Yanomami Community Members Killed in Clash with Miners

While details are still emerging, it appears that as many as 80 Yanomami community members in the Amazon in Venezuela have been massacred by illegal gold miners. According to a submission to prosecutors this week in Puerto Ayacucho, the massacre occurred in early July. The national prosecutor’s office has appointed two officials to lead investigations, and the Venezuelan military has conducted interviews with witnesses.  Survival International's...

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UEBT Hiring Project Officer

The Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), a Natural Justice partner on work around communities, dialogue and biotrade, is seeking a Project Officer on Business and Biodiversity Policy Implementation. The Project Officer will “work closely with other UEBT staff to provide support to companies developing systems and procedures on issues such as community engagement, contribution to local development and access and benefit sharing (ABS).” For more...

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Belo Monte Construction Allowed to Resume

Rendering of the proposed Belo Monte dam viahttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comThe $13 billion Belo Monte mega dam is under construction again in the heart of the Amazon as the Brazilian Supreme Court has provisionally overturned a Regional Federal Tribunal’s ruling that construction should be stopped. According to the Supreme Court's website, the ruling of Judge President Britto may be reviewed once the court conducts a “more detailed analysis...

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Participate in IUCN WCC

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress starts next week and the latest newsletter from IUCN has spotlighted the many ways that people from around the world can participate and contribute without traveling to Jeju.Questions for prominent experts, politicians and CEOs participating in dialogues on the Congress’s five themes (climate, food, development, people and governance, and saving nature) can...

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Khwe Indigenous Values Workshop in Bwabata National Park

More photos hereFrom 19-22 August, 2012, Natural Justice attended and helped to facilitate a Khwe Indigenous Values workshop held in Bwabwata National Park, West Caprivi, Namibia as the beginning of a bicultural community protocol (BCP) process. The workshop was hosted in partnership with the Open Society for Southern Africa's (OSISA) Indigenous Rights Programme, the Kyaramacan Association, and Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation...

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Imbak Canyon Ethno-forestry

Harry Jonas of Natural Justice presented on "ABS: From International Law to Local Realities" at a workshop hosted by Yayasan Sabah and Petronas in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The workshop focused on how best to develop and implement an ethno-forestry study in Imbak Canyon. The study is "a long term project leading towards the positioning of Imbak Canyon as the centre of learning for indigenous communities in biodiversity conservation and sustainable...

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OSISA Briefing on San Values Workshop

Via www.OSISA.orgThe Open Society for Southern Africa, a partner and funder of Natural Justice, released a briefing this week on workshop held in Bwabata National Park on San Values and Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) run jointly by Natural Justice, Kyaramacan Association, Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation, and the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The workshop sought to “exploit the synergies between on-going...

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Natural Justice Joins GNHRE

Natural Justice has recently joined the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE). The network, which describes itself as a network for the creation of change, is an “internet-based project aim[ing] to build a dedicated portal for the exchange of scholarship, thinking and insights drawn from community-embedded experience and praxis at the interface between human rights and the environment.”  The aim of the network...

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BCP Initiative Briefing Note

Natural Justice has released a new briefing note on the Biocultural Community Protocols Initiative entitled Biocultural Community Protocols: Articulating Stewardship, Asserting Rights, Affirming Responsibilities.The briefing note first seeks to articulate what biocultural community protocols (BCPs) are, offering a clear definition of BCPs and detailing how BCPs are developed and used. It then offers a number of examples where communities are working...

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FPP Report: Indigenous Peoples and the Green Climate Fund

The Forest Peoples Programme and the Indigenous Peoples’ Network of Malaysia (JOAS) have drafted a technical briefing for Indigenous peoples, policy makers and support groups entitled Indigenous Peoples and the Green Climate Fund. The note seeks to offer background on and critically analyse the fund created to support global action on climate change at the 17th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, concluding...

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Environmental Law Association Conference in Cape Town

Photo via www.elasa.co.zaOn 25 August 2012, Laureen Manuel of Natural Justice attended the Environmental Law Association’s annual conference, which focused on the legal challenges facing South Africans in a changing world and country in the context of sustainable development. The conference was attended by environmental lawyers, specialist academics and authors, and government and NGO representatives. The conference included five sessions with...

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New SANBio Guidelines

The Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (SANBio), which is under the New African Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) of the African Union, has released new Traditional Knowledge and Plant Genetic Resources Guidelines. Natural Justice’s Kabir Bavikatte served as an external reviewer of the guidelines. From the Executive Summary, “These Guidelines were developed as a result of growing concerns of a lack of policies and laws in several...

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Sacred Natural Sites Interview

Sacred Natural Sites "IN Perspective": Indigenous Community Lawyer from South Africa from Sacred Natural Sites on Vimeo.Natural Justice's Lesle Jansen has been featured in a new Sacred Natural Sites series of interviews with custodians, indigenous peoples, scientists, conservationists, protected area managers and others on "What is a Sacred Natural Site and why is it important to you?" Her interview discusses the sacred sites of the Khoi and San communities of South Africa and can be accessed above or directly here. More interviews from the interview...

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South African BABS Guidelines Drafted with Natural Justice Support

To ensure the effective implementation of South Africa’s regulations on the conservation of biodiversity and implementation of Access and Benefit Sharing, South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs has promulgated new guidelines for providers, users and regulators of South Africa’s biodiversity. Natural Justice provided technical support to the Department in drafting the guidelines, and Kabir Bavikatte, Johanna von Braun and Laureen Manuel...

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Third Regional Preparatory Meeting for IPLCs for CBD COP 11 in Asunción, Paraguay

Photo credit: http://www.cbd.int/abs/ From 13-16 August 2012, Johanna von Braun of Natural Justice attended the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) third regional consultation for indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in Asunción, Paraguay. Previous consultations were organised by the Secretariat and attended by Natural Justice team members in Bujumbura, Burundi and Chiang Mai, Thailand. The workshop brought...

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Major Court Victory over Belo Monte Dam

Photo credit: Cristina Mittermeier/International League of Conservation PhotographersIn a major victory for indigenous peoples’ rights, Brazil’s Regional Federal Tribunal has held that construction must be suspended immediately on the massive Belo Monte dam until indigenous communities have been consulted. The Tribunal’s judgment cited UN International Labour Organisation’s Convention Number 169 and the Brazilian Constitution in the ruling....

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National Consultation on Protected Areas & Forest Rights

Sankar Pani of Natural Justice participated in a National Consultation on the Protected Areas and Forest Rights Act (FRA) on 12-13 August, 2012, in New Delhi. The consultation was organised by the Future of Conservation Network (FoC), a network of ecological and social organizations and individuals committed to the effective and equitable conservation of biodiversity. FoC's objective is to foster dialogue and engagement in complex conservation issues,...

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Collective Statement of Khoe Tribal Groupings

On the occasion of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, representatives of the Griqua National Forum, the Khoi Heritage and Development Council, the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and Natural Justice released a collective statement. The statement recognises the historic denial of rights and degradation of Khoe and San culture experienced under colonialism and Apartheid. It notes the continued lack...

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Natural Justice is Seeking Volunteer Interns in New York

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is an international team of lawyers and legal experts. We engage with environmental, human rights and cultural heritage law to support Indigenous peoples and local communities, and provide technical advice to governments and intergovernmental organisations to secure environmental and social justice. Natural Justice currently works in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and has offices in South...

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Joint Submission on Programme of Work on Article 8(j)

The Forest Peoples Programme, Natural Justice and 24 other Indigenous peoples’ and community-based organisations and supporting NGOs made a joint submission to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concerning the further development of the Plan of Action for customary sustainable use as a new major component of the revised Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions. The submission suggests that...

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New Report Critical of Biofuels

Science Magazine reports that the German National Academy of Sciences has issued a negative report on biofuels, suggesting they are not sustainable. The report, drafted by a panel of more than 20 experts from various disciplines ultimately concludes that “biofuels use more land area, generate more greenhouse gas emissions, and have a greater impact on the environment than other alternative energy sources such as photovoltaic solar energy, solar...

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IACHR Victory for Sarayaku Community

Sarayaku President José Gualinga via amnesty.orgIndigenous peoples claimed a major victory when the Inter-American Court on Human Rights ruled in favour of the Sarayaku community of Ecuador in Sarayaku v Ecuador. The ruling is the culmination of a decade long process by the community and their legal representatives, Mario Melo and the Centre for Justice and International Law. The case was launched when the Ecuadorian government decided to allow...

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REDD+ Readiness Workshop in Sabah

From 31 July to 1 August, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) participated in a workshop on Malaysia's emerging national institutional framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+). The meeting, held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, was part of a three-year "REDD+ Readiness" joint project between the United Nations Development Programme and the federal Ministry of Natural Resources and the...

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