Conservation & Society Special Section on Community-based Conservation

The latest issue of Conservation & Society (an open-access interdisciplinary journal exploring linkages between society, environment and development) contains a special section on community-based conservation. The introductory article, entitled "Conservation as if People Also Mattered: Policy and Practice of Community-based Conservation" by Ashish Kothari, Philip Camill, and Jessica Brown, sets the stage with the following abstract:"Community-based...

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Natural Justice Facilitates Biocultural Community Protocol Training for the Ogiek Community

On 17 April, Natural Justice facilitated a biocultural community protocol (BCP) training workshop for the Ogiek Community in Nakuru, Kenya.  Lack of recognition of their status as indigenous peoples, an increase in wildlife conservation and development in the region has caused displacement from their traditionally-owned lands.  The Community have brought their issues to the African Court on Human and People's Rights, with the African Court...

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Release of "Guidelines for Environmental Protection in Foreign Investment and Cooperation" by Chinese Ministries

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released its "Guidelines for Environmental Protection in Foreign Investment and Cooperation".  The Guidelines are to "guide enterprises in China to raise their environmental protection awareness, and to understand and observe environmental protection policies and regulations of the host country in foreign investment and cooperation, so as to realize mutual...

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"FPIC and the Extractive Industries: A Guide to Applying the Spirit of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Industrial Projects

The International Institute for Environment and Development has published a resource on free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as it relates to extractive industries. FPIC and the Extractive Industries: A Guide to Applying the Spirit of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Industrial Projects points out that corporations are increasingly aware of the need to secure and maintain a ‘social license to operate’ because implementing a project without...

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World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty Stresses Land Governance

Photo: World BankFrom 8-11 April 2013, the World Bank Group held its annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington, DC. The theme for this year’s conference was “Moving towards transparent land governance: Evidence-based next steps” and stressed the importance of land governance and its relationship to agriculture productivity and food security. The conference aimed to share good practices and advance reforms in six thematic areas:Securing...

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Impacts of Private Land Titling in Indigenous Communities in Cambodia

Photo courtesy of firstpeoples.orgAsia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) has released a new publication in collaboration with the Ratanakiri Communal Land Titling Working Group entitled "Directive 01BB in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia: Issues and impacts of private land titling in indigenous communities". AIPP introduces the research with the following description: "Asia has more than 200 million indigenous people who have maintained their lands,...

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New Research on Large-scale Agricultural Investments in Zambia

Photo courtesy of ifad-un.blogspot.comThe German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) recently released a new working paper by Kersten Nolte entitled "Large-Scale Agricultural Investments under Poor Land Governance Systems: Actors and Institutions in the Case of Zambia". According to GIGA's abstract, "[t]his paper reveals how the outcomes of large‐scale land acquisitions made by foreign investors in Zambia are determined by the characteristics...

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Webinar on Livestock Management in Sustainable Landscapes

Courtesy of the e-Institute.On 17 April, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) participated in a webinar entitled "The Role of Livestock Management in Sustainable Landscapes". It was hosted by the e-Institute of the World Bank and the discussant was Pablo Manzano (Global Coordinator of the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism, International Union for Conservation of Nature). On the basis that traditional pastoralists have thrived during millennia...

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US Supreme Court Backs Corporation in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum

Photo courtesy of Huffington PostOn the 17th of April 2013, the US Supreme Court released its decision on the case of Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum. The unanimous court decision found that “acts committed on foreign soil by foreign entities against foreign citizens typically cannot be resolved in American courts.” It limited the scope of the Alien Tort Claims Act by finding that “corporations are often present in many countries, and it would reach...

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Exchange Workshop on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples held in Banjul, The Gambia

Courtesy of the African Commission.With a view to sharing experiences, synchronizing efforts, and further enhancing collaboration between the various regional and international mechanisms working on the rights of indigenous peoples, the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/ Communities, in collaboration with the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, organized an Exchange Workshop on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Between...

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Save Lamu Calls Upon NEMA to Refuse Issuance of ESIA License for Lamu Port

Save Lamu has called upon the National Management Environmental Authority (NEMA) to refuse the issuance of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) License for a proposed Lamu Port, which environmentalists say will destroy delicate marine life and choke coral reefs and mangroves. A report by Reuters states that the Kenyan government is spear heading a $25.5 billion project to link landlocked South Sudan and Ethiopia to the Indian...

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Member of Parliament, Dr. Wilmot James, Submits New Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill

Dr. Wilmot James, Member of ParliamentPhoto courtesy of Democratic Alliance A Protection of Traditional Knowledge bill based on the bill drafted by the incumbent of the StellenboschChair of IP Law, Professor Owen Dean, was published in the official government gazette and was tabled in Parliament by Dr. Wilmot James earlier this year. This bill, referred to as “Wilmot’s Bill” serves as an alternative to the widely criticized Government bill....

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Submission on Indigenous and Local Knowledge to IPBES

On 15 April, Natural Justice made a submission to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) on an information document entitled 'Consideration of initial elements: recognizing indigenous and local knowledge and building synergies with science'. The submission suggested community protocols as an effective tool in building synergies between traditional knowledge and science and as a framework that...

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Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda

From 20-22 March, Civil Society from around the world met for a conference entitled "Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda: Reconfirming Rights – Recognising Limits – Redefining Goals" in Bonn, Germany. This global conference brought together nearly 300 civil society activists and representatives from key stakeholders in order to offer inputs into the Sustainable Development and Post-2015 discussions, and to agree on joint demands...

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ABS and BCP Workshop in Zeerust, South Africa

A workshop on the international legislative framework and the South African domestic laws relating to access and benefit sharing was held in Zeerust, South Africa on 9 and 10 April 2013. This workshop was the second of three workshops in a pilot project funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Institute, and organised by the Indigenous Knowledge Systems unit of the Medical Research Council of South Africa. Laureen...

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BIOPROSPECTING WORKSHOP

Lassana Koné from Natural Justice will participated in a 1-day bioprospecting workshop organised by the South African Department of Home Affairs in Durbanville, Cape Town on 10 April 2013. The purpose of the workshop is to identify areas in the bioprospecting sector that require support to enhance its contribution to the South Africa Economy. This workshop aims to provide an environment for industry experts to brain-storm and address gaps and...

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Training on IPRs and ABS commences in Gaborone, Botswana

A week-long training on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) commenced in Gaborone, Botswana, on 6 April. The target audience of the training are ABS focal points as well as policy makers from national and regional IPR authorities from anglophone Africa. Approximately 40 participants have been gathered for the training. The training is hosted and facilitated by the ABS Capacity Development Initiative and the Secretariat...

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Call for Comments on Lamu Port EIA by 16 April

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre produces "On the Horizon", a practical bulletin on what is ahead in the field of business and human rights, five times a year. In the April 2013 issue, Save Lamu and Natural Justice made a contribution on the port element of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport and Economic Development Corridor.It reads: "Save Lamu would like to announce that on 19 March, the National Environmental Management...

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New IIED Publication on Legal Empowerment and Accountability in Africa's Land Rush

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has released a new publication entitled "Accountability in Africa's Land Rush: What role for legal empowerment". According to IIED website, "In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in acquiring farmland for agricultural investments in lower-income countries. Whilst such investments can create jobs, improve access to markets and support infrastructure, many large land deals...

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CIFOR Guide for Research on Forest Tenure Rights

A new guide by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), entitled "Tenure Rights and Access to Forests: A Training Manual for Research", attempts to help students, researchers and practitioners understand and tackle forest tenure issues. It addresses the following questions in particular: what is forest tenure and why does it matter; what determines tenure security and how does it affect people and forests; how do we ensure equitable...

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Petition to Halt Mining on Mountain Range in Odisha

The Mining Zone Peoples' Solidarity Group, an international research group focusing on new economic policy, has drafted a petition directed towards Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council, about grave concerns and environmental devastation resulting from iron ore mining in the sensitive Khandadhar mountain range in Odisha, India.The full petition is copied below (unedited) and available for signing here.To: Sonia GandhiChairperson,...

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Book on the Right to Consultation for Indigenous Peoples in Latin America

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation has recently published a book in Spanish called “The right to consultation for Indigenous Peoples in Latin America” as part of their Regional Program on the Indigenous Political Participation. The book consists of a compilation on the current stage of the right to consultation for Indigenous Peoples in several countries of Latina America, such as Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Peru.The book...

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