Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
A new report evaluates the state of human rights among Indigenous peoples in five tropical forest countries: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia. One of the key findings is that governments in these countries are prioritizing the expansion of the energy sector, infrastructure, mining and logging, …
This publication is the result of an extensive and fruitful debate within Friends of the Earth International about the rights that are essential for community forest management to be carried out more fully. The publication explains in detail why the implementation of these rights is necessary: if the right to …
Impunity still reigns when it comes to the murders of human rights defenders around the world, according to the Front Line Defenders organization, in its global analysis of 2020. The analysis examined 331 homicides of leaders who fight for the defense of the land, the environment, Indigenous peoples, women and …
In most places around the world, people are an integral, sometimes dominant, part of the environment. This has two implications. First, a key requirement for sustainability success lies in finding ways to meet the dual goals of conserving nature and providing for the well-being and quality of life of people. …
This report is informed by the imperative to prevent the collapse of biodiversity while respecting the tenure and human rights of Indigenous Peoples (IPs), local communities (LCs), and Afrodescendants (ADs). It seeks to highlight the risks and opportunities for IPs, LCs, and ADs arising out of the proposed expansion of …
This brief discusses legislative developments during COVID-19 in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines that undermine sustainable human-environment interactions and IPs’ and LCs’ broader enjoyment of their rights over their customary territories. While India, Indonesia and the Philippines have yet to ratify the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) …
In most countries, land inequality is growing. Worse, new measures and analysis published in this synthesis report show that land inequality is significantly higher than previously reported. This trend directly threatens the livelihoods of an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide involved in smallholder agriculture.
This paper discusses how debt-for-climate swaps can be useful “triple-win” instruments to address the climate crisis by ensuring the protection of valuable terrestrial and marine ecosystems, while also contributing to debt sustainability. The paper draws on examples of previous debt-for-nature swaps and identifies lessons for moving forward, particularly around matters …
This SEI report discusses efforts to help Indigenous People adapt to climate change by combining their traditional ecological knowledge with scientific and technological sources of information about agriculture and climate change. It is based on a case study of climate field schools conducted in rural Bali. The authors argue that …
This new WRI report estimates that legal and illegal mining in the Amazon now cover more than 20% of Indigenous lands – over 450,000 square kilometers. It also finds that Indigenous lands with mining experienced higher incidences of tree cover loss than on those without – at least three times …
Indigenous populations of the Amazon own 210 million hectares of land and have proven to be highly skilled in the field of forest conservation: the deforestation rate is 0.8%, i.e., even less than that of protected areas (1.1%) and obviously significantly lower than that of the Amazon as a whole.However, …
This report presents an innovative, international comparative assessment on the extent to which various national-level legal frameworks recognize the freshwater tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, and local communities, as well as the specific rights of women to use and govern community waters.
Cameroon's indigenous peoples make up about 0.4% of its population. With approximately 40,000 people, the Baka is the largest among them. For many decades, Baka have been moving instead to roadside settlements, after their forests have been destroyed due to donor-subsidized multinational logging, as well as rubber and palm oil …
This policy brief was prepared following the momentous UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP25) outcome in which Parties adopted a two-year workplan for the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP). The adoption of the workplan recognizes the important role and contribution of indigenous peoples as partners and agents for …
Indigenous peoples in many regions have a long history of devastation from epidemics brought by colonizers, from the arrival of the first Europeans in the Americas who brought smallpox and influenza to a measles outbreak among the Yanonami of Brazil and Southern Venezuela in the 1950s/60s that nearly decimated the …
The plight of indigenous peoples has drawn increased attention in recent years as they strive to retain their cultures and protect their ecosystems, lands and food traditions in the face of globalisation. Indigenous food systems are typically biodiversity-rich, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable, and produce nutritious indigenous foods. Yet indigenous …
Indigenous Peoples globally are among those who are most acutely experiencing the mental health impacts of climate change; however, little is known about the ways in which Indigenous Peoples globally experience climate-sensitive mental health impacts and outcomes, and how these experiences may vary depending on local socio-cultural contexts, geographical location, …
The Conference of the Parties, at its 18th meeting (CoP18, Geneva, 2019), adopted Decisions 18.33 to 18.37 on Livelihoods. Parties are invited to: collate or conduct new case studies, using the standard template, that demonstrate how sustainable use of CITES-listed species contributes to the livelihoods of the indigenous peoples and …
The involvement of indigenous peoples is key to achieving the ambitions of the SDGs. On the one hand, they hold valuable knowledge and traditions that provide solutions to major challenges, including those related to sustainable natural resource management, climate resilience, and promoting food systems that provide healthy nutrition for all. …
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has released the fourth edition of the ‘State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ (SOWIP). The report was launched on the 12th anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP). The …
