Protected Areas

Colombian Constitutional Court decision to reject mining could change the history of the Amazon

whit — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 09:37:19 +0100

After five years of legal uncertainty, the Colombian Constitutional court finally made clear that a National Park prevails over a mining title. A victory for nature and indigenous peoples and a precedent in defense of territory for communities all around the world!

In our time of devastation in the natural world around us, with the exception of indigenous people, nature is rarely expressed as sacred (Cashford 2011).

Colombia suspends gold mining in protected natural reserve

whit — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 15:57:21 +0100

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has suspended gold mining activity across more than 247 million acres of protected land in the south of the country.

Following the Court’s decision, The Ministry of Mines and Energy will suspend all gold mining operations in the Yaigoje Apaporis National Park, that spans between the southeastern states of Amazonas and Vaupes.

According to reports, the Court took action after a Canadian company, Cosigo Frontier Mining, allegedly tried to convince local indigenous communities to lift mining restrictions that had been implemented when the land was d

Indonesia: Promised task force on indigenous rights in Indonesia hits snag

whit — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 12:27:17 +0100

Indigenous leaders were expecting the Environment and Forestry Minister to announce the formation of the task force in a speech at the Nusantara Festival in Bali last week.

Instead, the minister asked for trust and patience while the government ‘harmonizes’ the proposal.

The task force’s mandate would include recommending pardons for wrongfully convicted citizens and working with the legislature to pass a draft bill on indigenous rights.

Last Sunday on the Indonesian island of Bali, the country’s environment and forestry minister had the uncomfortable task of telling hundred

BHP to open new coal mine in Borneo amid concern for orangutans

whit — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 00:06:32 +0100

If you thought Shenhua and Adani had raised hackles with their plans to develop new coal mines in controversial parts of Australia, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In a move likely to enrage environmental campaigners, BHP Billiton quietly flagged on Wednesday that it would soon start production of coal at the Haju mine in Indonesian Borneo.

Haju will initially produce about 1 million tonnes of coal a year, which is pretty small compared to the coal mines BHP already operates in Queensland.

But Haju could be the start of a much larger coal project for BHP in Indonesian Borneo known as

UNESCO asks Canada to check impact of oil sands projects on national park

whit — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 13:17:39 +0100

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is calling Canadian authorities to conduct a strategic environmental assessment of Wood Buffalo National Park, the country’s largest, to determine the impact of oil sands projects on its wildlife and vegetation.

UNESCO has also urged Ottawa to halt development projects that would be difficult to reverse until a full review has been conducted, The Globe and Mail reports.

The U.N.

‘Shell No!’ Indigenous activists to confront Shell to end Arctic drilling at shareholder meetings in Netherlands and London

whit — Tue, 19 May 2015 09:52:36 +0100

A delegation of female indigenous activists are making their way to the Shell Annual General Meeting in the Hague to call for an end to Arctic offshore development. Mae Hank and Faith Gemmill-Fredson were part of a mass “flotilla” action in Seattle on Saturday which saw hundreds of people take action next to Shell’s Polar Pioneer drilling rig, docked at the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 [1].

“Our culture and livelihood is dependent on the bowhead, the walrus, the seal and the fish.

Brazil - Mass Indian protests against assault on land rights

whit — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 12:52:57 +0100

Ahead of Brazil’s “Day of the Indian” on April 19, 1,500 Indians from 200 tribes are protesting all week in the nation’s capital against an assault on their rights by Brazil’s Congress.

The Indians are incensed by a proposal to amend the constitution to give Congress the power to decide on the demarcation (or mapping out) of indigenous territories.

Indigenous tribes in Suriname ask gov't to protect their lands

whit — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 10:06:12 +0000

The Trio and Wayana tribes are asking Suriname’s National Assembly to take steps to protect some 72,000 sq. kilometers (28,000 sq.

Mongolia: Hunger Strike and Protest

whit — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 12:16:30 +0000

Mongolian Government Gives Green Light to Hundreds of Mining Projects

On Tuesday 10 February, nine members of Upright Blue Mongols and the Save Noyon Mountain Movement began a hunger strike in Ulaanbaatar, aiming to prevent the Mongolian Parliament passing damaging changes to the country’s environmental law as it came up for debate.

Known as the Long Name Law, at the time of the hunger strike’s inception, this environmental legislation prohibited mineral exploration and extraction in or near headwaters, protected zones, or forests.

Adopted five years ago, the Law is regarded as

USA - San Carlos Apache Battle Against ‘Christian Discovery’

whit — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 09:33:49 +0000

The San Carlos Apache battle cry, sounded by San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler to prevent the hostile takeover over of Apache lands by the United States and Rio Tinto mining corporation, goes to the core of U.S. neo-colonialism against Native nations.

The current attack on Apache lands arises from a law recently passed by the U.S. Congress, the “Southeast Arizona land exchange and conservation Act.” The title of the act conceals its true purpose. The law has nothing to do with conservation.

USA - San Carlos Apache Leader: ‘What Was a Struggle to Protect Our Most Sacred Site Is Now a Battle’

whit — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 15:22:30 +0000

Washington lawmakers may think their passage of a bill giving the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s sacred land to a giant international mining company is a done deal, but they may have to think again.

The San Carlos Apache Tribe is organizing an all-out campaign to stop the transfer of Oak Flat, its 2,400-acre sacred ceremonial and burial site since time immemorial, to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of the giant global mining corporation Rio Tinto.

USA: Copper mine will hurt tribes and the environment

whit — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 10:43:24 +0000

James Anaya: Rio Tinto should make some lands off limits to mining and abandon the project if it can’t gain local support

Congress recently authorized an exchange of land so the multinational giant Rio Tinto can proceed with its Resolution Copper Mine project in eastern Arizona. The land to be conveyed to the company was taken from the Apache people more than a century ago, but Apache today continue to claim strong cultural and religious ties to the land.

The congressional authorization can be seen as a victory for the foreign-owned mining company.

Tanzania: Group raises alarm over state harrassment of land activists

whit — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:01:29 +0000

Dar es Salaam.

USA: Senate passes huge Arizona copper mine

whit — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:59:25 +0000

The United States Senate has passed a controversial land swap deal, paving the way for the country’s largest copper mine to move forward, following close to a decade of roadblocks by Washington.

Senators passed the measure by 89 votes to 11 on Friday, just ahead of their Christmas recess.

The $585 billion National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 is a “must-pass” piece of legislation that Congress moves every year.

San Carlos Apache Leader Seeks Senate Defeat of Copper Mine on Sacred Land

whit — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 17:41:44 +0000

The leader of the San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the Senate not to vote on the annual National Defense Authorization Act until a provision that would allow a massive copper mining project on sacred land is removed.

The House approved a bill on December 4 that gives 2,400 acres of sacred Apache land to a giant international mining corporation, then sent it to the Senate for a fast vote in a process that won’t allow amendments to be made. The Senate is expected to act on it this week.

The land swap bill, called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 (H.R.

USA - Rio, BHP very close to develop U.S. largest copper mine

whit — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 10:39:35 +0000

Arizona’s lawmakers slipped Tuesday night a piece of legislation that would allow mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton to jointly build a massive copper mine in the state as part of a deal with the U.S.

Is Peru’s President Humala serious about Indigenous Peoples’ rights?

whit — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 19:32:59 +0000

In September 2014, Peru and Norway signed an agreement to reduce deforestation in Peru.

Australia: Uranium mining in Kakadu at a crucial point

whit — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 09:57:09 +0000

The skies above Jabiru are busy. Birds of prey circle endlessly.

Brown falcons or whistling kites are a constant presence above this part of Kakadu National Park.

It creates a fitting mood for a place facing an uncertain future.

Honduras - Drilling the Caribbean: Indigenous Communities Speak Out Against Oil and Gas Exploration

whit — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 15:35:59 +0000

In 2013, the Honduran government granted BG Group oil and gas exploration rights in a 35,000 square kilometer block off the coast of the Moskitia. Miskitu and Garifuna community leaders are speaking out to defend their territories from oil and gas activity.

Cambodia’s Environment: Good News in Areng Valley?

whit — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 10:14:13 +0000

Can Cambodia’s nascent environmental movement save the pristine Areng Valley from a Chinese dam?

The unfolding story of local resistance in the Areng Valley starts with an all-too-familiar predicament: for the sake of “national development” and economic progress, the Cambodian government has steadfastly pursued plans – without prior public consultation – to build a Chinese-backed hydropower dam in an area known for its rich biodiversity and indigenous communities.

But contrary to how one might normally expect such a story to transpire, there is an important twist in this on

Indigenous Communities Challenge Big Oil in Belize

whit — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:30:30 +0000

Groups push to keep US Capital Energy out of Sarstoon Temash National Park

The old school bus rattles along the dirt road, heading through the rainforest to the southernmost reaches of Belize. The sign would be easy to miss. Morning glory vines climb the small, rusted notice off to the right, nearly blending in with the banana plants and palm-thatch roofed houses in the Mayan community of Midway. Sarstoon Temash National Park.

Indigenous knowledge essential to meet global biodiversity targets – UN official

whit — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:55:04 +0100

The knowledge and traditional practices of indigenous people and local communities are key to halting biodiversity loss and achieving sustainable development, a United Nations official stressed today at a major meeting on biological diversity in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea.

“The collective work conducted by indigenous groups and local communities represents a major contributor to achieving the CBD’s main objectives and the Aichi biodiversity targets,” said the Executive Director of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Braulio Souza de Dias.

“Indigenous people and loca

Uranium mining near Grand Canyon to remain banned: court

whit — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 11:55:29 +0100

A 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, which applies to a 1 million-acre area around the national park, will remain in place after a federal court in Arizona ruled Tuesday against mining groups that had sued the federal government.

Mining associations and other groups with a stake in the sector had argued that the U.S. Department of the Interior erred in a 2012 decision to ban new mining for two decades in public land near the Canyon.

They claimed such prohibition was based on “overly cautious,” speculative environmental risks.

Australia: Areva suing over Kakadu

whit — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:48:44 +0100

French government-controlled Areva – the world’s biggest nuclear company – is understood to be planning legal action against the Australian government over a decision last year to veto mining at its multibillion-dollar Koongarra uranium deposit by including it in the Kakadu National Park.

The claim has the potential to open up the Commonwealth to a payment of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Last March, the Senate passed a bill reversing the exclusion of Areva’s Koongarra uranium deposit from the Kakadu National Park, removing the possibility of future uranium mining there.

The de

Canada - Tsilhqot'in set to declare site of New Prosperity mine a tribal park

whit — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 09:22:10 +0100

A B.C. First Nation is set to declare a vast chunk of the Chilcotin as a tribal park, including the site of the controversial proposed New Prosperity mine at Fish Lake.

A formal ceremony unveiling Dasiqox Tribal Park is set for Oct.

Kenya conundrum: Kick out Maasai herders to develop geothermal energy?

whit — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 14:22:11 +0100

Mt. Suswa, Kajiado Country, Kenya — Sitting by his dung hut at sunrise, Daudi Maisiodo, a Maasai herdsman, praises Mt. Suswa, a smoldering volcano on Kenya’s Great Rift Valley where he lives.

“It’s the best land,” Mr. Maisiodo says of the mountain slopes. “There’s firewood. There’s plains with enough space for pasture. You can grow maize….There’s red and white ochre … for rituals.”

The mountain is rich in another way as well.

IACHR Publishes Report: “Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact in the Americas”

whit — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 12:37:22 +0100

Washington, D.C.- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) today published the report “Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact in the Americas,” which addresses the situation of peoples who were not colonized and who do not have permanent relations with today’s predominant national societies. Many of these peoples have disappeared, and the few that survive are in a unique situation of vulnerability because they cannot advocate for their own rights.

Pluspetrol Expanding into Manu National Park

whit — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:15:42 +0100

Rumors were circulating about the Peruvian government’s plan to create gas concessions bordering or including parts of the Manú National Park in early 2013. Although the rumors had not been confirmed, arguments for and against those plans had been expressed by the consulting firm for Pluspetrol (the gas company hoping to be approved for these gas concessions) and anthropologists and researchers who fear for the health and safety of not only the isolated and Indigenous people living in Manú, but the parks unique ecology there as well.

Asia Regional Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop Declaration

whit — Mon, 05 May 2014 11:42:04 +0100

Advance the Right to Self Determined Development of Indigenous Peoples!

We, 68 participants of the ASIA REGIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ WORKSHOP ON EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES, ENERGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS, held in Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines on April 20-22, 2014; representing 54 indigenous peoples organizations and advocate groups in Asia, Pacific, Africa, South America and USA; hereby declare our position in relation to the encroachment of extractive industries and energy projects in indigenous peoples’ territories.

We are concerned with the aggressive pursuance of neoliberal globaliz

Botswana bushmen: 'If you deny us the right to hunt, you are killing us'

whit — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 16:41:17 +0100

The San people are reaching out to Prince Charles to help overturn new laws threatening their tribal culture

It costs £500 a night to stay in a luxury safari camp in the Kalahari desert in Botswana. For that price, wealthy tourists get drinks, game drives and, says one tour company, an “interpretive Bushman walk with staff members who hail from the ancient Bushman clans of the area”.

Peru - UK oil company to expand in territories of 'isolated' Amazon tribes

whit — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 11:39:34 +0100

UK-based oil and gas company Perenco is expanding its operations in the Peruvian Amazon – in a remote area known to be inhabited by highly vulnerable indigenous people living in ‘voluntary isolation’.

Forest peoples demand their rights be made central to global efforts to curb deforestation

whit — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 09:52:59 +0000

International workshop on Deforestation and the Rights of Forest Peoples issues Palangka Raya Declaration

Jakarta, Indonesia, and Moreton-in-Marsh, UK – After a major inter-continental gathering on Deforestation and the Rights of Forest Peoples held between 9 and 14 March 2014 in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, indigenous and forest peoples called on the international community, governments and international organizations to secure and respect their customary rights to their forests, lands, territories and natural resources in conformity with international law.

They issue

Belo Monte Construction Intensifies Conflicts with Indigenous Peoples

whit — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 11:46:46 +0000

Requirements to mitigate impacts remain unmet; Indigenous peoples call for immediate suspension of construction

Altamira, Brazil – As the hurried construction of the controversial Belo Monte mega-dam nears 50% completion on the Amazon’s Xingu River, a new report revealed that more than 80% of legally required actions to mitigate project impacts on indigenous peoples and their territories are mired in noncompliance.

UK Government set to examine Soco's activities in Virunga National Park

whit — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 12:39:45 +0000

The UK Government is set to examine the activities of Soco, a London-based oil company, over alleged violations of environmental protections and human rights abuses in a protected African World Heritage Site.

It was announced today that a complaint filed by WWF has been accepted, and issues related to respect for human rights and the environment in Virunga National Park, will be thoroughly examined for the first time. WWF officially filed an OECD complaint against Soco, the oil company threatening Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in late 2013.

Violating rights and threatening lives: The Camisea gas project and indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation

whit — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 20:34:56 +0000

Groundbreaking research reveals severe impacts of the Camisea gas project on isolated indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon

Oxford, UK – A Forest Peoples Programme report published today reveals the severe impacts of Peru’s biggest gas project on indigenous peoples in “voluntary isolation” (isolated peoples) in the Amazon, including epidemics, disease and forced and hostile contacts caused by project operators.

The report is published at a crucial time as the project consortium led by Pluspetrol is seeking approval for a massive planned expansion.

‘Always fight’ for indigenous rights, Amazon tribe’s chief says in Toronto

whit — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:02:12 +0000

Grand Chief Megaron has faced down politicians and multi-billion-dollar corporations, but the cold of a Toronto winter is quite another thing. Even within the confines of a modern downtown office complex, he rubs his hands and covers himself with a Woolrich blanket.

“Frio. Muito frio,” he begins telling his translator, Barbara Zimmerman, in Portuguese, the language many of his Kayapo people have mastered to make the concerns of their Amazon rainforest tribe known to the outside world.

India blocks Vedanta’s Odisha bauxite mining plan

whit — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 11:41:42 +0000

This is after all 12 villages in the Niyamgiri area rejected the incentives offered in exchange for mining approval.

India has blocked Vedanta Resources Plc from mining in a hill range that holds bauxite earmarked for an $8.1 billion aluminum complex in Odisha state following objections by local tribes.

“We rejected it after the local panchayats rejected,” Environment Minister Veerappa Moily said in New Delhi today, referring to village-level governance bodies.

Oil extraction to take place in proposed Amazon tribe reserve

whit — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 17:18:19 +0000

Company slated to start producing in the next few days, but indigenous peoples’ lives are at risk

Peru’s state agency promoting oil and gas operations has announced that by the end of this month oil will be produced from new deposits in a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon near the border with Ecuador.

The announcement was made in a press release by Perupetro stating that ‘the date to start commercial extraction is scheduled for 30 November this year’, and that the ‘proven reserves in the lot [called Lot 67] are about 100 million barrels of heavy oil.’

According to Perupetro, the

Damage to Amazon worse than reported: 14-year study of Peru gold mining

whit — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:47:31 +0000

Field surveys, airborne mapping, and high resolution satellite imaging from 1999 to 2012 by the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Peruvian ministry of environment reveal damage to Peru’s Amazon – mostly from illegal gold mining – far more extensive than what has been reported to date.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, arrives one month after footage from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory was released, showing vast swaths of destroyed rainforest in Peru’s Madre de Dios region.

During the 14-year monitoring period, the geogra

Australia - Raiders Of The Rock Art

whit — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:42:55 +0100

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has a greenlight to explore a huge swath of Cape York, home to ancient Aboriginal rock art – and minerals. The indigenous custodians are not happy.

“I feel I’ve been kicked in the guts,” says Stephen Doughboy, as he meets with more than 30 fellow Aboriginal clan members in the tiny remote Queensland town of Laura.

12th gram sabha too votes against Vedanta mining

whit — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 14:46:23 +0100

“It is time now for Vedanta to gracefully respect public sentiment and pack off its establishment”

Efforts of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), belonging to London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, to mine bauxite ore in Niyamgiri hills in Odisha received a severe blow on Monday with the 12th palli (gram) sabha also voting against mining there.

This is the first time an environmental referendum is conducted on a directive by the Supreme Court to find out whether mining in Niyamgiri will tantamount to an infringement of the religious, community and individual rights of local forest-dwell

Americas: Governments Must Stop Imposing Development Projects on Indigenous Peoples’ Territories

whit — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 14:22:27 +0100

Governments across the Americas continue to discriminate against Indigenous peoples by denying their right to have a say on decisions which may have devastating consequences for their cultural survival. Motorways, pipelines, hydroelectric dams and open-cast mines are some of the development projects which governments continue to carry out on or near Indigenous territories without obtaining their free, prior and informed consent.

The right to consultation, as established in various international human rights standards, is key for Indigenous peoples.

Jolt for Vedanta as mining in Niyamgiri Hills voted out

whit — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 12:49:18 +0100

Sourcing bauxite from other states to add Rs 600 cr to cost

Bhubaneswar – In what could be a jolt for Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, the fate of the beleaguered proposal to mine bauxite in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills was sealed on Monday, with the seventh of the 12 gram sabhas — at Phuldumer in Kalahandi district — rejecting the plan.

Earlier, the first six of the 12 villages in the Rayagada and Kalahandi districts chosen by the state for a referendum on Niyamgiri mining, too, had turned down the proposal.

The remaining five gram sabhas, scheduled for August 19, are also expected to go w

Injunction filed to halt illegal exploration drilling in Wirikuta

whit — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 11:11:44 +0100

Against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the region and other worrisome developments, Wixarika leaders have filed an injunction to stop the illegal drilling in exploration for gold and silver in their ancestral sacred lands of Wirikuta.

Since March 1 of this year, the Wixarika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta has been petitioning the Mexican government to intervene to stop the current exploration that is occurring in the region without the required permits, but they have received no response to date, prompting them to file the injunction in a federal court.

Jabiru traditional owners recognised

whit — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 18:16:34 +0100

The Northern Territory’s longest-running native title claim may have reached a conclusion satisfactory to all parties, with the federal parliament passing a bill recognising the traditional owners of the land.

The Jabiru native title claim area – which includes the Jabiru township – has now formally been returned to the Mirarr people.

After very lengthy deliberations, federal Land Rights laws have given the Mirarr people inalienable Aboriginal freehold title to the Jabiru township and its outskirts.

Mirarr traditional ownership of Jabiru is recognised by the scheduling of Jabiru and

Indian conundrum over mining vs social development resurfaces

whit — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:57:51 +0100

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – The Indian government’s conundrum over the linkages between mining, social development and tribal extremism has resurfaced, with a Minister questioning the sanctioning of mining in forests.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has raised questions over the approval of iron-ore and mining projects in the Saranda forest in the East Indian state of Jharkhand, by the apex Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In a communication to the Prime Minister, Ramesh said that mining projects in the forests would jeopardise ma

Colombia: indigenous peoples face "extinction"

whit — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:10:11 +0000

The Andean Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI) and the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) on March 15 jointly presented a report to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) warning that 65 the 102 indigenous ethnicities in Colombia are now at risk of cultural or physical “extinction.” The report noted that Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ordered special protection for these 65 peoples, but asserted that risks posed by the armed conflict and lawless resource extraction on their lands have not abated.

COONAPIP, Panama’s Indigenous Peoples Coordinating Body, withdraws from UN-REDD

whit — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:58:49 +0000

Panama – COONAPIP, the National Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples in Panama, has withdrawn from the UN-REDD process in Panama.

Australian uranium discovery threatens ancient indigenous cave art

whit — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:23:44 +0000

A significant deposit has been found in a remote Australian mountain range near some of the oldest rock art on the planet

One of the world’s biggest uranium producers has found a significant deposit in a remote tropical Australian mountain range near sandstone galleries holding some of the oldest and most spectacular rock art on the planet.

After years of drilling, Canadian-based mining company Cameco has reported the find in the Wellington Range, where the thousands of Aboriginal artworks adorning cliffs and caves include a painting of the extinct dog-like creature, the thylacine, mad

Ecuadorian tribe gets reprieve from oil intrusion

whit — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:08:54 +0000

Residents of Sani Isla have built up an arsenal of weapons to fend off Petroamazonas, in a confrontation which did not take place as expected

An indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon has won a reprieve after building up an arsenal of spears, blowpipes, machetes and guns to fend off an expected intrusion by the army and a state-run oil company.

The residents of Sani Isla expressed relief that a confrontation with Petroamazonas did not take place on Tuesday as anticipated, but said the firm is still trying to secure exploration rights in their area of pristine rainforest.

“W

Peruvian Indigenous Communities Take Charge of Environmental Monitoring

whit — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:55:03 +0000

They work with the precision of technicians and the enthusiasm of volunteers.

Precautionary measures urged for isolated indigenous peoples

whit — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:39:46 +0000

Organizations demand protection from the IACHR for ethnic groups at risk of extinction.

South America indigenous representatives pushed for precautionary measures to protect the isolated native communities during the 146th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or IACHR, which is taking place in Washington, DC, from Oct. 29 to Nov.

India: Supreme Court says companies can't acquire "scheduled land"

whit — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:53:04 +0100

NEW DELHI: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court today said that the land belonging to scheduled castes or tribes cannot be bought by non-dalits, including companies, as such transactions are unconstitutional.

A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra gave the verdict on an appeal by the Rajasthan government against the state high court’s order holding such a sale to be valid in law.

The high court had passed its order on an appeal by a firm, Aanjaney Organic Herbal Pvt Ltd, against the refusal by the state authorities to recognise or grant mutation to the purchase of

Community Maps Can Empower Indigenous Peoples to Assert Land Rights

whit — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:12:50 +0100

Bangkok, THAILAND, 19 September (Tebtebba Indigenous Information Service) – An Australian-Filipino mining company during a September 2011 public consultation mobilized its “experts.” Their goal: to persuade local officials and indigenous and local communities about the “safety, merits and sustainability” of the company’s US$5.8-billion project in southern Philippines.

The “experts” were armed with figures, graphs and pictures all showing the “benefits” of the proposed big mining project.

Australia's biggest protected area declared

whit — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:16:44 +0100

The southern Tanami in the Northern Territory is some of the most pristine and diverse desert country in Australia.

And at ten million hectares, it’s now been declared as the nation’s largest Indigenous Protected Area (IPA).

With $1.6 million of Federal Government money and $500,000 from The Nature Conservancy, Indigenous ranger groups from the communities of Yuendumu, Willowra and Nyrripi will now be funded over two years to manage their own country against threats such as invasive species and fire.

Member for Lingiari Minister Warren Snowdon says it’s the next stage in the land ri

South Africa: ‘No-go’ mining areas to be announced soon

whit — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:32:44 +0100

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu would soon announce ‘no-go’ areas for mining, based on ecological sensitivity, Environmental and Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Monday.

Speaking at a business briefing in Johannesburg, she said that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the Department of Mineral Resources would also publish jointly developed mining and biodiversity guidelines.

The DEA was working with other government departments to ensure that mining methods were less destructive and that appropriate mitigation and

Three Years after the Tragedy of Bagua and Little Has Changed

whit — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:49:06 +0100

The violent clashes in 2009 left 34 dead and over 200 injured in the worst violence that Peru has seen in recent history.

Three years ago yesterday, Peruvian police, in an attempt to end 55 days of peaceful indigenous protests across the Amazon basin, opened fire on a group of protesters at “Devil’s Curve”, near the town of Bagua in northern Peru. The violent clashes that ensued left 34 dead and over 200 injured in the worst violence that Peru has seen in recent history.

Victory! The struggle to protect Koongarra uranium is finally over

whit — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:46:03 +0100

There was a major victory this week in the struggle to protect the Koongarra uranium deposit in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The Northern Land Council, which represents native title claimants in the Arnhem Land region of Northern Territory, announced its decision to extend the boundaries of the world-heritage-listed Kakadu National Park to include the 1,200 hectare uranium deposit.

When the National Park was founded in 1979, the Australian government decided to leave Koongarra out, clearly recognizing the potential market value of the deposit.

Green economy is a diversion from the principles of the Earth Summit of 1992

whit — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:18:12 +0100

Accra, Ghana – Members of FoE Africa from Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Swaziland Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda met and reviewed global issues with particular focus on those that confront the African continent.

The politics of scrambling for African natural resources, intense oil and gas extraction, land grabbing, forest and biodiversity degradation and dangerous climate change are among the issues that continue to confront the continent.

Amazon Indigenous Groups Fight New Law That Would Allow Foreign Companies on Their Land

whit — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:50:30 +0100

It has been said that oil and gas companies follow a bible of sorts here in the jungles of Peru, a universal playbook of their most effective methods for convincing locals that a project will bring them development or—if the locals can’t be convinced of that—to get their way through less benign tactics.

The playbook, a spin-off of tactics that date back in spirit to the conquistadores, has worked well until recently, when Indigenous Peoples started comparing notes.

Rio plan to restore native title at diamond mine

whit — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:07:31 +0100

IN AN unprecedented move mining giant Rio Tinto is clearing the way for native title to be restored on thousands of hectares of land surrounding its highly successful Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley.

Kevin McLeish, managing director of Argyle Diamonds,said: ‘‘We are working to do what nobody else has done, removing the roadblocks to allow the re-establishment of native title over the land.’‘

He said Argyle Diamonds had begun discussions with the West Australian government that involved making a fundamental change to the special-purpose grazing lease under which mining currently take

Brazil: Munduruku Chief Clarifies REDD Contract with Celestial Green Ventures, Calls It a 'Tale'

whit — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:07:55 +0100

It created waves of headlines around the world when the Munduruku, an indigenous nation of approximately 13,000 living in the state of Para, Brazil, signed a carbon credit sales contract (REDD) with Celestial Green Ventures.

But it wasn’t the community , that signed the contract.

I uncovered this fact during my 2 1/2 month visit to Para where I was investigating the Belo Monte dam issue and the human rights situation of the indigenous peoples that would be directly impacted. Also the Munduruka are trying to combat a dam in their area.

‘It is clear the United States’ laws do not protect the human rights of Navajos’

whit — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:35:05 +0000

St Michaels, Ariz.— The Internationally community is now coming together to help save Dook’o’osliid (San Francisco Peaks) the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) Leonard Gorman blast the U.S. for not doing enough to illuminate the issue. “the Navajo Nation has exhausted its grievance process in the United States to protect Navajo human rights. It is clear the United States’ laws do not protect the human rights of Navajos.” said Gorman.

In 2011, Navajo officials said they wrote to the U.N.

Indigenous peoples in Suriname still wait for land rights

whit — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 08:42:11 +0100

Legal rights and recognition for the diverse indigenous peoples of Suriname have lagged behind those in other South American countries. Despite pressure from the UN and binding judgments by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Suriname has yet to recognize indigenous and tribal land rights, a situation that has disconnected local communities from decisions regarding the land they have inhabited for centuries and in some cases millennia.

Lula's parting gift is a controversial dam

Kailash — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:22:45 +0100

Brasilia, Brazil- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed his approval for a huge new hydroelectric dam that is set to be more controversial than China’s Three Gorges Dam, which it will surpass in size and volume when completed in 2015.

Lula gave the go-ahead for the Amazonian dam in the midst of a heated election campaign for the October presidential election his Workers Party nominee Dilma Rousseff is widely tipped to win.

Lula’s approval for the dam relieved the incoming president of a potentially embarrassing confrontation with vociferous environmental, Indian and rel

Peru's President Garcia Widely Criticized for Refusing to Sign Indigenous Rights Legislation into Law

Kailash — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:14:07 +0100

Lima, Peru — President Alan Garcia refused to sign a historic new law that would have recognized Peru’s international obligation to consult with indigenous peoples before proceeding with resource extraction projects that affect them. Despite broad appeal from the International Labor Organization of the United Nations, human rights groups and indigenous organizations, Garcia sent back the law to Congress with his objections just before the deadline late on Monday night.

Tribe Loses Court Battle to Stop Gold Mine on Mount Tenabo

Kailash — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:43:12 +0100

SAN FRANCISCO, California – An Indian tribe, an indigenous rights support group and a mining watchdog group have failed in their joint court bid to block the expansion of a gold mine in northeastern Nevada.

A three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld a district court’s grant of summary judgment against the plaintiff Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone of Nevada and its co-plaintiffs, the Western Shoshone Defense Project, and Great Basin Mine Watch.

Native Peoples' Right to Consultation on Land Use Enshrined in Law

Kailash — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:02:08 +0100

LIMA – Indigenous peoples in Peru finally have a law that obliges the state to consult them about any project or provision that affects their territory or communities.

OAS Human Rights Commission Urges Suspension of Mining Activity at Goldcorp's Marlin Mine in Guatemala

Kailash — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:15:17 +0100

The Organization of American States’ Human Rights Commission, the region’s most respected human rights body, calls on the Guatemalan government and Goldcorp to halt mining

(Washington, D.C.) As evidence mounts of human rights violations and health impacts at Goldcorp’s Marlin mine in the western highlands of Guatemala, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an independent body of the Organization of American States (OAS), has called on the government of Guatemala to suspend mining activity at the Marlin mine and take steps to protect the health of the surrounding indigenous

Indigenous leader confronts Chevron

Kailash — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:00:45 +0100

Emergildo Criollo traveled to California recently from his indigenous village in Ecuador to the home of Chevron’s new CEO John Watson and then to a meeting with state lawmakers, demanding that the oil giant Chevron “. take responsibility for their actions and clean up our rivers and forests – our homes.”

Criollo, a leader of the Cofan people from the Oriente region of Ecuador, grew up in one of the areas where Chevron (then Texaco) was drilling and has been the subject of a massive lawsuit.

42 Tribal Wildlife Grants Awarded in 16 States

Kailash — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:48:57 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC – The Hopi Tribe will conduct an assessment of golden eagles in Arizona, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians will restore longleaf pine habitat in Alabama, the St.

Brazilian tribe owns carbon rights to Amazon rainforest land

Kailash — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:22:32 +0000

A rainforest tribe fighting to save their territory from loggers owns the carbon-trading rights to their land, according to a legal opinion released today by Baker & McKenzie, one of the world’s largest law firms.

The opinion, which was commissioned by Forest Trends, a Washington, D.C.-based forest conservation group, could boost the efforts of indigenous groups seeking compensation for preserving forest on their lands, effectively paving the way for large-scale indigenous-led conservation of the Amazon rainforest.

Plundering the Amazon jungle

Kailash — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:03:38 +0100

For four decades, Edimar Bentes and his family have survived by farming tiny clearings in the jungle near their dirt-floor shack in the state of Para in the Brazilian Amazon. On this April afternoon, Bentes, 56, squats in the driving rain and dips a glass into what just four years ago was a crystal-clear stream that provided drinking and bathing water. He frowns as the glass fills with brown silt. A thin man with short-cropped dark hair and a tanned, deeply wrinkled forehead, Bentes gazes around his land.

Encroachment - Sakai lose land to dark forces

whit — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:50:12 +0000

PHATTHALUNG : About 30 Sakai nomadic people have been brutally expelled from their ancestral forest in Pa Bon district by local influential figures and civil servants whose business interests were jeopardised by the tribe’s presence, a source says.

The ethnic minority group, the source said, was an impediment to illegal poaching and logging involving the local mafia and authorities who had encroached on the forest where they were living.

The Sakai were intimidated by b rutal tactics and forced out of settled areas in a wildlife sanctuary on Bantad mountain range so the poachers could g

IUCN Resolution on Indigenous Peoples

whit — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:42:13 +0100

Resolution: Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention

Adopted on 15 September 2012

IUCN World Conservation Congress, Jeju, Korea, 6-15 September 2012

RECALLING the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 13 September 2007 and its endorsement by IUCN at the 4th World Conservation Congress through Resolution 4.052 Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Barcelona, 2008);

Australia: Who Gets To Develop James Price Point?

whit — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:09:04 +0000

By Deborah Ruiz Wall – http://newmatilda.com/2013/02/14/who-gets-develop-james-price-point

14 February 2013

As the push for economic development continues in the Kimberley, conflicting definitions of ownership remain at issue in the dispute over Woodside’s gas project, writes Deborah Ruiz Wall

Land use, economic development, Indigenous cultural heritage and environmental protection are at the heart of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Precinct dispute in the Kimberley.

Yasuni: Ecuador abandons plan to stave off Amazon drilling

whit — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 18:55:10 +0100

President says scheme to raise money from rich countries to compensate for oil moratorium has pulled in only $13m

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has abandoned a unique and ambitious plan to persuade rich countries to pay his country not to drill for oil in a pristine Amazon rainforest preserve.

Environmentalists had hailed the initiative when Correa first proposed it in 2007, saying he was setting a precedent in the fight against global warming by reducing the high cost to poor countries of preserving the environment.

“The world has failed us,” Correa said in a nationally televis