Indonesian Indigenous group AMAN wins Skoll Award for defending land rights

JAKARTA — The Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), the main advocacy group for Indigenous communities in Indonesia, has won a 2023 Skoll Award for Social Innovation. Since its establishment in 1999, AMAN has been advocating for Indigenous rights to prevent communities from having their lands stolen. The main issue currently facing Indigenous communities […]

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Indigenous communities threatened as deforestation rises in Nicaraguan reserves

It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening to the environment in Nicaragua. Data on everything from mining to deforestation to biodiversity loss is nearly impossible to get from the government. Hundreds of journalists and environmental defenders have been arrested or fled the country, including much of the newsroom of La Prensa, Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper. And […]

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Locals fight to save ‘a piece of the sea’ in Venezuela’s Andes

lagoonWhen Nelly Flores looks out over the Urao Lagoon, she smiles and asks me: “Do you know what those dots moving in the water are?” Mosquitoes, I guess. Nelly shakes her head and her smile widens. “No. They’re not mosquitoes. They’re, they’re … baby fish. What are they called?” She picks up her cellphone to […]

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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 […]

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No justice for Indigenous community taking on a Cambodian rubber baron

Heng Saphen and her daughter, Chan Lay PhiekKAMPONG THOM, Cambodia — The mood outside the Kampong Thom Provincial Court had grown tense on the afternoon of July 26. Some 12 residents of Ngon village, an Indigenous Kuy community in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district, waited for the judge’s verdict. The group had spent roughly $200 traveling the 75 kilometers (47 miles) to […]

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In first for Indonesia, government recognizes Indigenous Papuans’ ancestral forests

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has recognized community claims to ancestral forests in the country’s eastern Papua region for the first time in history, a move that environmentalists say could help preserving one of most biodiverse regions on the planet. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry on Oct. 24 handed over decrees that recognized customary forests […]

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Fighting extractive industries in Ecuador: Q&A with Indigenous rights activist María Espinosa

National protests overwhelmed Ecuador in June, with Indigenous groups mobilizing in nearly every province of the country and President Guillermo Lasso announcing a state of emergency that restricted travel and allowed law enforcement to use aggressive force. The protests were in response to a variety of grievances — gas prices, healthcare, education — but they […]

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