In the Palangkaraya Declaration on Deforestation and the Rights of Forest Peoples, indigenous and forest-dependent peoples from Asia, Africa and Latin America have called for increased recognition of customary land rights in order to limit deforestation and ensure the survival of their communities. Read more below to find out what the...
A new online tool called ForestDefender aims to help indigenous people understand and implement their rights in regard to forests. The database brings together vast amounts of legal information—both national and international—on over 50 countries. Read more below to find out this tool works and what its creators hope it will achieve....
The recent suggestion by the United Nations that the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights should be allowed to visit the county in order to evaluate the treatment of the indigenous Orang Ulu has been rejected by the Malaysian government. Read more below to find out what other recommendations Malaysia...
For over 30 years, Taib Mahmud has been a political figure in Malaysia. During this time, he has been the recipient of numerous corruption, human rights abuse, and environmental abuse allegations. Despite several protests from people around the world, Taib was sworn in as Sarawak’s Governor earlier this week. Read more...
Despite the fact that impact assessments have not been completed and the proposed Baram Dam has yet to receive any official go-ahead, Samling, a timber company, has started stripping bare reserved native timber areas in Baram. Read more below to find out how Sampling is getting away with this and how...
The Bruno Manser Fund recently released a platform that allows us to see the large-scale destruction of Sarawak’s rainforests, peatlands, and traditional lands for use in palm oil plantations, timber concessions, and other environmentally damaging industries. Read more below to find out how they created this platform and how it works....
As the Barum Dam blockade marked its 100th day, reports came out that the dam was only working at half of its capacity. This revelation raises the question: Why is there a need for TWELVE other dams if this one is only generating half the energy officials claimed? Read more...
Paleoecologists have found sparse but strong evidence showing that humans in Southeast Asia have been actively managing forests for over ten thousand years. Read more below to find out how these findings may help indigenous people fight against evictions from their native lands by major companies. Read more on Mongabay....
Lawyers are calling for the creation of a special court in order to hear the hundreds of backlogged native customary land rights cases that are currently flooding Malaysia’s court system. Read more to find out how these lawyers intend on seeing this proposal through. Read more on The Borneo Post....
Groups in Indonesia are petitioning the government to give the management of millions of hectares of forest to indigenous communities. Read more below about their request and their reasoning. Read more on Monga Bay. Read more about indigenous land rights and then join the discussion on Facebook. Forest in Java....
