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Custodians of the

land, defenders of
our future
A new era of the
global land rush
This publication is a contribution to the Land Rights Now campaign.
For more information, please visit www.landrightsnow.org
LAND RIGHTS IGNORED
Since 2009, Oxfam and others have The most comprehensive analysis Oxfams latest land rights campaign
been raising the alarm about a of land deals - to be published next focuses on cases typical of the
great global land rush. Millions of month - shows that we are now escalation we can expect. Women
hectares of land have been entering an era of implementation left behind. Rights ignored. Entire
acquired by investors to meet rising as contracts are increasingly communities evicted from their
demand for food and biofuels, or for signed and work on their intended homes. We are in the midst of the
speculation. This often happens at projects started. This means we single biggest attack in the world
the expense of those who need the will see their full implications in the today on peoples identity, rights,
land most and are best placed to years to come. Up to 59 percent of livelihoods and security, as well as
protect it: farmers, pastoralists, these deals cover communal lands our environment. They cannot
forest-dependent people, claimed by Indigenous Peoples and afford to lose this fight, nor can we.
fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples. small communities, meaning that
millions are affected. Yet only a
small fraction of deals have
involved any real dialogue with
local communities. The potential
for escalating conflict is huge.

A Garfuna girl in the streets of the


community of Vallecito, Honduras. These
lands have belonged to her people for
centuries, but are now under threat from
palm oil plantations.
This briefing is dedicated to Berta Cceres and other
land rights defenders who have been killed for their
cause. It sets out the struggle as epitomized by
Miranda, the Garfuna people she represents, and the
thousands of other indigenous and community groups
fighting for their land rights around the world.

Miriam Miranda (above) leads a group territories, opposing a model of death that People are being beaten, forcibly evicted,
defending the lands of Afro-Honduran grows stronger each day. We are at the intimidated, disenfranchised,
communities against theft and front of the avalanche of attacks. criminalized, tricked, discriminated
exploitation, called the Fraternal Everywhere throughout Honduras, like in against, and denied their rights.
Organization of Black People of Honduras all of Latin America, Africa, Asia, women
Experts from Global Witness track the
(OFRANEH). More than 100 land rights are at the forefront of the struggles for our
assassination of land and environmental
defenders have been murdered in rights, against racial discrimination, for
defenders. In 2015, more than two land
Honduras in the past six yearsincluding the defence of our commons and for our or environmental defenders were killed
Mirandas close friend, Berta Cceres. At survival. Were at the front not only with each week, almost half of whom were
the World Bank Groups 2015 Spring our bodies but also with our force, our from indigenous communities.3
Meetings, Oxfam proudly hosted Miranda ideas, our proposals. We dont only birth
so that she could lobby against the World children, but ideas and actions as well. The attacks on the custodians of
Banks support for the palm oil common lands are helped by weak and
plantations affecting the lands of her If the problem is global, we have to have pitiless governments, and dodgy
people. That same year, OFRANEH won the a global response.1 lending. Big businesses are reaping the
US Food Sovereignty Prize for its struggle Governments and powerful business profitsfrom mining and logging
to reclaim control of their food systems. interests are marginalizing up to 2.5 companies, to agribusinesses and
billion women and men from their lands.2 speculators.
Without our lands, we cease to be
people, Miranda told an interviewer. For It is the single biggest attack in the The prize is land and the resources
us, the struggle for our territories, our world today on peoples identity, rights, that lie above and below it: forests,
commons and our natural resources is of livelihoods and security, as well as our minerals, water and the very soil itself.
primary importance to preserve environment.
For every win in their existential struggle
ourselves as a people. A diverse campaign of terror and for recognition and safety, indigenous
She added, I want to talk about the role of displacement is taking place across many peoples and other groups who depend
women in defending life, culture, and countries, driven by greed and impunity. upon common lands suffer crushing
losses each day. This all combines to The International Work Group for They are therefore largely powerless
add a new chapter to the centuries of Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), in their report within mainstream political economies.
abuse against land and people that The Indigenous World 20168 notes that The absence of land titles is equated
began with the first colonialization. indigenous peoples around the world have erroneously with an absence of
shown few signs of [socio-economic] productivity and of rights, and
Half of the worlds landmass is home to eventually, of existence.
progress and are, in some cases, even
indigenous peoples and local
moving backwards. It further claims that Indigenous peoples and local
communities that are its traditional
the root cause of many indigenous communities are hugely resilient and
owners. But they have no formally
peoplespoverty is their precarious courageous, but they are too often left
recognized ownership to 80% of this
situation when it comes to land.9 facing overwhelming odds. Oxfam works
land. The rest is therefore often
The IWGIA places particular blame upon with partners and representatives of
considered fair game for plunder,
large agri-business, extractive their struggles around the world. The
typically under the guise of economic
fight is not only happening in developing
development. Ninety percent of rural industries and infrastructure developers.
countries, but rich ones too: the United
land in Africa is undocumented. In Peru, Governments are so eager to attract
States, Australia, Norway, Canada, New
an area five times the size of Switzerland them, the IWGIA says, that they will
Zealand, Japan, India and Brazil are all
lacks recognition. Globally, the amount change local laws in a more corporate-
home to indigenous peoples struggles.
of land held or governed collectively is friendly way which threatens to
immense twice the size of Brazil and undermine indigenous peoples rights. The Land Rights Now campaign,10 which
Russia combined.4 Oxfam adds mega-projects for tourism or Oxfam helped launch alongside
energy, land speculation and carbon hundreds of other organizations, is
There is a long list of benefits to projects to the list of offenders. drawing attention to the crisis faced by
securing peoples rights to these lands. traditional lands. It says: Because we all
It would protect more than 5,000 human In many cases, governments simply benefit, we should all protect and
cultures, and 4,000 different languages, dont act in the interests of indigenous defend those peoples and customary
as well as 80 percent of the planets peoples and local communities. institutions that have preserved these
biodiversity.5 Research by the World Documentation and registration of the ecosystems for centuries.11
Resources Institute shows that the rate land rights of indigenous peoples and The campaign calls for a doubling of the
of deforestation on indigenous lands in local communities are ignored by area of land recognized as owned or
the Amazon is less than one tenth than politicians. Mapping is often opposed. controlled by indigenous peoples and
rest of the region.6 Such stewardship is Administrative procedures are long and local communities by 2020 as a start.
crucial in the battle against climate cumbersome. Despite customary land But it would be a game-changing start
change. Forests held by indigenous rights having been enshrined in that would make a huge difference in
international law, they are too often and the lives of millions.
peoples and local communities store
too easily trampled on in practice.
37.7bn tons of carbon7, which is According to forthcoming data from the
equivalent to the worlds entire annual Undocumented land has become treated Land Matrix Initiative, up to half of the
emissions of CO2 due to fossil fuel as a euphemism for vacant land. documented cases of major deals since
combustion. It is hard to believe that the Therefore, pastoralists, forest peoples and 2000 involved land claimed by
world can bring emissions down herders have often come to be considered communities and indigenous peoples.
sufficiently if we dont tackle the squatters and trespassers. Traditional These deals are quickly moving to full
massive changes affecting these agriculture is treated as backwards and implementation with operations starting
forests, and give secure rights to those unproductive rather than as an effective on the ground, meaning the fight for
who have defended them. method of land management. community land will be increasingly brutal
in the coming years. The cases Oxfam is
This is a battle between people in an Because indigenous peoples and local highlighting in this brief are typical of the
unequal world, where lands and communities often live outside escalation of conflict we can expect. It is
resources that are not yet protected are mainstream capitalistic market time we saw the threats to these
mercilessly consumed. structures they are poor in cash terms. communities as threats to all of us.

Were entering a new and even more dangerous stage


of the global land rush. The frenzied trade in millions of
hectares of forests, coastlines and farmlands has led
to murder, eviction and ethnocide. Land contracts are
being signed and projects are breaking ground without
the full consent of the communities living there.
Conditions are ripe for increasing conflict in the years
ahead if land rights are not better protected now
Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International Executive Director
BOX 1 AN UPDATE ON THE GLOBAL LAND RUSH:
IMPLEMENTATION AND ESCALATING CONFLICT
Next month, the Land Matrix Initiative There is a growing debate on how to example, Oxfam helped persuade Coca
the most comprehensive database of ensure that the Voluntary Guidelines are Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and Unilever to
large-scale land deals sought and implemented,15 with governments require their suppliers to address land
concluded since 2000will publish its including France,16 Germany, Vietnam issues through its Behind the Brands
second assessment report. Two findings and the US17 starting to look more campaign.22
stand out. Firstly, the vast majority (over closely at how to regulate companies The UN Forum on Business and Human
75 percent) of the more than 1500 deals across borders. Rights has made the impact of business
recorded in the database are deals activities on the rights of indigenous
Development finance institutions,
under contract. This is around three peoples a priority, releasing a report on
including the World Bank and its private
times as many deals under contract as indigenous peoples rights in 2012.23 A
sector lending arm, the International
in the first assessment report in 2012. In forthcoming report looks at the impact
Finance Corporation (IFC), have come
2016, approximately twice as many such of food and beverage supply chains in
under increasing pressure from civil
deals are now found to be in operation particular.
society campaigns regarding its
as in 2013. This clearly demonstrates
investments in projects. The Bank has There is increasing recognition of the
that the rush for land is increasingly
adopted a new standard on the principle links between land rights and wider
becoming a reality on the ground. sustainable development objectives.
of free, prior and informed consent for
Secondly, between 32 and 59 percent of indigenous peoples applicable when The Sustainable Development Goals
the area acquired is attributed to land is affected. The IFC has started to agreed in 2015 include several targets
communities, including indigenous address the loopholes in its blind related to land rights, including for
people which implies the potential lending through financial women. The 2015 Paris Agreement on
displacement of millions of people.12 intermediaries, although Oxfam and climate change recognizes the
importance of indigenous knowledge
This includes grassland and forested others are still pushing hard for further
and human rights. New alliances are
areas. A process to obtain the Free Prior progress.18 Meanwhile, due to pressure
being formed between those fighting for
and Informed Consent (FPIC) of from civil society, the new Asian
land rights and the climate change
communities was conducted in just 14 Infrastructure Investment Bank has
movement, as evidenced in the ongoing
percent of cases explored, with 43 already set safeguards on land that are,
stand-off over an oil pipeline in North
percent of cases having only a limited in some respects, stronger than those Dakota in the United States.24
form of consultation.13 Without doubt, of the World Bank.
the conditions are in place for a major Around seven years after the global land
After significant campaigning efforts, rush began in earnest, land rights are
escalation in conflict over land
several investors, such as some Dutch19 more prominent in policy circles and
ownership in the years ahead. and Australian20 banks, have committed political discourse in many areas. But
Thankfully, some progress has been to stricter policies on land. implementation of these policy reforms
made since Oxfam and others started to Implementation, however, remains a remains a major challenge, and as the
sound the alarm about this crisis. Some major challenge. new data from the Land Matrix Initiative
milestones include: Efforts have been made to convince and the cases described in this report
companies that they will lose business show, the struggle for land rights is
The UN Voluntary Guidelines on
if their customers see them involved in entering a new and potentially even
Governance of Tenure were adopted by
land disputes or disrespecting the more dangerous and violent phase.
governments, business organizations,
rights of local communities and Political leadership is needed now more
farmers organizations and NGOs in than ever.25
indigenous peoples.21 Some of those
2012, establishing the first global norms
companies have listened and are
on land tenure.14
becoming more transparent. For
BOX 2 INDIGENOUS AND COMMUNITY LAND RIGHTS
AND INEQUALITY
The lack of formal recognition for billions indicators. Land affects identity and life shift in development programs to tackle
of hectares of indigenous and balance; social relationships; subjective the issue of insecure land rights as one
community lands is the other side of the wellbeing; the enjoyment of cultural underlying structural cause.
worlds inequality. These are the lands heritage, practices and beliefs; and a
Such inequality and discrimination also
where those in power plunder resources. healthy environment.26
translate into a lack of opportunities
These are the forests, soils, and rivers
A study of Inuit communities in Canada and services, particularly for mobile
that are exploited by an economic model
identified land, culture and community people or those living in remote areas.
that starts with our choices as
as key protective factors for mental Income statistics show a disparity
consumers and that is not sustainable.
health and wellbeing among Inuit youth, between indigenous and non-
No fight against inequality can be
while reduced access to land indigenous people29 while several
successful unless the rights over these
undermined this.27 Land loss and studies show that indigenous people
lands are formally recognized and
degradation has led to reduced have less access to healthcare than
protected.
well-being for Australian Aboriginal non-indigenous populations.30 The rates
Inequality of power over lands affects communities.28 The destruction or of depression in many indigenous
peoples lives on daily basis. Indigenous dispossession of these lands is often communities have been linked to rapid
peoples and community lands are a tantamount to ethnocide. Addressing cultural changes and marginalization,
fundamental component of wellbeing inequality and discrimination for these with the most pronounced effect being
that is not captured by simple income communities therefore needs a significant among young people.31
HONDURAS
Communities are being
displaced, and cultures are
being lost, because of the
development of tourism
Miriam Miranda, leader of the Fraternal
Organization of Black People

In Honduras, Garifuna people are being killed in the name of


profit. Their communities lands on the Honduran coast are being
taken over by big business.
Miranda braves intimidation and death of Garifuna rights activists and to
threats while defending the territorial On average, every three days a protect the community from further
rights of her people. land rights defender is killed in the harm. The government has yet to move
world. on the ruling.
Garifuna land is suitable for palm tree
plantations. These trees produce palm Honduras has seen awful crimes against
oil, a valuable commodity found in Recently, the Garifuna started land rights defenders The government
everything from chocolate bars to soap, campaigning against a government must change this.
which end up in our homes. programme creating several charter
cities on their land. These would be WHATS THE SOLUTION?
To clear the way for palm oil plantations,
governed by private companies with
industrial growers often clear entire There are laws stuck in the Legislative
their own laws, which would likely focus
forests, or use fields that were Assembly that would allow indigenous
on making money. The Garifuna fear that
previously used to produce food. peoples and local communities to reject
this would put profits before people.
or approve projects that have an impact
The Caribbean coast is also highly
In 2003, Miriam and her people petitioned on their lands. This principle is
sought after by Hondurass growing
the Inter-American Commission on consistent with the international norms
tourism industry; the countrys pristine
Human Rights. Ten years later, the that the Government of Honduras has
beaches are perfect for resorts.
Commission referred the case to the signed up to but has never implemented.
Inter-America Court of Human Rights. In These laws must be approved and
2015, the Court ruled that the Honduran implemented.
authorities were responsible for the
violation of collective ownership rights
and the lack of judicial protection.32
The Court ordered the Honduran
government to investigate the murders
peru
This land was inherited from our
fathers. Now it is our time, and
soon it will be the next
generations time. But we live
with the knowledge that the
government might again
license our territory out to oil
companies at any time.
Teddy Guerra, Quechua community leader,
Nuevo Andoas

2,000km south of Honduras, deep in the Peruvian Amazon, the


Quechua people are waging a lengthy legal battle with their
government over the title to their land.
Peru has a population of 28.2 million. Decades of barely regulated oil drilling Without titles to these lands, the
Around 14 percentsome 4 million have caused a huge toll. Quechua lands Quechuas have been given a worthless
women and menbelong to 55 different and rivers have been polluted by spills outcome. The indigenous communities
indigenous peoples. Of these, 83 percent and toxic wastewater from the oil fields. recognize this, and have filed further
are Quechua. Many of them, alongside legal action to get back all of their lands.
These environmental disasters have
non-indigenous communities, protect
wrecked their sources of income by
their lands collectively. It is estimated
killing wild game and fish, as well as WHATS THE SOLUTION?
that 20 million hectares are still eligible
rendering vast swaths of farmland The Peruvian government should wholly
for formal recognition by the government.
worthless. Even worse, exposure to toxic and unconditionally guarantee the
Peru is one of the worlds five largest chemicals has caused health problems Quechuas and other communities that
tropical forest areas, with 68m hectares for many Quechuas. their lands will be returned to them, and
of forests (covering 70 percent of its land). that theyll be repaid for the severe
In 2015, after decades of protests and
This means that its forests are key in the health and financial damage theyve
hard-fought negotiations with the
global fight against climate change. suffered.
authorities, indigenous leaders got the
Indeed, Germany and Norway recently
federal government to commit to defining
invested millions of dollars to reduce
and enforcing communal land claims.
deforestation in Peru for this very reason.33
But the resulting Lima Act hasnt
In the 1970s, the authorities rushed to
delivered everything that was promised.
exploit the considerable oil wealth in the
Its implementation has been delayed
rainforest region of Loreto, granting
and, critically, the regional Loreto
corporations full rights to indigenous
authorities refuse to grant the Quechuas
lands, with little or no regard for the
titles to the lands that had been given to
thousands of people who lived there.
oil companies.
AUSTRALIA
Governments in Australia seem scared
to give Aboriginal people full rights to
make decisions about their lands. We
are a threat because we are vocal and
demand our rights be respected.
Cissy Gore-Birch, traditional owner, Balanggarra country

In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have


fought long and hard to get a legal pathway to have their
ancestral lands recognized.
While the 1993 Native Title law was a In essence, this would open the door for that has violated and undermined the
groundbreaking step, the process for a single person in the government to rights of its indigenous peoples.
protecting Aboriginal lands is complex revoke the protected status of many
The Kimberly Land Council, an
and expensive. places with deep spiritual meaning.
organization of Aboriginal people of the
If that wasnt enough, several Mining corporations support this Kimberley region of Western Australia, is
government officials have attempted to change. Unsurprisingly, this would allow leading the opposition to these policies.
weaken Aboriginal land rights corporations to expand into Aboriginal Early next year, Western Australia will
protections. lands much more easily. hold state-level elections, making this a
critical time to push for change.
Right now, theres a push from the As if the destruction of their sacred sites
government of Western Australia to wasnt enough, Western Australias
grant one of their departments the premier has also announced plans to WHATS THE SOLUTION?
unilateral power to declare what is and close over half of the remote Aboriginal The government of Western Australia
is not a sacred Aboriginal site. This communities by withdrawing should protect the land rights of
proposal would remove any chance for government services. Aboriginal people by bringing essential
appeals by Aboriginal people. services and opportunities to their
No communities were consulted or
lands, and by passing new cultural
previously informed about these plans.
heritage legislation that gives authority
Over 70 percent of Australias The displacement of Aboriginal to them. The national government should
Kimberley region has been claimed communities is a painful subject in recognize the full land rights of Aboriginal
by Aboriginal people under the Australian history. It is a story about people and not just native titles.
Native Title law.
colonialism and discrimination, and
ongoing trauma is still felt today.
Land justice can be a long road.
Australia is an example of a rich country
SRI LANKA
We have to win this fight, not
only to get justice for
ourselves, but for our children
Rathnamali Kariyawasam, land rights defender

They came at night. Masked, armed men torched homes and fields in
the Shasthrawela and Ragamwela coastal villages of Paanama, Sri
Lanka, and now more than three hundred families are displaced.34
This was in 2010. Six years later, families rapidly being eaten up by tourism
are still displaced. Some, like Rathnamali More than 5,000 distinct cultures ventures, where fishing communities are
Kariyawasam, have ended up employed around the world depend on evicted and their cultures lost. While
on other farms. However, their meagre indigenous and community lands. tourism can be a major source of
wages are hardly enough to provide livelihoods for millions if done
enough food, let alone education, for The women led the exiled villagers in sustainably, it can be a devastating
their families. filing court cases, petitioning Sri Lankas force for communities and the
Human Rights Commission, and organizing environment if driven purely by the
The stunning beauty of their lands
protests. Rathnamali was one of them. search for profits.
attracted trouble. With the end of the Sri
Lankan civil war in 2009, tourism In 2015, they sealed a major victory. A
skyrocketedespecially from Europe, newly elected government ordered the WHATS THE SOLUTION?
and the United Kingdom and Germany in return of 340 acres of land to the Sri Lankan authorities must immediately
particular. community. However, nothing has been carry out the Cabinets decision from
Much of this development was handled done to implement this decision. February 11, 2015, and return 340 acres
by the military. After the raid on the of land back to the Paanama villagers.
The Paanama villagers are at a tipping
Paanama lands, they put up electrified Tourists cannot be accomplices to these
point. If they get their land back, other
fences around the villages. A luxury crimes. The government of Sri Lanka
rural Sri Lankan communities in danger
hotel and a conference centre were should make a firm choice and promote
of eviction could demand the same. This
built. just sustainable tourism.
would also pause the seemingly
unstoppable environmental destruction
along Sri Lankas coast.
Tourism is a growing driver for land
grabs. This is a particular issue in
coastal areas around the world that are
INDIA
Land is our life.
 andana Jani, community member,
K
Kutia Kand Adivasi, Odisha

In India, the 2006 Forest Rights Act was supposed to protect the
rights of millions of communities like the Kutia Kand Adivasi in
Odisha, in the east of the country.
Kandana Jani, a 62-year-old father of The high global demand for teakwood WHATS THE SOLUTION?
five, followed the law and fought to have furniture, floors and other commercial
The Indian government must stop
the rights of his family and 50 others in home goods has made this a profitable
claiming community lands for industrial
his community recognized through the industry. However, expanding teak
farming, mining or badly planned
Forest Rights Act. plantations comes at the expense of the
conservation projects. Instead, it should
Kutia. Where before they planted a
But local authorities, under the guise of recognize the rights of tribal groups and
variety of crops, and managed
forestation projects, have started local communities over their lands, and
biodiversity in the forests, now they are
bringing in profitable teak tree properly implement the 2006 Forest
fighting against the spread of these tree
plantations onto land that Kandana and Rights Act. If this is realized on the
plantations.
his community have rights to. ground, more than 150 million women
Without the forests, the community is and men, along with half of the countrys
now in danger of disappearing. However, forests, will benefit.
Around half of Indias rural
Kandana and others are not sitting the
households derive resources
needed for their livelihoods from fight out, but are instead petitioning the
indigenous and community lands. government to enforce their own laws.
In 2006, with the Forest Rights Act, India
recognized in law, rights of forest
dependent communities, and proved to
be a world leader on this matter. But
competing interests have reduced that
ambition. India needs to be a forests
champion once again.
mozambique
I do not feel secure where I live now
because the land is only borrowed. Our
community needs a place to live
Namonaro Koneliwa, farmer, Gurue district

Sometimes, corporations and governments claim to have the


approval of local communities on the sale or construction of a
project on their lands.
In the case of the Wacua community in For her ten hectares, the company gave
Mozambique, events unfolded very her $400, which she says doesnt even 90 percent of Africas rural land,
differently. cover what she spent building her which is largely governed by
house. communities, is undocumented.
One farmer, Namonaro Koneliwa, used to This is directly linked with high
grow corn, beans, bananas and mangos She was one of 200 people evicted from poverty rates.35
on her land. This allowed her to provide her home and forced to leave. Shes now
for her two children and herself. been loaned two hectares of swampy,
In 2012, representatives from an
infertile land to farm in a different part of WHATS THE SOLUTION?
the country. With her meagre Local authorities and the government
industrial farming corporation
compensation, she built a small house should help grant displaced
approached the leader of her
and has tried to prepare her new plot of communities ownership of new lands to
community. Within a month, Namonaro
land. make up for what was taken from them
and the rest of her community lost
everything. Mozambique recognizes community land in coerced sales. The government of
rights. The issue isas in several other Mozambique should secure community
Namonaro, who cannot read, was forced land rights, and ensure intra-community
African statesthat obtaining a
to sign documents approving the sale of mechanisms to hold leaders to account.
certificate or title can be long and
her land. No-one explained the situation
difficult, and communities are not well
to her, and she was hurt by her
supported, including on strengthening
community leader approving the sale in
intra-community mechanisms that hold
such a way. She had no piece of paper
leaders to account.
confirming that this was her land.
Petronila Sandi has spent her entire life
in Nuevo Andoas, Peru. She advocates for
the land rights of her people.
NOTES

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huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/-without-our- Economic Affairs. 2009. State of the Worlds
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Resources Initiative. Cruz y sus Miembros vs. Honduras. Sentencia
Rights and Resources. 2013. New Reports: Global
7. Ibid. Land Grab Brings Significant Risk to Investors As (Fondo, Reparaciones y Costas)
Communities Respond to Economic Harm, Human www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/
8. D. Vinding and C. Mikkelsen (eds). 2016. The Rights Abuses. Press release. www.
Indigenous World 2016. Copenhagen: IWGIA. www. seriec_305_esp.pdf
rightsandresources.org/wp-content/
iwgia.org/publications/series/yearbook-the- uploads/2014/01/doc_5713.pdf 33. http://www.un.org/climatechange/
indigenous-world summit/2014/09/peru-germany-norway-launch-
M. Colchester and S. Chao (eds). 2013. Conflict or climate-forest-partnership/
9. Ibid. Consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads.
10. Oxfam, et. al. 2016. Op.cit. Forest Peoples Programme. www.forestpeoples. 34. Quote from P.M. Bandara, villager of Paanama.
org/topics/palm-oil-rspo/publication/2013/
11. Ibid. conflict-or-consent-oil-palm-sector-crossroads 35. Byamugisha. 2013. Securing Africas land for
shared prosperity: a program to scale up reforms
12. The former ownership of land according to the 22. M. van Zijl. 7 August 2014. Nestl declares zero and investments. Africa Development Forum.
reports in the Land Matrix (336 deals for which tolerance for land grabs. Oxfam Behind the Brands Washington DC: World Bank Group
information is available) is attributed to campaign news. www.behindthebrands.org/en/
communities (32 percent), private smallholders (13 campaign-news/nestl%C3%A9-declares-zero- Photos by Oxfam India; Rashmini de Silva and
percent), states (27 percent) and private tolerance-for-land-grabs Shantha Padmakumara / Oxfam in Sri Lanka; Julie
large-scale farmers (28 percent). State ownership Barnes and Percy Ramirez / Oxfam in Peru; Oxfam in
in many regions and countries co-exists with 23. UN Human Rights Council. 2012. Report of the Honduras; Oxfam in Mozambique. Photos from
customary land tenure, either individually or Working Group on the issue of human rights and Australia were kindly provided by the Kimberley
communally. Therefore, for many land deals, state transnational corporations and other business Land Council (KLC). All rights remain with the KLC.
ownership could still imply that land is owned enterprises. A/HR/C/20/29. http://www.ohchr.org/
traditionally by communities. Read more: http:// Documents/Issues/Business/A.HRC.20.29_en.pdf
www.landmatrix.org. 24. A. Cullen and R. Munoz. 8 September 2016. North
13. Percentages refer to 161 cases reporting Dakota pipeline fight gives spark to Native American
information on consultation. Read more: www. activism. Reuters. www.reuters.com/article/
landmatrix.org. us-usa-pipeline-nativeamericans-idUSKCN11D2RR

14. Committee on World Food Security. 2012. The 25. Oxfam. ILC. RRI. 2016. Op. cit.
Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible 26. Taylor. 2007. Indigenous Peoples and Indicators
Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forest of Well-being: Australian Perspectives on United
in the Context of National Food Security. Rome: FAO. Nations Global Frameworks. Social Indicator
15. S. Parmentier. 2013. Two years on: What Research, 87, 111-126.
became of The Guidelines on the responsible 27. MacDonald, Willox, Ford, Shiwak & Wood. 2015.
governance of tenure of land, fisheries and Protective factors for mental health and
forests?. Oxfam International blog. blogs.oxfam. well-being in a changing climate: Perspectives from
org/en/blogs/14-05-13-two-years-guidelines- Inuit youth in Nunatsiavut, Labrador. Social
responsible-governance-tenure-land-fisheries- Science & Medicine, 14, 133-141.
and-forests
28. Rigby, C. W., Rosen, A., Berry, H. L. & Hart, C. R.,
16. Foncier & dveloppement. 2014. Guide to due 2011. If the lands sick, were sick: The impact of
diligence of agribusiness projects that affect land prolonged drought on the social and emotional
and property rights. www.foncier-developpement. well-being of Aboriginal communities in rural New
fr/publication/guide-to-due-diligence-of- South Wales. Australian Journal of Rural Health,
agribusiness-projects-that-affect-land-and- 19, 249254.
property-rights/
Land rights dont just mean someone owning a plot of land.
Land rights mean a mother or a father is able to harvest
enough crops to feed their family and sell at market. Lands
rights mean communities can practice their ancestral
traditions and worship at sacred sites. Land rights mean
protecting forests, rivers, coastlines and more from
unaccountable governments and greedy businesses. Land
rights mean handing nature on to the next generation.

Land rights are human rights. Lets protect them and


protect our planet.

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