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We are deeply concerned by the forced evictions of the 6,000-7,000 Sengwer indigenous people and other communities in Embobut Forest in the Cherangany Hills (Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya). For many years the Government has been trying to move the indigenous inhabitants of Embobut off their land by burning their homes. They have done this in the name of a fortress conservation approach which seeks to remove local people from their lands.

Source: MongabayNearly 150 homes were reportedly destroyed in the latest incident in a long-standing conflict between indigenous Batin Sembilan residents and former Wilmar unit PT Asiatic Persada.

Peru’s Ministry of Culture (MINCU) has issued a report that blocks, at least temporarily, the expansion of the country’s biggest gas project in the Amazon rainforest in a Reserve set aside for the protection of isolated indigenous peoples. 

Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and Wapichan Communities in the Rupununi are raising major concerns over road building plans affecting pristine forest in the south of the country on lands within Wapichan territory.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has announced the establishment of a new Scientific Advisory Board that will provide advice on science, technology and innovation (STI) for sustainable development to him and Executive Heads of UN organisations.

Click here to read NGOs letter to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Carbon Fund participants

Following the widely publicised launch on 7 November of a landmark study on Free, Prior and Informed Consent in 16 oil palm operations in Southeast Asia and Africa titled ‘Conflict or Consent? The Oil Palm Sector at a Crossroads’, over 40 civil society organisations from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Cameroon, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa congregated in Medan, North Sumatra (Indonesia) in a three-day workshop organised by Forest Peoples Programme, Transformasi Untuk Keadilan INDONESIA, ELSAKA and BothENDS on 8 – 10 November.

Following up on our previous E-news article that looked ahead to the 8th meeting of the CBD Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions (WG8(j)-8) and the 17th meeting of the CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-17) held in October 2013 in Montreal, Canada, we now provide a brief update on some main outcomes of relevance and importance to indigenous peoples.

The production of palm oil has come under sustained criticism for its destruction of forests, biodiversity and wider environmental values. More recently, the industry has also been targeted to prevent the massive greenhouse gas emissions from its forest clearance and from drainage and planting on peatlands. Under pressure from local and international campaigning groups, the palm oil giant Golden Agri Resources has adopted a new Forest Conservation Policy that promises no clearance of tall forests and no planting on peat. What are the implications of this new policy for forest peoples?

Key decisions on REDD+ adopted at the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Warsaw, and future UNFCCC climate negotiations and financing commitments by donors, such as the United Kingdom, will pose further significant challenges for indigenous peoples' rights and its advocates.

On 30 October 2013, after months of intense negotiation and dialogue with the Peruvian government, Peru’s Forest Investment Plan (FIP) was finally approved by the Sub Committee of the Forest Investment Programme, a World Bank initiative that aims to reduce emissions from deforestation.

The International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (IFC CAO) has formally announced its withdrawal from the case of PT Asiatic Persada, following the sale of the concession by Wilmar in April 2013, and the new management’s decision to continue mediation through a government team instead. This is despite the fact that the affected Batin Sembilan communities and complaint signatory NGOs have repeatedly called on the IFC CAO to continue its role as mediator and to encourage the company to pursue this avenue towards conflict resolution.

“To address the specific situations faced by indigenous women, the collective rights of indigenous peoples must be recognized as part of protecting the individual rights of indigenous persons. Interpretation and application of human rights treaties concerned with individual rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), should happen with reference to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”Recommendation made to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) by AIPP, NIWF and FPP

Recognition of the social and environmental impacts of large-scale land conversion to monoculture plantations such as oil palm has led to numerous voluntary sustainability standards, including the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), to adopt the concept of High Conservation Values (HCVs). These are defined as the critical social and environmental values in ecosystems and landscapes that long-term multi-stakeholder processes have collectively identified as the key values to be conserved and enhanced in the management of natural systems.

“We have never conserved. It is the way we live that conserves. These customary bylaws we have had forever, but we have not written them down until now."

On 1 November 2013 indigenous and civil society organisations from Peru including FENAMAD, AIDESEP, Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR), and the National Human Rights Coordinator presented evidence in a hearing before the Inter-American Commission.The petitioners documented the failure of the Peruvian government to provide effective protection for isolated indigenous peoples in Peru.

Source: Survival InternationalPlans to build a massive hydro-electric dam on the land of two unique tribes in Guyana would lead to the destruction of a unique people and vast tracts of rainforest, a new report has revealed today.

Medan, Indonesia, 13 November 2013 – Progressive palm oil companies and environmental and social NGOs today launched the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) Annual General Assembly. The group is made up of producers and civil society organizations and includes Agropalma, DAABON, New Britain Palm Oil, as well as WWF, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Forest Peoples Programme and Greenpeace.