News on Land

BY CHRIS ARSENAULT

TORONTO, Nov 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A potential trade pact between the European Union and Guyana must contain land rights protections for local residents in order to avert the possible displacement of indigenous people, activists said on Tuesday.

Rising trade in timber stemming from such a deal could improve living standards in the South American country, according to a report released by activist groups the Forest Peoples Programme and the Amerindian Peoples Association.

Forest and Nature for Society (FONASO)  offers 8-10 positions for a fully integrated three-year Joint Doctoral Programme. FONASO is part of the Erasmus Mundus programme initiated by the European Commission to enhance and promote European higher education throughout the world. The language of the programme is English.

The mainland’s 900 million farmers will be on the lookout for rural land use reforms after a signal from the finance minister that change could be in the wind.

But the complexity of the issue meant any changes would not be direct or fast in coming, analysts said.

In an article published in Communist Party journal Qiushi (Seeking Truth) on the weekend, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei beat the drum for bold reforms on collectively owned rural land, saying it would be an effective way to speed up the country’s urbanisation drive.

Had a meaningful meeting with Mr.Jairam Ramesh on land issues. Calling a larger group meeting soon, followed by the first meeting of National Council for Land Reforms in the first week of October....looking forward to meaningful dialogue and responce to peoples' struggle.

Date: 7 July 2016

Source: Today

Fraught land policy based on collective ownership puts rural life at a crossroads

BEIJING — Among communist China’s holy pilgrimage sites, Xiaogang Village stands out. The tiny place is a living shrine to villagers who defied the party to dismantle disastrous communal farms that left more than 30 million dead from hunger during Mao Zedong’s reign.

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS EXTENDED: 26 FEBRUARY 2016

Hosted by: Utrecht University, International Development Studies (IDS) – The Netherlands

Venue: Muntgebouw, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Dates: 30 June - July 2016

Large-scale land acquisition in the context of urban sprawl and climate change: Linking the Rural and the Urban

Le Niger vient de commencer la production du pétrole sur son territoire avec le concours d'une société chinoise. C'est une bien heureuse nouvelle pour ce pays classé parmi les plus pauvres au monde et qui traîne comme un boulet sa sécheresse et ses famines à répétition. C'est connu : le pétrole est depuis des lustres, une denrée prisée. Beaucoup de pays qui en exportent, possèdent une énorme richesse.

Source: Land Rights Now Campaign

As India’s upper house is currently debating a controversial afforestation bill, civil society groups across the country are expressing concerns that the bill would do more harm than good.

By: Zsombor Peter
Date: February 4th 2016
Source: Cambodia Daily

After more than 20 years, Germany is ending its work with the Land Management Ministry on land rights projects in frustration over the government’s slow reforms—another black eye for a sector at the center of some of the country’s most pressing human right issues.

(Geneva, 11 March 2012)

It's a red alert now.

The government of Saudi Arabia currently owns 1.6 million hectares (ha) of land in Sudan and Indonesia. In Madagascar around 1.3 million ha were leased, bought or transferred to private corporations of South Korea.

By: Kate Ravilious

Date: August 8th 2016

Source: Environmental Research Web

By: Daniel Pelz

Date: February 12th 2016

Source: DW.com

New studies show that land degradation is advancing and that African countries are among the worst hit. Poorer communities suffer the most though there is some cause for hope.