IXTLÁN DE JUÁREZ, Mexico, Jan 3 2019 (IPS) - “I dream of a healthy, sustainable, well-managed forest,” says Rogelio Ruiz, a silviculturist from southern Mexico, who insists that “we have to clean it up, take advantage of the wood, and reforest.”

These activities are essential for the ecosystem, especially to adapt to the impacts of climate change, the president of the La Trinidad Communal Lands Commissariat, in the municipality of Ixtlán de Juárez, in the state of Oaxaca, some 840 km south of Mexico City, told IPS.

The Grand Renaissance Dam is the centrepiece of Ethiopia's bid to become Africa's biggest power exporter

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's $4 billion dam project on the River Nile, which has been beset by construction delays and criticism from Egypt, will start initial operations in December 2020, the water and energy minister said on Thursday.

The revised draft bill, which gives the minister of public works the power to accept or reject compensation offers made by the owners of land that has been identified for expropriation, was published in the Government Gazette on 21 December 2018 after it’s publication for further comment was approved by Cabinet on 5 December 2018.

“Interested persons may submit written submissions on the draft expropriation bill 2019 not later than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice,” Minister Thulas Nxesi said.

New Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued an executive order on Wednesday making the Agriculture Ministry responsible for deciding on lands claimed by indigenous peoples, in a victory for agribusiness that will likely enrage environmentalists.

Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro gestures after receiving the presidential sash from outgoing President Michel Temer at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil January 1, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes/File Photo

The Caribbean appears to fare well in global gender statistics, with a high Gender Parity Index (GPI) and good rankings reported in the most recent World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2017. However, the picture changes considerably when taking a closer look at the rural economy, where agriculture continues to be the main contributor to people’s livelihoods.

Secure land rights can help improve food security, limit deforestation and tackle climate change, activists say

BANGKOK - The fight over land and resources was bloody in 2018, with governments from Brazil to the Philippines accused of failing to protect campaigners, and indigenous people battling to hold on to their homes and land.

Despite compelling evidence that shows secure land rights can help improve food security, limit deforestation and tackle climate change, authorities in many countries have been slow to act, activists said.

Uruguay - The results are dispiriting, if not unsurprising: a systematic review of the available literature has found that the socioeconomic impacts of large-scale tree plantations have been mostly negative for local people.

As Madagascar elections near, its future is up in the air, and the question of land mining and land grabs by foreign multinationals remains a key issue for Malagasy citizens.

The root cause of Madagascar's 2009 coup was the prospective sale of arable land to the South Korean company Daewoo. Investment in Madagascar land has increased significantly since then.

Territorial dispute behind the forced exodus of residents of Chalchihuitán

It’s been 14 months since some 5,000 people in Chiapas were forced to flee their homes in Chalchihuitán. And although about 4,000 have since returned, 1,200 remain homeless, a situation for which they hold the municipal government responsible.

Representatives of the displaced people told a press conference this week that they have yet to recover their properties, which were occupied by armed civilians after the residents fled.

Last month, top Colombian economic minds gathered in Bogotá for a Grand Economic Forum on attracting investment as the country emerges from a decades-long civil war.