNEP-WCMC. The forest had been under a threat of being clear cut, but thanks to the Landscape Rewilding Programme, it has now been spared. An article by Snowchange. Read more ▸
Big Football Team Mega-Mall vs. Galician Local Community Forest
As the community forest of Monte Veciñal en Man Común de Tameiga (Spain) is threatened by the construction of a mega-mall owned by a football team, the local community is defending its commons, with the support of Iniciativa Comunales (ICCA Consortium Member). Read more ▸
Pastoral Stone Enclosures as Biological Cultural Heritage: Galician and Cornish Examples of Community Conservation
Co-authored by Joám Evans Pim, from our Member organisation Vilar Woods Commons Community, this paper describes how Frojám and Ladydown Moor ICCAs-Territories of Life are recovering their biocultural values, especially in terms of identity and positive conservation outcomes. Read more ▸
Truth and (Re)Conciliation for the Sámi in Finland — or a Way for the State to Wash its Hands?
Preparations have been made in Finland to establish a truth and reconciliation commission regarding the indigenous Sámi people. As the plans go forward, Aslak Holmberg, Vice President of the Saami Council, stipulates that unless this process is prepared to change the political marginalisation of the Sámi, there is little reason for opening old wounds for what could otherwise be an empty apology. Read more ▸
From a ‘Territory of Life’ to a ‘Territory of Death and Destruction’? Save Sinjajevina!
In Montenegro, local communities and civil society are organizing to defend the pasture area of Sinjajevina, used by pastoral tribes for millennia, and now threatened by government plans to occupy it for military artillery testing. Official studies have recommended giving the area a protected status but those are being hastily set aside… Read more ▸
Governing Water, Governing Biodiversity – Highlighting The Role Of Indigenous Peoples At The 2019 World Water Week
Paul Sein Twa, ICCA Consortium Honorary member, participated in the World Water Week in Stockholm, where he strongly advocated for the recognition of ICCAs’ contributions through a right-based approach to conservation, as a key element for the success of any ongoing and future environmental protection and climate change initiatives. Read more ▸
Yes To Life, No To Mining Launches new ‘Emblematic Cases’ From Frontline Communities
A new collection of interactive case studies from the Yes to Life, No to Mining Network, of which the ICCA Consortium is part, shares the stories of communities resisting mining, restoring damaged ecosystems, and protecting and developing alternatives to extractivism. Read more ▸
Koitajoki River Documented in a New Seining Film
“Koitajoki”, a documentary film, has been released by Snowchange, Member of ICCA Consortium; the community of Ala-Koita fishermen; PrettyGoodProductions; and the Interreg SHAPE project. It focuses on an iconic, but highly endangered cultural fishery in Karelia: river seining. Read more ▸
Collective Lands and Territories of Life: a Backgrounder on the International Land Coalition
Council member Marco Bassi shares insider information about the International Land Coalition, after representing the ICCA Consortium at the recent Global CSOs Caucus meeting in Rome. Read more ▸
Reflections about Species On The Move: Indigenous and local knowledge as relationships for living and connecting
Scientists, indigenous representatives, and natural resources managers gathered to discuss climate-driven changes in species distributions and its impacts on natural systems and human well-being. Sutej Hugu, ICCA Consortium Coordinator for East Asia, participated in the event and shares his reflections in this article. Read more ▸
Forest and Pasture Commons in Romania: Country Report on Territories of Life, Potential ICCAs
In this report, Monica Vasile, Romanian environmental anthropologist and ICCA Consortium Honorary member, profiles Romania’s territories of life and explores their legal, historical, socio-economic, cultural and governance aspects. Read more ▸
Galician ICCAs Launch Mining Awareness Educational Materials
The “Centro de Saberes para a Sustentabilidade”, together with two Galician ICCAs has developed a set of educational materials exposing the social and environmental impacts of mining, challenges affecting many common land communities across the country. Read more ▸
Global Report on the Situation of Lands, Territories and Resources of Indigenous Peoples
This summary of regional reports, written by indigenous researchers and experts, with the guidance of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group Global Coordinating Committee, stresses the importance of securing the collective land rights of indigenous peoples, an imperative to achieving sustainable development for all. Read more ▸
Evenki Cultural Atlas Released Online
Snowchange, an ICCA Consortium Member in the Circumpolar North, supported the release of the online Evenki Cultural Atlas. Reindeer herding is more than a way of life for the Evenki of Siberia, it is the root of their culture… Read more ▸
Discussing ICCAs – Territories of Life in Europe, on the occasion of the first Europe Regional Assembly
A series of four events took place in Spain around the Consortium European Regional Assembly. ICCAs – Territories of Life and commons were intensely discussed. This knowledge and these exchanges are crucial to continue to define concrete steps ahead to adequately recognise and secure them. Read more ▸
