Important Publications on REDD+ for COP 18

As government representatives gather to consider solutions to, and means to mitigate the impact of, climate change at the 18th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, several significant publications on the impact of climate change and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) on the rights of Indigenous peoples have been launched by Natural Justice partners. The Asia...

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Video Repository on Forest Commodification

Forests are facing immense challenges from the increased commodification of their resources. Some incoming policies may worsen these challenges dramatically. To highlight the lived experiences of communities affected by forest commodification, the Global Forest Coalition has launched a repositoryof videos gathered from a variety of organisations and contexts. The repository has been launched as government representatives gather for the 18th Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to highlight the results of commodification...

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Miskitu BCP Launched in Honduras

Moskitia Asla Takanka (MASTA), a Miskitu community-based organisation, has developed and launched a Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) with technical assistance from Natural Justice and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Regional Office for Mesoamerica. The BCP seeks to assert the right to and guide the process of obtaining free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for projects in La Moskitia.The Miskitu community, with a...

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AIPP Report on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change Adaptation

Climate change is increasingly impacting the livelihoods and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples through erratic rainfall, unpredictable climatic patterns, flooding, and increased water and food security. To explore these challenges, consider the ways that Indigenous peoples are responding to them and identify policy options to support Indigenous peoples' climate change adaptation, the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) has released a report entitled...

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ABS Stakeholder Meeting - Vanuatu

On 26 November, 2012, a national stakeholder meeting was facilitated by Vanuatu’s Department of Environment and Conservation together with the national GEF Small Grants Program on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The purpose of the meeting was to brief a range of diverse stakeholders on the Nagoya Protocol on ABS to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its significance to them, as well as to receive an update on the process of Vanuatu ratifying...

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Groundbreaking Resolution by Ecuador's National Court of Justice

Via iucn.org/A resolution has been signed by all 21 judges of the National Court of Justice, a court with jurisdiction throughout all of Ecuador, declaring that judges in the province of Galapagos have the standing to hear cases on environmental crimes. Judges in the area had previously refused to hear around 100 cases, arguing lack of expertise. The cases then had to be heard in the Provincial Court of Justice, some 1 000 kilometres away, severely...

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Oceania Biodiscovery Forum & ABS Capacity Development Workshop in Brisbane

From 19-22 November, 2012, the first ever Oceania Biodiscovery Forum took place in Brisbane, Australia. The meeting was jointly facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Eskitis Institute of Griffith University, the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative. This meeting was followed by an Access and Benefit...

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UNFCCC COP 18

Via unfccc.intThe 18th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is taking place from 26 November to 7 December, 2012 in Doha, Qatar. On Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), COP 18 will consider financing options for results-based REDD+ activities, seek to clarify the links between REDD+ and climate change mitigation actions, consider the timing...

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First Ever Global Soil Week

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Fellowship Opportunity at IACHR

Natural Justice strongly encourages partners to consider applying for a recently opened fellowship on Indigenous peoples' rights with the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organisation of American States (OAS). The IACHR has been a leading institution for the advancement of Indigenous peoples' rights, and fellows will support the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The position has...

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Article on Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Think Africa Press

Via thinkafricapress.comThe body of law and policy around the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities is changing and expanding rapidly. To offer a brief overview of notable international instruments and cases relevant to the African context, Dinah Shelton of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission has prepared an article on relevant law entitled "The Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples" for a Think Africa Press online course on...

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New Article on Ostrom's Impact on American Legal Academy

Via www.thecommonsjournal.orgA new article has been released by the International Journal of the Commons on the impact of Elinor Ostrom’s work on the commons in the United States. The article, entitled “Ostrom and the lawyers: the impact of Governing the Commons on the American legal academy,” is authored by Carol M. Rose of Yale Law School and the University of Arizona Law College. The article traces the periods where Ms Ostrom’s signature...

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Blog Post on Conservation and Human Rights

From its origins in seeking to protect disappearing wildlife at the behest of big-game hunters, conservation has evolved unpredictably and substantively over the past century. With a firm conviction that the practice of conservation, to paraphrase Dr Martin Luther King Jr, is long but ‘bending toward justice’, Dr Kent Redford recently traced the developments in conservation practices and the increasing emphasis on the need to incorporate human rights...

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New Report on Sacred Natural Site Protection in Kenya

As Sacred Natural Sites in Kenya and around the world are increasingly threatened, the African Biodiversity Network, the Institute of Culture and Ecology and The Gaia Foundation have released a new report on the protection of Sacred Natural Sites entitled “Recognising Sacred Natural Sites and Territories in Kenya.” The report was commissioned after the enactment of Kenya’s new Constitution in 2010 and authored by Adam Hussein Adam. The...

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New UEBT Brief on Nagoya Protocol

As the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is ratified by more and more nations, it is important that stakeholders understand its implications. To help businesses, and especially companies using biodiversity to develop food and personal care products, Natural Justice-partner the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) has released a technical brief on the provisions of the Nagoya Protocol. The...

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FAO Study on Women's Role in Livestock Conservation

Via www.fao.orgWhile two-thirds of the world’s 600 million livestock keepers are women, the role of women in conservation and breeding indigenous livestock remains poorly documented and undervalued. A new UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) study, entitled “Invisible Guardians: Women manage livestock diversity,” seeks to address this shortcoming. The report notes the capacity of indigenous livestock breeds to adapt to harsh climates,...

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Two Opportunities for EMRIP Submissions

Via www.ohchr.orgTwo significant opportunities are available to contribute to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' (EMRIP) work to develop and monitor the implementation of law and policy around Indigenous people’s rights. The first is a survey for Indigenous peoples on strategies for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The survey can be completed online here...

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Resource Media Report on Ecosystem Services Messaging and Strategy

Via the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) research programme, a new report has been released by Resource Media on public communications strategies and "messaging" for ecosystem service policies. The report was developed through in-depth interviews with ecosystems services practitioners, government officials, and other stakeholders, through a survey of media and digital coverage of ecosystem services projects, and a review of a wide...

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1st Africa Land Forum - Yaoundé Declaration

In recent years, the demand for productive land has surged as a result of global food and financial crises, as well as increasing concerns about energy security. In many countries, carbon sequestration as a response to climate change has also contributed to land pressure. This has rendered land an increasingly disputed and commoditised resource, compromising rural people’s access to, and control over, land. Indigenous communities have been particularly...

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DRAFT WIPO Toolkit on TK for Comment

While a wide range of tools have been developed to protect Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs), the focus has primarily been on documentation. With emerging concerns that documentation has potential effects on the rights, cultures and livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities, partly through placing TK and TCEs in the ‘public domain’, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has produced...

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Apply for Global Environments Summer Academy - 2013

Via www.global-diversity.orgThe third Global Environments Summer Academy (GESA) on Socio-ecological Interactions in a Dynamic World will be held from 27 July – 18 August, 2013 at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Bern. This year's academy will focus on the human dimensions of global environmental change, ranging from adaptive community management to planetary processes. The academy has been organised by the...

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Major Report on Ocean-Grabbing

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, has warned of the threat of ‘ocean-grabbing’ to food security in a special report to the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. In the report he urges world governments and international bodies to halt the depletion of fish stocks and take urgent steps to protect, sustain, and share the benefits of fisheries and marine environments. ‘Ocean-grabbing’, which sees...

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Natural Justice Presents at ECCHR Workshop

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