Greenpeace: Local and indigenous communities should have a right to their lands

 

 

International development agencies and our own government need to rethink their development approaches. Too often, instead of development, they end up degrading the environment and worsening social problems. Decisions on land acquisition for “development”, without consulting the indigenous and local communities that will be affected, are leaving them with no access to land, food, clean water and security. The progressive dispossession of indigenous peoples’ lands, underscores the precarious nature of the land rights of indigenous and local communities.

 

 

Huge swaths of our sacred forests were transferred in a matter of a few years to the hands of the international agroindustry. If we don’t change course, our dense forests are likely to be gone forever and drive the planet to an environmental crash, all in the name of “development”. We need to ask ourselves who is benefitting from this “development” and who pays the price? Who is making the decisions on behalf of whom? Are those affected being consulted at all? Does this country belong to its people or to foreign companies?

 

 

Indigenous and local communities do not benefit from “development” projects. Instead, they suffer from an ongoing problem of land-grabbing. In particular, Bantu, Baka and Bagyeli peoples have been displaced. They’ve been ripped out from their own homes. On a recent workshop, we stood together in Djoum, where traditional leaders denounced the situation.

 

 

In the region of South Cameroon, indigenous and local communities – especially those in the Department of Dja and Lobo, where I carried out investigations in the past years – are overlooked completely by the government, as they see their lands being polluted and plundered by private business companies like the rubber company SudCam (Cameroonian subsidiary of one of the largest rubber companies in the world, Halcyon Agri).

 

 

The celebration of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples last August was bitter-sweet. It was an opportunity for indigenous people to uphold their rich culture, but also to once again claim their lands back. For me, it was an opportunity to stand with fellow Cameroonians. It was an opportunity to call together for ending land grabs by SudCam and other multinational companies, as well as to compensate communities who were already displaced.

 

Read more...

Go back

CBFP News

WWF: Rainforest deforestation more than doubled under cover of coronavirus -DW

Tropical rainforests shrank by 6,500 square kilometers in March — an area seven times the size of Berlin. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the pandemic and the unemployed are getting desperate, the WWF said.

Read more …

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park Monthly update April 2020

"At a time when many countries are beginning their gradual deconfinement and when there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon of returning to normal life, I wanted to share with you some good news that also fills us with hope for the future of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park."

Read more …

Resources and follow-up from the virtual FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Roundtable

Last April 30th FAO and EcoAgriculture Partners organized a virtual Roundtable on Territorial Perspectives for Development, in which over 170 people participated.

Read more …

ATIBT -CBFP: Private Sector mobilized around the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany

ATIBT co-facilitated the mobilization of the private sector of the timber sector to participate in the first meeting of the private sector college of Congo Basin Forest Partnership with the new facilitator Dr Christian Ruck and his team German Facilitation.

Read more …

Development and institutionalization of a PAFC certification system for the Congo basin: opening of the second public consultation on Sustainable Forest Management Certification Standard, 23 May 2020 - 22 June 2020

This second public consultation will be open for a period of 30 days from tomorrow Saturday the 23rd of May 2020 and will be closed on Monday the 22nd of June 2020. The public consultation is open to all stakeholders of forest management in the Congo Basin interested in participating to the PAFC Congo Basin certification standards development process.

Read more …

Forest defenders on the COVID-19 frontline stand ready to assist the global EU response – Fern

These efforts go hand in hand with ensuring continued responsible management of natural resources and preventing unsustainably and illegally sourced forest commodities. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, forest-monitoring organisations Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière (OGF) and Réseau des observateurs indépendants des ressources naturelles (RENOI) are set to carry out COVID awareness-raising in at-risk forest areas, and will also assess COVID’s impact on forest management and governance commitments under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Across the Congo Basin, fears that a proper lack of oversight may put forests and forest peoples in danger are looming despite emerging initiatives.

Read more …

22 May 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity

The theme of the 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity is “Our Solutions are in Nature”. It shows that "Biodiversity remains the answer to a number of sustainable development challenges that we all face. From nature-based solutions to climate, to food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity remains the basis for a sustainable future."

Read more …

CBFP News Archive

2024

There are no news items for this period.