Indigenous Communities
Indonesia’s Mandalika project a litany of violations for Indigenous Sasak
JAKARTA — Activists have called on the developers of a major tourism project on the Indonesian island of Lombok to immediately remedy the rights violations alleged by local Indigenous communities who have had to be moved from the land. The resettlement phase of the $3 billion project in the coastal Mandalika region was supposed to […]
Read MoreKen Burns discusses heartbreak & hope of ‘The American Buffalo,’ his new documentary
Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns tells stories that shed light on the complexities and nuances of the United States’ cultural tapestry. This time, Burns has turned his lens on a symbol of the vast North American plains: the American buffalo (Bison bison). In a poignant discussion with Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough, Burns delves deep into his upcoming […]
Read MoreMexican firm profits from reforestation, empowers Indigenous people
Local stories in Michoacán tell how, when the Spanish invaded what would later be known as Mexico in the 1500s, they found Indigenous communities tapping pine trees and using the resin in sizzling-bright torches and lamps that lit the Aztec Empire capital of Tenochtitlan, today’s Mexico City. The Spanish appropriated the resin to use as […]
Read MoreIn southern Colombia, Indigenous groups fish and farm with the floods
At the very southern tip of Colombia, Indigenous communities practice a sustainable food system that involves artisanal fishing and rotating crop structures within cycles of flooding periods. This has allowed them to live sustainably in an extremely biodiverse part of the Amazon that has remained largely untouched by commercial agriculture. The Tikuna, Cocama and Yagua […]
Read MorePapua clan takes first step toward official recognition of land rights
SORONG, Indonesia — An Indigenous clan in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua has had its rights to its ancestral lands and forests recognized by the local government, a key step toward acknowledgment at the national level. On Oct. 15, Sorong district head Johny Kamuru issued a decree recognizing the rights of the Gelek Malak Kalawilis […]
Read MoreIndonesia’s leader touts green goals at COP26, but overlooks green stewards at home
JAKARTA — Electric vehicles, solar power plants, biofuel, blue carbon, green bonds and the carbon market: all got a mention from Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo in his speech at the World Leaders Summit at the COP26 U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. Conspicuously absent from his speech, however, was any commitment to protect the rights […]
Read MoreIndigenous Papuans won their forest back from a palm oil firm, but still lack land title
SORONG, West Papua — Indigenous people in Indonesia’s West Papua province are fighting for the rights to their ancestral forests, now that the local government has rescinded licenses for oil palm concessions on their lands. For years, the residents of Segun village in West Papua’s Sorong district feared that their forests would be razed to […]
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