News on Land

Campesinos producing coca, opium poppies and marijuana in Latin America try to make a living but become victims of a drug war.

Faced with few other viable alternatives for growing profitable legal crops, many campesinos have relied on growing marijuana, coca and opium poppies to help them survive, but are subjected the rules of the state and organized crime groups.

There was a “worrying lack of transparency” around the Federal Government’s funding model for programs targeting Indigenous Australia, aid agency Oxfam said in a report released this month.

Oxfam Australia said under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, the Federal Government was increasingly looking to mainstream services and programs to meet Indigenous Australians’ needs.

It said the move was at the expense of Indigenous-specific organisations.

Among its key findings, Oxfam said:

ELENERAI, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Norah Chepkulul, a single mother of two young sons, stands outside her home, a grass thatched hut surrounded by cactus-like euphoria trees on the dusty Maasai Mara road in Kenya's Rift Valley.

She has just finished milking her four cows and has asked the boys to keep an eye on the goats corralled in the little compound.

The government passed three vital laws - Double Registration Prevention Act, Assigned Lands Regularisation Act and Land Acquisition Amendment Act 2017 - to safeguard people and avert civil disputes on land holdings as part of revenue reforms, Deputy Chief Minister K.E. Krishnamurthy said on Tuesday.

The effects of climate change on vulnerable areas throughout Fiji could be reduced if the island nation adopts several more land planning measures, says a local researcher.

New Zealand and India recognize personhood for ecosystems

Putting land at the heart of radical economic transformation – a perspective from the ground

The Brazilian city of Petropolis is known for its 19th century buildings and its Imperial Museum. The museum includes the summer home of Brazil's last ruler, Dom Pedro II.

But many people who live in Petropolis are upset about having to pay a special property tax linked to the country’s former rulers.

The tax is known as laudemio. It takes 2.5 percent of the value of real estate deals. The money from the tax goes directly to the descendants of Dom Pedro II, more than one hundred years after he was ousted.

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.

Over the past several years, the people of Jemna, a region in southern Tunisia famous for its excellent quality dates called Deglet Nour (the dates of light), have been engaged in an important and inspiring struggle around land rights.