Natural Justice Welcomes Kaman Kolemou

We would like to warmly welcome Kaman KOULEMOU, our new Researcher in Guinea for the research project on strategies to mitigate impacts of extractives and infrastructure projects.

Kaman is a graduate in International Relations at the GAMAL ABDEL NASSER University in Conakry. Inspired by his final project on the prevention and management of community conflicts in the region of Guinée Forestière, he set himself the goal of working for peace and social cohesion. To this end, he has received professional training at the Center for Research and Action for Peace (CERAP) in Cote d'Ivoire and at the West African Institute for Peacebuilding Training (WAPI) in Ghana.

Kaman worked with World Education as Project Manager: Community Participation for Peace (P.C. Paix) from 2006 to 2010. He was admitted to the position of ACORD International's Operations Manager in Guinea in 2010, where he was in charge of the project Governance and Transparency in the Mining Sector in Guinea. This project initiated the creation of consultation frameworks and the signing of partnership agreements between actors of the mining sector for peaceful coexistence. This initiative aims to contribute to the promotion of a transparent mining sector in Guinea, which guarantees sustainable economic and social benefits for the state and its citizens, and that respects the rights of local communities. Kaman led a study on practices of expropriation, compensation, relocation / resettlement of communities affected by mining projects in Guinea.

In 2014, Kaman was recruited as a Consultant-Trainer on behalf of the Danish Council for Refugees as part of the establishment and training of peace committees in Guinée Forestière. In June 2017, he participated in the baseline study on the causes of crises and tensions in the border area between Guinée Forestière, West Ivory Coast and Northern Liberia around Mount Nimba. 

Kaman lives in Nzérékoré in the Forest Region of Guinea, and is married with two children. He has just started his work with us and is replacing Bernard Ngalim, who could not move to Guinea due to family circumstances.

Call for Applications: Research and Policy Officer (Kenya)

Friends of Lake Turkana (FoLT), is a grassroots organization founded in 2009 whose mission is to foster social, economic and environmental justice in the Lake Turkana Basin. FoLT do this through protecting and conserving Lake Turkana, the Lake Turkana Basin and its environment; advocating for the rights of the Turkana Basin communities; increasing the participation of communities in environmental protection policy formulation, sustainable management and wise use of natural resources; and lobbying for increased participation of communities in the development and governance of their resources.

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is a young and fast-paced non-profit organisation specialising in human rights and environmental law. We are a pioneering international team of legal practitioners, who conduct comprehensive research on environmental and human rights law, support communities and local organisations, provide technical advice to governments and intergovernmental organisations, and engage in key international processes in pursuit of environmental and social justice. Natural Justice currently works in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with its headquarters in Cape Town and regional offices in Malaysia, India, and USA.

Call for Applications for Volunteer Internship: Natural Justice, India

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is a non-profit organization registered in South Africa, with offices in India, Malaysia and New York City. We assist communities to engage with legal frameworks to secure environmental and social justice. Our mission is to facilitate full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities in the development and implementation of laws and policies relating to conservation and customary uses of biodiversity and the protection of associated cultural heritage. Natural Justice works at the local, regional, national, and international levels with a range of partners.

Natural Justice (India) is inviting applications for volunteer interns to support our work around extractive industries in Orissa. This project is part of an inter-regional action-research project with case studies in five countries across the world, including India. The project explores the development and use of bio-cultural community protocols as a tool to facilitate conflict transformation by enabling communities to engage constructively with extractive industries and other external actors, to secure their rights and interests.

Duration: We would prefer the internship to begin on 10th June 2014, for a minimum period of 3 weeks, but the position may be open beyond that.

Location: Please note that the intern will be required to work out of Bangalore, India for the entire duration of internship.

Call for Internship Applications: Natural Justice-India

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is a non-profit organization registered in South Africa, with additional offices in India, Malaysia and New York City. Natural Justice’s mission is to facilitate full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities in the development and implementation of laws and policies relating to conservation and customary uses of biodiversity and the protection of associated cultural heritage. Natural Justice works at the local, regional, national, and international levels with a range of partners. 

Natural Justice (India) is inviting applications for two internship positions. The interns will be involved in projects related to work in Kutch, Gujarat, and the Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, both of which are part of a broader project supported by the Ford Foundation. Please note that both the positions are unpaid.

Location: The interns will be expected to work out of the Natural Justice office in Bangalore. 

Deadline for applications: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Please see below for more information and application requirements for each position. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Will the European Union Legalise Biopiracy?

A new opinion piece, published on 18 June by Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration, sharply criticises the European Commission’s draft EC Regulation 2012/0278 (COD) to implement the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing in the European Union (EU). By excluding a significant category of genetic resources (GRs) from the scope of the regulation, the Draft fails to implement the main objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of GRs and associated traditional knowledge (TK). In addition it will lead to greater legal uncertainty for users, allow for unfair competitive practices and, in the long run, lead provider countries to implement more burdensome access procedures to GRs.

The ENVI Committee of the European Parliament will vote on the Draft Regulation on the 4th of July, with a final draft expected to be tabled in the European Parliament in October 2013. In the Draft Regulation, user obligations would only apply to GRs and associated TK that have been physically accessed in the country of origin after the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol. This implementation would be in sharp contrast to the large majority of existing ABS laws in provider countries where the utilisation of GRs and associated TK also triggers the obligation to share benefits, based on prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms. The European Commission’s narrow and biased interpretation of the Nagoya Protocol and subsequent national implementation is likely to have a number of very serious consequences: