Conflict
A Guatemalan town fights to bar gold mining and save its waters
In 1997, people in Asunción Mita, a municipality in eastern Guatemala, weren’t really thinking that mining could arrive close to home. But that same year, the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines granted mining company Entre Mares S.A. a permit to start exploration on a little more than 100 square kilometres (39 square miles) in […]
Historic EU law against deforestation-linked imports ignores Brazil’s Cerrado
Officials and NGOs have hailed the European Union’s agreement on a law banning the import of commodities associated with deforestation, but say it falls short of protecting areas typically not considered forests yet nevertheless of huge ecological importance. Among the responses to the law are that it’s a “landmark,” “groundbreaking,” “radical,” a “great opportunity” for […]
China-backed mine in Indonesia poses high risk, World Bank watchdog warns
JAKARTA — A China-backed zinc and lead mine being developed in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island may pose “extreme” risks to the environment and nearby communities, according to an assessment by the World Bank’s internal watchdog. Public opposition to the project forced the developer to suspend it indefinitely earlier this year, but not halt it. The WB’s […]
Sumatra villagers protest iron mine allegedly operating despite stop order
JAKARTA — Villagers in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island have demanded authorities revoke the permit of an iron ore miner after it continued operating in violation of an order to halt its activities. That order stemmed from a July 7 field visit by local government officials, who found a myriad of violations at the site operated by […]
Can a country have too many tigers? Nepal is about to find out
KATHMANDU — As the world prepares to mark International Tiger Day on July 29, officials in Nepal are putting the finishing touches on a report that’s expected to show a much-anticipated doubling in the population of the big cats in the Himalayan country since 2010. Nepal is one of 13 tiger range countries, and the […]
As Nepal’s tigers thrive, Indigenous knowledge may be key in preventing attacks
KATHMANDU — On June 6, a 41-year-old woman was attacked by a tiger while she was collecting firewood in a forest in Nepal’s Bardiya district, a key habitat for endangered Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris). Following the incident, villagers from Bardiya took to the streets demanding that the government act immediately to address the problem […]
Report clears Kenyan conservancy of community abuse, but advocates cry foul
A report accusing Kenya-based conservation group the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) of involvement in extrajudicial killings of pastoralists was rejected on June 9 in an independent review commissioned by the trust’s donors, which include The Nature Conservancy, USAID and the European Union. The review’s author, Kanyinke Sena, director of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating […]
Video: Indonesian villagers missing out on spoils from palm oil boom
One day in 2017, as a truck loaded with oil palm fruit drove down the main road in his village on the island of Borneo, Rita Dihales decided he’d had enough. He intercepted the truck, insisting that the company whose fruit it carried had failed to share the spoils of its plantation with the local […]
Court setback doesn’t sway Indonesian villagers fighting a mining firm
JAKARTA — A court in Jakarta has rejected a lawsuit by a remote island community against a gold-mining operation that overlaps onto their villages, in a ruling deemed “problematic” by anti-mining activists. In its April 20 ruling, the Jakarta State Administrative Court said it had no jurisdiction to decide the case, which it characterized as […]
Palm oil firm that cleared Papuan forest after losing its permit is still at it
JAKARTA — A palm oil company whose permit was revoked at the start of the year and which was ordered to halt operations is allegedly continuing to clear forests in Indonesia’s Papua province. PT Permata Nusa Mandiri (PNM), one of more than 100 companies targeted in a mass cancellation of plantation permits by Indonesia’s environment […]