Protests
Cambodian mega dam’s resurrection on the Mekong ‘the beginning of the end’
STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — A long-dormant plan to build a mega dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River in Cambodia’s northeastern Stung Treng province appears to have been revived this year, leaving locals immediately downstream of the potential sites worried and experts confounded. First studied in 2007, the 1,400-megawatt hydropower project, known as the […]
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 […]
Mining company destroys Indigenous cemetery during expansion in Honduras
When workers dig through the earth at the San Andres mine in western Honduras, one of the country’s largest mining operations, they sometimes find something mixed in that wasn’t there in older parts of the mine: human bones. For the past decade, the Maya Chortí Indigenous community in the town of Azacualpa were fighting to […]
Saving old-growth forests: Q&A with Amazon Watch’s Leila Salazar-López
Even after more than 1,000 people were arrested last year, protesters in British Columbia, Canada, continue to fight against the logging of the Fairy Creek old-growth forests. Blocking roads and tying themselves to trees, these frontline defenders have made headlines by putting their bodies between bulldozers and some of the oldest forests in the country. […]
Globally acclaimed community forest groups in Nepal say new rules threaten their autonomy
KATHMANDU — Nepalis whose livelihoods rely on access to the country’s community forests have suspended planned protests against a new law they say will threaten their autonomy and force their groups to work under various bureaucratic mechanisms. The move by the Federation of Community Forest Users Nepal (FECOFUN), which has been protesting the proposed changes […]