New Report: Land Rights and the Rush for Land

The International Land Coalition (ILC), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) have released a new report entitled, "Land Rights and the Rush for Land: Findings of the Global Commercial Pressures on Land Research Project". Authored by Ward Anseeuw, Liz Alden Wily, Lorenzo Cotula, and Michael Taylor, the report is the culmination of a three-year research...

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Save Lamu Nominated for Human Rights Award

Save Lamu, a coalition of Indigenous communities of Lamu, Kenya, has been working with Natural Justice to develop a biocultural community protocol (BCP) to call for transparency and participation in the development of a mega-port on their traditional lands and waters from the Kenyan Government. For its outstanding efforts to ensure fairness and dignity for the people of Lamu and Kenya, Save Lamu has been nominated to receive a Pwani Human Rights...

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Submission to UN WG on Human Rights and TNCs

On 8 December, Natural Justice and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) made a joint submission on ‘Large-Scale, Industrial Methods of Extraction, Production, and Development and their Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ to the UN Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises.The submission documents the varied and...

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Conference on the Nagoya Protocol

Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) attended a conference at the University of Edinburgh from 2-3 of December focusing on the Nagoya Protocol. Many of the attendees were integral to the negotiation of the protocol and included presentations from: Valerie Normand (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity); Maria Julia Oliva (Union for Ethical Biotrade), Alphonse Kambu (UNEP); Charlotte Salpin (UNDOALOS); Claudio Chiarolla (IDDRI); and Tomme...

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Presenting BCPs in the Mau Forest

With a long history of exclusion from their traditional homes and increasing pressures on land tenure from politically connected outsiders, the Ogiek community is engaging in domestic and international legal action to protect their rights. The Ogiek Peoples' Development Program (OPDP), a key organisation in this process, suggested that Natural Justice could assist in supporting the Ogiek to establish their rights over their lands and resources. OPDP...

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International Law Discussion Group

On 1 December, Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) met with Edinburgh University’s International Law Discussion Group to present on Natural Justice’s work. PhD and Masters students engaged with the local application of international law and considered the complexities, opportunities and challenges of using a variety of legal frameworks to effect social and environmental change. Harry thanks David Rossati and Professor Elisa Morgera for the opportuni...

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BCPs, REDD+ and CBD Safeguards at COP17

On 1 December at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa, Natural Justice co-hosted a panel entitled "Biocultural Protocols: Lessons for REDD+ Safeguards from the CBD Experiences". The event was hosted in collaboration with the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), the Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment (IPCCA), and the Global...

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BCP Initiative Meeting in Nairobi

On 30th November, Natural Justice hosted participants and partners of the African BCP Initiative in Nairobi. Members of the Initiative presented on their Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) development workplans and implementation and members and partners offered feedback on ensuring meaningful BCPs. Throughout the day the key themes that emerged were the importance of good process in preparing BCPs and ideas for increasing the practical uses of...

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