News on Land

What is already a bad situation for land defenders and human rights activists could be getting worse

• The Yawuru people’s ancestral lands lie in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, Australia’s largest state.
• Over the Yawuru people’s strong objections, the Australian company Buru Energy has installed two shale-gas fracking wells on Yawuru land.
• Although the wells are currently inactive due to a state-wide moratorium on fracking, the moratorium could be lifted pending the results of an independent scientific inquiry due by the end of the year.

Drones do not just map households faster, cheaper and accurately, but the maps provide a strong visual template of engagement for communities

The Government of Liberia (GoL) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and development partners have expressed commitment to implementing two major land tenure regulations, which include the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance (VGGT) on the Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forest and the Land Rights Act (LRA) process.

The government and partners have henceforth, instituted the land tenure regulations to enhance food security, and to ensure land access for many of the citizens.

QUITO, ECUADOR — Thousands of activists and indigenous leaders have gathered in Quito after a 10-day march across Ecuador in defense of water and land rights. An estimated 2,000 people joined in towns and cities along the route, which began in Tundayme in the Amazonian province of Napo on November 4 and finished in the capital on November 14. Organized by ECUARUNARI (Confederación de la Nacionalidad Kichwa del Ecuador), the 890-kilometer march (equivalent to 553 miles) was a protest against mining and hydroelectric projects participants said are decimating Ecuador’s forests

The West Bengal Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a Bill to give land rights to enclave dwellers in north Bengal, ending an era of uncertain future for the people residing in those enclaves.

The West Bengal Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a Bill to give land rights to enclave dwellers in north Bengal, ending an era of uncertain future for the people residing in those enclaves.

Bangladesh and India had exchanged a total of 162 enclaves on August 1, 2015, ending one of the world’s most-complex border disputes that had lingered for seven decades since Independence.

There is need to broaden the debate on finding solutions for water crisis

Water scarcity has been figuring prominently in the national discourse now. It has initiated a debate on water issues in the country that is a welcome development. The spectrum of debate ranges from building more dams and their feasibility, water conservation, and better water management.

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah opposition leader has accused the current Sabah government of misleading the people on the issue of communal titles which the state had claimed will be abolished soon.

Sook assemblyman Ellron Angin said in place of the state-planned communal titles, the Sabah government had promised to issue individual titles for the natives.

However, he noticed the individual titles promised by the new administration are almost identical to the communal titles issued by the previous government.

According to NGO Makaam, which helps women in drought-affected areas and has been working with the women’s commission to safeguard the rights of farmer widows, getting legal land title rights for widows in villages remains a major issue.

Following consultations in Vidarbha and Marathwada region where a high number of farmer suicides has been reported, the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, along with NGOs, has created a charter of demands for farmer widows.

Chile's President Sebastián Piñera has promised a thorough investigation after a young indigenous man was fatally shot by police.

The incident on Wednesday sparked protests in an area in the country's south, which is marked by tensions over land ownership.

Police said Camilo Catrillanca, 24, was accidentally shot in the head during an operation against local car thieves.

Mr Catrillanca was a grandson of a Mapuche indigenous leader.

From South Africa to the Amazon, battles over land and who owns it are unleashing unprecedented conflict and labyrinthine legal cases

LONDON - Land laws mean nothing unless communities can prove their ownership, researchers said on Thursday, calling for better tools to map the land and stave off conflict over property.

“Cape Town, like so many cities across the world, has found itself to be the piggy bank for global surplus capital looking to invest in property. We have seen wave after wave of exclusive developments catering to the super wealthy jack up prices and strip our homes of their basic function – to house families.