The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Working Group on Land Rights Act (LRA) has called on the legislature not to tamper with some of its provisions, saying it would defeat not only the fundamental purpose of the land reform, but also undermine peace, reconciliation, and development in Liberia.

The group is a coalition of CSOs working on community land rights across Liberia that is currently engaging stakeholders and lawmakers on the passage of the Draft Land Rights Act.

Land Portal Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launch thematic portfolio on land conflicts

The FRA sought to correct the historical injustice done to the traditional forest-dwelling communities by conferring rights to hold and own forest land where they traditionally lived and cultivated

Forest dweller Utpal Nokrek, who is now at 32, has been restricted to a wheelchair for 13 years.

It was 3 January 2004 when Utpal was shot during clashes between the forest dwellers and police over acquisition of thousands of acres of forest land by the government in the name of an eco-park at Tangail's Madhupur forest.

"As the forest dwellers of Garo and Koch communities protested the eco-park project, rangers and police opened fire. I was shot during the clashes," Utpal said.

With detailed field studies from Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia, a new report sheds light on the consequences of extractive industries on land rights and indigenous peoples in Africa. “Worrying that so little is done to protect the environment and the indigenous peoples,” says the report.

 

Environmental degradation, cultural ethnocide and gross human rights violations: For indigenous peoples these are some of the consequences of the current global race for natural resources and raw materials.

In a joint initiative between the Land Portal Foundation and the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) called Enhancing Land Portal as an Effective Tool for Strategic Promotion and Campaigning Around SDG Land Monitoring Initiatives, the Land Portal  is looking for a Consultant to review and develop content on land and the SDGs as well as presenting it online in a clear and communicative way.

Federal police in the Mexican state of Michoacan killed four Indigenous campesinos Wednesday, entering their homes and shooting them on site, Ruptura Colectiva reports.

The four victims, whose names have yet to be released, were members of the Arantepacua Communal Property Collective, a grassroots organization that fights for Indigenous land rights in Michoacan. Eight members were left injured and 40 more were arrested, Mexico News Daily reports.

Witnesses also claim police threatened women and children who arrived at the scene of the murder with violence.

Authorities Threaten, Prosecute Residents Who Speak Out

(Nairobi) – Military and civilian authorities in western Rwanda have arrested, beaten, or threatened people who challenged recent government decisions to force residents off their land, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development and the Mekong Land Research Forum will run a week-long intensive summer school on land research in the Mekong Region. The purpose of the summer school is to equip early-career academic and advocacy-oriented researchers with key concepts, access to existing research outputs, and knowledge of current land issues across the region in order to strengthen individual and networked research that is geared towards secure access to land amongst the region’s rural and urban poor.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Only 30% of the world’s population has a legally registered title to their land.

• As discussed at the Land and Poverty Conference 2017, secure land rights are important for reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity at the country, community, and family levels.

• The World Bank supports countries to secure land rights for their populations, especially women, Indigenous Peoples, and other vulnerable groups.

Community groups in South Sumatra are protesting against Asia Pulp & Paper's planned choice of timber supplier for its massive new pulp and tissue mill, which they say used the army and police to intimidate them during a public consultation over land use.

Community groups have launched a protest against one of the suppliers to Asia Pulp and Paper’s (APP) new mill in South Sumatra, Indonesia, accusing the company of using intimidation tactics during a public consultation over land rights.