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RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil has announced changes to the procedure for demarcating indigenous lands in a move campaign groups fear will weaken the land rights of communities facing mounting pressure from illegal logging and big agricultural operations.

Under the decree, demarcation of indigenous lands will be decided by the Ministry of Justice rather than the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), a government body set up to carry out policies relating to Brazil's 900,000 indigenous people.

RANGOON – Around 100 Sittwe residents called for the resignation of the Arakan State parliament speaker in a Tuesday protest over unresolved cases of land confiscation, rally participants told The Irrawaddy.

The land grabs in question date as far back as the early 1990s, when Burma was governed by a military junta. Seizures of land were reportedly carried out to develop an industrial ward in the area.

Thel government has ordered district councils countrywide to set aside some funds each fiscal year in order to finance "land use plans' resolutions" under them, especially in villages which are rapidly becoming urban areas. The Minister for Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Mr William Lukuvi, said the move would keep off sporadic land conflicts rocking the country.

I’ve spent a lot of time with indigenous peoples in remote places. So when I argue that the best way – or at least the cheapest way – to stop climate change is to grant land rights to indigenous communities, you might suspect I’m not coming from an entirely objective viewpoint. You’ve probably also heard various industry spokespeople saying the best and cheapest way to stop climate change is through windfarms, solar panels, electric cars and cavity wall insulation. But while I may be biased, and may even have “gone native” now and then, I’m not trying to sell you anything.