Earth Day to See Secure Community Land Rights at the Forefront

Research shows that Indigenous Peoples and local communities are the best guardians of their customary lands and forests. For generations, these communities have managed and conserved the resources on which we all depend, yet they enjoy legal recognition to just one-fifth of what is rightfully theirs, according to research from the Rights and Resources Initiative.

The insecurity of indigenous and community tenure rights poses a significant threat to global efforts to combat climate change: at least one-tenth of the carbon stored in the world's tropical forests is in community lands that lack formal, legal recognition, leaving them vulnerable to land grabs, deforestation, and exploitation. Land-grabs for agriculture, infrastructure, or extraction projects are not only devastating for communities, but can also have disastrous environmental consequences.

This Earth Day, April 22nd, the Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights is mobilising to draw attention to the crisis of insecure land rights, and to the threat that tenure insecurity poses in the struggle to address the global climate crisis. Actions and events are planned in 25 countries, bringing together a diverse range of influencers from the climate change, conservation, women's rights, and peacebuilding communities.

At the centre of the global mobilisation will be communities from Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, and Taiwan. New case studies on their actions will highlight why secure indigenous and community land rights are not only crucial for the wellbeing of communities themselves, but also for the global struggle against climate change. Below is a brief overview of the forthcoming case studies:

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/04/12/tested-cost-effective-and-practical-secure-community-land-rights-can-help

jbdodane

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