"All around us, we have seen forest land taken for mining and for palm oil plantations that are not good for the environment or for the people"

GAJAH BERTALUT, Indonesia, Nov 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In a community hall, a group of men sit cross-legged on mats, poring over documents and maps marked with forests, farmland, a river and the village of Gajah Bertalut in Indonesia's Sumatra island.

UDALGURI, India — Not long ago, this lush land was nothing more than sand and stone. In the absence of shade trees, Alfred Daimari remembers carrying an umbrella to protect his face from the scorching sun and shielding his dinners from a fierce, dusty wind.

“Now look at it,” Daimari said, gesturing at the thick canopy that hangs over the bench where he’s resting in Udalguri, a district in the Himalayan foothills of northeast India near the Bhutan border.

• The struggle for access to safe and sufficient water for drinking and irrigation defines life for the indigenous Wayuu of La Guajira, Colombia’s northernmost department.
• Activists have described the Wayuu as being in the throes of a humanitarian crisis, with Wayuu children suffering high rates of malnutrition and death as a result of water and food scarcity.

Indigenous entrepreneurs hope the cannabis trade will help spur economic development on their land

TYENDINAGA, Canada, Oct 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In their struggle to regain control over resources and spur economic growth, Canada's indigenous communities have found an unlikely ally: cannabis.

Facing higher levels of poverty and unemployment than the general population, many indigenous people see the marijuana trade as a valuable source of income.

Around 1 in 9 people in the world — 821 million — are undernourished. After a prolonged decline, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found that world hunger is rising once again.

With a smartphone or tablet, the app can be used to track the status of a community rights claim in India

BANGKOK, Oct 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A web-based application that monitors the impact of successful forest-rights claims can help rural communities manage resources better and improve their livelihoods, according to analysts.

BOGOR, Indonesia (Forests News) — What can 19 reviews assessing 1,200 research articles spanning over 3 billion hectares of land teach us about what works in forest governance interventions to promote sustainability?

A Recent UN Declaration Offers Recognition of Human Rights in Rural Areas

On 28 September, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), meeting in Geneva, passed a resolution which calls for the UN General Assembly to adopt the “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.” This proposed declaration includes a number of rights, and specifically mentions that water resources in mountain ecosystems should be protected against pollution from mining activities.

Faced with groundwater depletion, Uganda is restoring its wetlands and planting millions of trees to improve supply

MBARARA, Uganda - In the village of Katebe, Ugandan schoolchildren have little choice but to drink from the same water supply as animals.

During the dry season from June to August, Kyakatarihwa dam is the only source of water for people and livestock alike in this remote part of southwest Uganda's Mbarara district.

Over the past ten years, the number of violent conflicts around the world has increased significantly, having a negative impact on food production and availability.

Since 2000, almost half of all civil conflicts around the world have taken place in Africa, where land issues have played a significant role in 90 percent of the 30 interstate conflicts.  

Competition over land and water can trigger conflict, threatening the welfare and the food security of the most vulnerable. 

MONTREAL — In 2006, India’s parliament passed the Forest Rights Act, or FRA — a groundbreaking legislation that recognizes the rights of forest dwellers to protect and manage forest resources.

The Mkushi Famers Association has called for wide consultation on the draft land policy.

Association Acting President Bruce Skinner says the issue of the draft land policy has created a lot of uncertainty among commercial farmers in Mkushi.

Mr. Skinner says there is need for sensitisation on what the draft land policy is all about to avoid panic among the commercial farmers in Mkushi farming block.