The Paudhi Bhuinya Community, Odisha, India

On November 20th 2013 a workshop on Biocultural Community Protocols was held in Bhatuda village, Odisha, India. The workshop was organized by Jeevan Vikash in collaboration with HBS-Natural Justice. George Pyara Jojo from Jeevan Vikash and Kishore Kumar Patnaik from HBS-Natural Justice took part in the workshop. Around 85 villagers belonging to: the Paudi Bhuinya Community (PBC), other Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes of Bhatuda Panchayat, participated in the workshop. The villagers shared and discussed their cultural activities and livelihoods. These traditions have been practiced by PBC for generations, many consisting of unwritten ceremonies and other beliefs of their ancestral system. 

Roundtable Meeting on the Effect of Oil and Mining Activities on Communities in Kenya

On November 19th Maya Sikand from Natural Justice attended a roundtable meeting on the effect of oil and mining activities on communities in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting opened with a presentation by Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) researcher Joshua Laichena on an upcoming research project KIPPRA is undertaking with the Brookings Institute on the effects of oil and mining activities on communities in Turkana, Kwale and Kitui Counties. Currently, the research is in the planning phases, but it will hopefully be complete by March 2014. The research will consist of multi-stakeholder forums, community interviews and GIS mapping. 

Most attendees articulated that Kenya needs further laws to regulate this sector, especially as the legal landscape is changing very quickly. A need was expressed for a community engagement mechanism that will work for Kenya as a country. This should include good communication mechanisms to help the community to understand and participate in decision-making processes. Capacity-building is also necessary are communities are currently unable to negotiate for themselves (especially when up against well-paid international lawyers for investing companies). Natural Justice’s work with BCPs seems particularly relevant to these needs. 

Sacred Natural Sites Side Event as the Asian Parks Congress

The First Asian Parks Congress this year was held from 13-18th November in Japan, hosting over 800 people. The meeting is in preparation for the World Parks Congress in Sydney next near. The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative and WCPA Japan hosted a side event that discussed the richness and diversity of Sacred Natural Sites in Asia. Steps were also taken to establish as Asian Sacred Natural Sites network. Sacred Natural sites achieved a high profile overall over the course of the Asian Parks Congress and received substantial mention within the outputs of the meeting.

The key questions of the side event were:

1. To what extent do Sacred Natural Sites form the backbone of many protected areas in Asia, e.g. their cultural, spiritual and philosophical underpinnings?
2. What is the modern relevance of Ancestral Sacred Natural Sites to Protected Areas and how can this be better recognised and the traditional guardians be engaged?
3. How can we improve management effectiveness, governance and equity of Sacred Natural Sites within and outside government protected areas in Asia?

For more information, please see a full article on the event here. 

Field Visit to Sariska Tiger Reserve - Alwar, Rajasthan, India

Three team members from the NJ India office (Arpitha Kodiveri, Revati Pandya and Vaneesha Jain) visited the offices of the NGO Krapavis, Rajasthan, and also several villages inside Sariska Tiger Reserve. 

On 13th November, 2013, Arpitha, Revati and Vaneesha discussed the following issues with Aman Singh, who is running the NGO Krapavis based out of Alwar, Rajasthan:

• The status of relocation in 5 villages in Sariska Tiger Reserve as per the Relocation plan prepared by the Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Jaipur, in November 2009. It appears that relocated communities are not given adequate ownership rights over the new land, which needs further looking into. Further, it has come to light that in the relocation process of the village Kiraska, residents were forced to surrender any land they owned outside Kiraska to the Government as well, which is in complete violation of both enacted law and basic principles of fairness. 

Warsaw Climate Change Conference

The 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place in Warsaw, Poland from 11-22 November 2013. Parties to the convention will continue to negotiate a new global climate agreement, which they intend to adopt in 2015 and implement no later than 2020. The Convention aims to keep global temperature rise below the critical 2oC threshold. The talks take place amid increasing evidence of rising greenhouse gas emissions and climate change and the need for urgent action: 

• The World Meteorological Organisation recently reported that the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new highs in 2012, and an upward and accelerating trend is continuing which is driving climate change. 
• In the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Fifth Assessment Report: The Physical Science Basis, it was shown that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and that limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists calculated a carbon budget and revealed that nearly half of all the carbon dioxide that can be safely emitted without raising temperatures above a dangerous 2oC had already been emitted by 2011, and the entire budget could be used up by 2040. 

National Consultation on Forest Rights Act and Protected Areas, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi

Source: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/rights-without-benefits 

From 11th to 12th November, 2013, Apritha Kodiveri, Vaneesha Jain and Revati Pandya (of the NJ India office) attended a two day consultation aimed at discussing Community Forest Rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act (Forest Rights Act), 2006 (FRA). Members from various groups working on FRA issues in Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat and Karnataka attended, and updates and status of its implementation from respective states were shared and discussed. One of the overarching issues was the lack of implementation of processing claims largely based on administrative setbacks. Different state’s Forest Department officials’ individual desires for implementation of the FRA or processing of claims appear to be a major hurdle. 

Heart of Borneo and Forever Sabah

The International Conference on Heart of Borneo’s Natural Capital: Unleashing their Potential for Sustainable Growth in Sabah was held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia from 11-12 November 2013. 

The two-day conference explored the future of the Heart of Borneo, including a focus on: REDD+; spatial planning to enhance conservation efforts; the role of NGOs; training and capacity building; research needs; and communication. 

The meeting had a dedicated session on Forever Sabah, a 25-year initiative to support Sabah’s transition to a diversified, equitable green economy. Speakers presented on Forever Sabah’s seven core areas, namely: forests; watersheds and communities; renewable energy; sustainable food and agriculture; waste water and soil; community tourism; and the Forever Sabah Institute. Natural Justice is the legal advisor to Forever Sabah and, in that context, Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) presented on the Scientific Consensus Statement. 

ICCA meeting for Southern and East Africa discusses ICCA examples from the region

On 8 November Natural Justice and the ICCA Consortium co-convened a meeting near Cape Town, South Africa, on Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Controlled Territories and Conserved Areas (ICCAs) in Southern and East Africa, to identify examples and best practices from the region. 

Following a comprehensive introduction to ICCAs and their recognition under relevant international law by Natural Justice, two expert panels introduced and discussed ten individual examples of ICCAs in the region. 

On the basis of experiences from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania, the 25 participants from the region discussed various strategies and best practices for communities to protect their ICCAs. The discussions revolved around management of ICCAs, documentation of ICCAs, and strategic litigation. 

New Research Questions Effectiveness of RSPO Standards

"Members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) are violating the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in the forests and peatlands of tropical nations worldwide, according to a new research publication released today. The study details the performance of 16 oil palm operations, many run by RSPO members, reporting on their failure to uphold human rights and environmental standards required.

'Since its founding eight years ago, the RSPO has adopted good standards, but too many member companies are not delivering on these paper promises,' said Norman Jiwan, Executive Director of Transformasi Untuk Keadilan Indonesia, a human rights organisation based in Jakarta. 'The RSPO could still meet this challenge if it provides remedies for member companies’ impacts on communities, but for that we need much stricter enforcement. The organisation’s very credibility is at stake.'

The book 'Conflict or consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads' details cases in which palm oil producers have failed to obtain permission from communities - a process required by the RSPO based on the UN mandate that is known as free, prior and informed consent. The findings also support accounts of the destructive impact that the palm oil developments are having on indigenous peoples and local communities." To download the report, edited by Marcus Colchester and Sophie Chao (Forest Peoples Programme), and related materials, please visit: http://www.forestpeoples.org/press-room.

Source: Forest Peoples Programme Press Release, 6 November 2013

Africa Regional Symposium for Community Land and Natural Resources Protection

From 5-7 November, 30 pioneering community and civil society experts gathered in the !khwa ttu San community centre outside Cape Town, South Africa, for the first Africa Regional Symposium for Community Land and Natural Resources Protection. 

The Symposium, co-convened by Natural Justice and Namati, facilitated an exchange of best practices on community empowerment for strengthening land and natural resources rights among twelve African countries and more than two dozen communities. 

The event set out to meet three interrelated objectives: 

1. Share best practices, tools and strategies for empowered community land and natural resource management and protection; 

2. Support each other to confront local and/or national challenges to community land and natural resources claims; and 

3. Brainstorm new and innovative forms of legal empowerment and build a cross-disciplinary community of practice that fosters continued dialogue and learning.