Meeting on Community Protocols Held in Sabah, Malaysia

On 28 March, an informal meeting on biocultural community protocols was organized by Natural Justice and hosted by PACOS in Sabah, Malaysia. Anne Lasimbang (PACOS) provided background on the first community protocols developed in Sabah in 1998. Community researchers from Kampung Buayan presented on the protocol developed by the communities of Ulu Papar over the past two years with support from the Global Diversity Foundation. Natural Justice discussed...

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African BCP Initiative Meeting - Nairobi

Building on its earlier meeting held in December 2011, African BCP Initiative Kenyan partners met in Nairobi to discuss the experiences of members in developing and implementing BCPs. Member organizations including Natural Justice, ETC Compas, the Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization, Save Lamu, Kivulini, Ogiek Peoples Development Programme and Life Network...

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Save Lamu Hosts Community Meeting to Discuss BCP

For three days beginning 20 March 2012, at a meeting facilitated by Save Lamu, community members representing stakeholders from around the Lamu region gathered in Lamu Town on Kenya’s coast to continue developing the community’s biocultural community protocol (BCP). Dividing into six groups based on Lamu’s major nature-based livelihoods—fisherfolk, farmers, hunter-gatherers, mangrove cutters, pastoralists, and other-nature-based livelihoods—participants...

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Final Guidelines for Land Tenure Submitted

Photo credit: Roberto Faidutti - FAOThe draft text for the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security was submitted for final approval by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) this past week. While the guidelines will not be binding, Yayi Olaniran, the chair of the CFS, said the inclusive process used to develop the guidelines will help to ensure “they...

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Forever Sabah Stakeholder Meeting

Last week Harry Jonas attended an NGO stakeholder meeting for a bold new project being developed in Malaysia: Forever Sabah. The meeting was convened by LEAP and attended by a range of NGOs including Borneo Conservancy, PACOS, Hutan, WWF, and Global Diversity Foundation. Forever Sabah is a full-scale reintegration of economic, social and environmental issues at the landscape level towards a paradigm shift to a "greener" economic and governance model....

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Protest for Community Inclusion in Banni

The Banni Pashu Uchherak Maldhari Sangathan and Maldharis of Banni have organized a public gathering to protest the lack of involvement in the Indian Forest Department's working plan for the Banni grasslands of Gujarat. The community has previously developed a biocultural community protocol which can be accessed here. For more information contact the Banni Breeders Association: bpums4@gmail.c...

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Biocultural Community Protocols Toolkit for Community Facilitators

Natural Justice has just released the first version of "Biocultural Community Protocols: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators". Developed through the Regional Initiatives on Biocultural Community Protocols and with guidance and input from other key partners around the world, the Toolkit is comprised of four parts:Part I: Understanding and Using the ToolkitPart II: Documenting and Developing a Biocultural Community ProtocolPart III: Using a Biocultural...

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Maldhari BCP Photostory

As attempts to ban the Maldhari community from grazing their livestock the grasslands they have occupied sustainably for hundreds of years continue, a photostory presentation of the communities biocultural community protocol (BCP) has been prepared to link the document’s text to a visual representation of the Maldhari community’s intimate connection to their land.The Maldhari BCP asserts the community’s traditional practices of grazing in the Banni grasslands of Kutch, Indi, and links those practices to protections and guarantees in national and...

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Introducing Biocultural Dialogues

On the 1st and 2nd of March, Natural Justice, the Union on Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) and GIZ hosted a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa to review a joint project on Biocultural Dialogues in Ethical Biotrade. The project focused on three pilot biotrade case studies of community-private sector dialogues in Madagascar, Peru and Brazil in 2011. The review meeting was led by Maria Julia Oliva (UEBT), Barbara Lassen (GIZ) and Johanna von Braun (Natural...

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Natural Justice Job Vacancy: Staff Lawyer / Legal Expert

Natural Justice (Lawyers for Communities and the Environment) is a pioneering international team of legal practitioners. We do cutting edge work on environmental and human rights law, support communities and provide technical advice to governments to secure environmental and social justice. Natural Justice currently works in Africa, Asia and Latin America and has offices in South Africa and Malaysia. Natural Justice has been working with communities,...

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New Report on the Impact of Land Grabbing by Extractive Industries

The Gaia Foundation launched a new report on the impact on the earth of land grabbing by extractive industries on the 29th February. The report, titled 'Opening Pandora's Box: The New Wave of Land Grabbing by Extractive Industries and the Devastating Impact on Earth', seeks to publicise the scope of the expansion on this phenomenon around the world.The webpage from the report launch states "This report alerts global citizens to the dynamics in the...

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