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Peru’s Vice-Ministry of Inter-Culturality (VMI) has issued a critical report temporarily blocking the expansion of Peru’s biggest gas project and claiming that two ‘isolated’ indigenous peoples living in the region could be made extinct if it goes ahead.

Kathmandu, Nepal, July 10, 2013 – Today, communities in Nepal filed a complaint with the World Bank, demanding accountability for a Bank-funded high-voltage transmission line slated to affect over 100,000 poor and marginalized indigenous villagers.

Yurimaguas, 10th July 2013: On the eve of a government consultation of indigenous peoples in Yurimaguas on the latest draft of its Forest Investment Plan, an initiative financed by the World Bank's Forest Investment Programme, to address deforestation, indigenous peoples organisations in the San Martin and Loreto regions of the Peruvian Amazon have rejected both the planned consultation as well as warned that the latest draft still fails to respect their rights. They highlight the failure of the Peruvian government to conduct consultation in good faith due to inadequate prior notice or allocation of sufficient time for the event as well as the failure to include the Candoshi, Shawi and Shiwilo peoples in the same consultation process. More seriously still they highlight that the current proposal includes plans for the creation of the Shawi regional conservation area (ACR Shawi), a new protected area that overlaps with indigenous peoples’ customary lands. They say that this plan has not respected indigenous peoples rights to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and, as a result, risks serious land and resource conflict with indigenous peoples.

Oil palm giant and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) member, Wilmar, has agreed the sale of its oil palm concession PT Asiatic Persada, without prior consultation or respect for the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of indigenous Batin Sembilan communities already engaged in a land conflict mediation process.

Fifteen organisations working with indigenous women, including Forest Peoples Programme, have joined forces to emphasise the injustice and multiple forms of discrimination suffered by indigenous women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the Committee). States are required to submit reports to the Committee every four years, describing legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures they have adopted to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Convention). The DRC’s report will be examined by the Committee on 11 July 2013 in the presence of a delegation of Congolese government representatives. The proceedings can be watched live online at: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

In April and May 2013 the Wapichan people of southern Guyana sent clear messages to the government that all mining and other developments must respect their customary land rights and uphold the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

In April and May 2013 the Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA) of Guyana and a consortium of European NGOs, including Forest Peoples Programme, sent letters to the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the European Commission (EU) respectively, expressing concerns about rushed consultation processes and a lack of meaningful participation by forest dependent communities in the FLEGT process. 

In March 2013 a delegation of six members of the Organisation of Kalin’a and Lokono peoples in Marowijne (KLIM) from Suriname travelled to the South Central and Deep South regions of Guyana to visit the Wapichan and Makushi people (united in SCPDA, the South Central Peoples Development Association) to exchange experiences and approaches related to community resource mapping and territorial management planning. The exchange visit between the Forest Peoples Programme partners demonstrated the great value and benefits of community-to-community learning. This was a long-standing wish of KLIM and SCPDA and was made possible through a grant from Siemenpuu Foundation. 

FPP and Natural Justice organised a joint submission to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in response to a request for contributions from Parties and stakeholders about the CBD’s programme of work that deals with traditional knowledge about biodiversity (Article 8j). 

The inaugural Conference of the World Indigenous Network (WIN) took place in Darwin, Australia from 26 to 31 May 2013. The WIN conference was designed to build a strong foundation for an innovative and enduring network of land and sea managers, with a programme aimed at coming together, connecting and sharing stories and experiences of indigenous peoples and local communities who have an active role in managing natural environments. Read more about the WIN here: http://www.worldindigenousnetwork.net/ 

Partners of the 10c network also contributed to the WIN Conference workshop ‘Connecting indigenous, traditional and local knowledge and science – such as in IPBES – what’s in it for knowledge holders?’. The workshop looked at the conditions that make knowledge exchanges between indigenous and local knowledge and science respectful and mutually supportive for indigenous peoples and local communities and their partners. Examples were presented from the Philippines, Kenya and Thailand of indigenous methodologies for mapping and monitoring knowledge as bases for decisions and actions regarding lands, territories and resources. An overview of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was provided including the need for it to become a truly diverse knowledge platform that transcends science and embraces multiple expertise, perspectives and knowledge holders.

Celebrating 10 years of defending forest communities’ rights  and forest conservation in the DRCLe Réseau pour la Conservation et la Réhabilitation des Ecosystèmes Forestiers (Réseau CREF) is a non-profit organisation which was founded on 20 May 2003 in Kanyabayonga, Lubero Territory, in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is a network of non-governmental organisations covering six territories (Walikale, Masisi, Nyiragongo, Rutshuru, Lubero and Beni) and three towns (Beni, Butembo and Goma) in North Kivu Province, DRC. Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) first started working with Réseau CREF almost two years ago when, in 2011, Réseau CREF became one of the partner organisations involved in the FPP project on ‘REDD financing, Human Rights and Economic Development for Sustainable Poverty Reduction of forest communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’.On the occasion of its 10th anniversary in May 2013, Réseau CREF Director, Alphonse Muhindo Valivambene, was interviewed by FPP about Réseau CREF’s mission, its objectives and future plans:

Source: The Huffington PostOn 1 March this year the United Nations' Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) wrote to the Peruvian government urging it to "immediately suspend" the expansion of the country's biggest hydrocarbons development.The Camisea gas project, as it is known, is superimposed over a supposedly "intangible" reserve established to protect the land, rights and lives of indigenous peoples living in "voluntary isolation" and "initial contact" who could be decimated by any kind of contact.

By Abdon Nababan and Betanio ChiquidamaSource: The Jakarta PostThough one of us lives in Central America and the other in Indonesia — nearly half the Earth’s circumference away from each other — we have the same urgent message for the decision makers who are gathered in Indonesia this week to discuss how best to slow climate change.

Indigenous peoples from the Venezuelan State of Amazonas grouped together under the umbrella organisation COIAM (Coordinadora de Organizaciones Indigenas de Amazonas) have mobilised in opposition to new plans to open up their State to mining.

Source: MyRepublicaThe contours of “New Nepal” we all dream of cannot be shaped without appropriately addressing the concerns being raised by the indigenous women, who comprise half the female population. Traditionally, these women enjoyed greater degree of freedom and socioeconomic status than those from the so-called high caste Hindu groups such as Bahun, Chhetri, and Thakuri, who were restricted by pervasive patriarchy and religious orthodoxy. Unlike these women of the Indo-Aryan origin, the indigenous women were adept in handicrafts and other enterprises and freely participated in socio-cultural events. They faced no restriction during menstruation and were even free to choose their life partner and to remarry if they became single. They were also less affected by the dowry system.