industryterm:indigenous

  • Peru’s first autonomous indigenous gov’t strikes back against deforestation
    https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/perus-first-autonomous-indigenous-govt-strikes-back-against-deforesta

    The Wampis is an indigenous group comprised of thousands of members whose ancestors have lived in the Amazon rainforest of northern Peru for centuries.
    Mounting incursions by loggers, miners and oil prospectors, as well as governance changes that favored industrial exploitation, left the Wampis increasingly worried about the future of their home. Representatives said they realized that only by developing a strong, legal organizational structure would they have a voice to defend their people and the survival of their forest.
    After numerous meetings among their leaders, representatives of 27 Wampis communities, with a combined population of 15,000 people, came together in 2015. They invoked international recognition of the rights of indigenous people and on Nov. 29 declared the creation of an autonomous territorial government called the Wampis Nation to defend its territory and resources from the growing pressures of extractive industries.
    Wampis Nation territory covers an area of rainforest one-third the size of the Netherlands along northern Peru’s border with Ecuador. Leaders say their newfound autonomy and authority has allowed them to directly expel illegal deforestation activities from their land.


    A soldier in the Peruvian army in camouflage and prepared to watch over the country’s borders. Photo by Marcio Pimenta.

    #Pérou #peuples_premiers #terres

  • Turkey’s Policy in the Balkans: More than Neo-Ottomanism

    There is a fundamental misperception with regard to Turkey’s relationship with the Balkans. Turkey is not external to the region, the way Russia is for instance. Its history and geographic location make it a part of southeast Europe. Millions of Turks have their family roots in what was once known as ‘Turkey-in-Europe.’ This includes the founder of the republic, the Salonika-born Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ties run deep at the political, economic, and societal levels.

    All those connections have drawn Turkey to the Balkans, especially after the end of the Cold War. The notion that Turks are now coming back does not hold. Closer engagement in the region started under President Turgut Özal in the early 1990s. But back then, Turkey balanced between bilateralism and multilateralism. It invested in economic and security ties with friendly countries such as Albania, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria while adhering to NATO as its response to the wars in ex-Yugoslavia. What changed under the Justice and Development (AK) Party, notably over the past decade, is the switch to bilateralism. That is understandable given the cracks in relations between Ankara and the West. All the same, it is concerning since it is coinciding with the push against the EU and NATO by Russia, which leverages history, religious identity and anti-Western rhetoric to legitimize its actions.

    Pundits and politicians often use ‘Neo-Ottomanism’ to describe Turkey’s forays. The label can be often misleading. Yes, Turkish President Recep Erdogan praises the Ottoman Empire and its legacy, domestically and beyond Turkey’s borders. But so did his predecessors in office. Within the country, liberals and Islamist conservatives alike all rediscovered the Ottomans from the 1980s onwards in questioning the Kemalist political order. The government has been reaching out to Balkan Muslims through TIKA, the Turkish developmental agency, and the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) for decades.

    Neo-Ottomanism is therefore the packaging, not the substance. Turkey’s objective is not to recreate the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. That is far beyond the country’s resources and capacity. The region is gravitating in economic, social, institutional and political terms to the West. What we have instead is Erdogan using the Balkans to make a case that he is the leader of the wider (Sunni) Muslim community in Europe and the Middle East. The main audience is his electorate in Turkey and only secondly Muslims abroad. The pre-election rally he held in Sarajevo in the run-up to last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections is a case in point.

    But Turkish policy in the Balkans cannot be reduced to the promotion of Islamic solidarity. Erdogan’s main achievement is the fact that he has built relations with leaders from countries that are majority non-Muslim. In October 2017, for instance, he was welcomed in Serbia by President Aleksandar Vucic. The visit gave some credence to complaints by Bosniaks (Slavic Muslims) that Turkey loves to talk brotherhood in Bosnia but when it comes to investing money it goes for Serbia. Similarly, Erdogan has strong links to Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who hosted the EU-Turkey summit a year ago. Bulgaria and Serbia are interested in hosting an extension of the TurkStream gas pipeline, a joint Russo-Turkish venture. Greece’s Alexis Tsipras also received the red carpet treatment during his latest visit to Turkey where he discussed ideas on decreasing tensions in the Aegean.

    Despite its quest for strategic autonomy, Turkey is still partnering with Western institutions. In addition, Ankara has been supportive of the Prespa Agreement and newly renamed North Macedonia’s accession to NATO, its quarrels with the U.S. and other key members of the Alliance notwithstanding. Collectively, EU members Romania, Bulgaria and Greece account for the bulk of Turkish trade with southeast Europe, with the Western Balkans trailing far behind. Greece and Bulgaria see Turkey as key to stemming the flow of asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and further afield. They are highly supportive of the EU-Turkey deal on migration from March 2016, renewed last year.

    Does the authoritarian system built by Erdogan pose an ideological challenge in the Balkans? Perhaps yes. For instance, pressure on governments to close educational institutions and surrender, without due process, members of the Fethullah Gülen community, which is implicated in the coup attempt in July 2016, undermine the rule of law. At the same time, the authoritarian drift observed in the Balkans is an indigenous product. It is not imported from Vladimir Putin’s Russia nor from Turkey under its new ‘sultan’.

    https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/turkeys-policy-balkans-more-neo-ottomanism-22835

    #néo-ottomanisme #Turquie #Balkans

  • The Justice Department Helped a County Prosecutor Target the Facebook Records of Anti-Pipeline Activists
    https://theintercept.com/2018/01/14/facebook-warrant-pipeline-protest-whatcom-county-justice-department

    Nine months after pipeline opponents in Washington state staged a protest that blocked freeway traffic, Facebook ended a protracted legal standoff with a county prosecutor, turning over detailed records on the indigenous-led group behind the demonstration. Despite the fact that no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the February action, Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney David McEachran repeatedly sought a warrant for the group’s Facebook page, ultimately securing private (...)

    #Facebook #activisme #surveillance #ACLU

  • India’s tribals at loggerheads with new tree-planting policy, say campaigners | PLACE
    http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=cb87b996-4cea-48ba-b300-f90af1d8fd9b&cid=social_20170809_73606107&a

    Millions of tribal people in India are being denied their rights to forest land and resources and forced from their ancestral settlements due to a recently enacted law promoting an increase in tree cover, an indigenous rights group said on Wednesday.

    The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF), which represents tribal groups in eastern Odisha state, said the law passed by parliament in July last year has resulted in communities being displaced from their homes in favour of tree plantations.

    #Inde #forêt #plantation #peuples_autochtones #extraction_minière

  • Wilmar appeals RSPO ruling that it grabbed indigenous lands in Sumatra
    https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/wilmar-appeals-rspo-ruling-that-it-grabbed-indigenous-lands-in-sumatr

    On Jan. 1, the world’s largest association for ethical palm oil production found that Wilmar International had violated the rights of the indigenous Kapa community of West Sumatra, Indonesia, when the company obtained its land to plant oil palm on it. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) also approved a plan that, if implemented, would allow the Kapa to retain control of their customary territory.

    But now, following an appeal by Wilmar stating that it has found possible breaches in the complaint-handling process within the RSPO, that decision may be in jeopardy.

    The initial ruling, that Singapore-based #Wilmar had violated community rights and RSPO rules when it tried to take out a Land Use Rights (HGU) permit over Kapa land, signaled progress in the long-running dispute between the palm oil giant and the indigenous group. Based on the advice of an independent consultant, the #RSPO’s Complaints Panel also recommended that the disputed land should be remeasured for development approval with better community participation. This recommendation was intended to give the Kapa more clarity on which lands were taken over by Wilmar, and how to re-allocate the land between Wilmar’s core estate and smallholdings for Kapa people, which would allow them to glean some benefit from Wilmar’s presence in their territory.

    #industrie_palmiste #Indonésie #peuples_autochtones #terres

  • Nepal’s rich indigenous medical knowledge is under threat
    https://phys.org/news/2017-03-nepal-rich-indigenous-medical-knowledge.html

    Darai is only one of the dozens of communities living in the hills, mountains and the plains of Nepal which has rich indigenous knowledge. Dr Singh has studied many of them and has found that the indigenous knowledge system is very rich.

    However the rich knowledge of the community passed on from generation to generation orally is now facing a risk because of the swift modernization, introduction of the internet, easy access and availability of allopathic medicine, and the younger generation’s desire to migrate out of the village and adopt modern lifestyles.

    “For that exact reason, it is important to document the traditional knowledge,” says Dr Singh. “And we have done it in detail in a very scientific way.”

    He believes that the article, along with the other research he has done on indigenous knowledge systems, could be an important stepping stone to conduct large-scale research to improve Nepal’s public health system.

    #plantes_médicinales #médecine #savoirs #Népal

  • Indigenous groups pressured to give up lands for doubtful Nicaragua Canal
    https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/indigenous-groups-pressured-to-give-up-lands-for-doubtful-nicaragua-c

    The only people watching over Nicaragua Canal land use negotiations between Nicaragua’s government and indigenous leaders have been masked policemen, according to indigenous reports. No international observers have been present.

    The meetings, which the Nicaraguan government sprang on surprised community leaders several times over the past few months, are aimed at securing consent to use indigenous territory for the planned US $50 billion 175-mile trans-oceanic canal that would bisect Nicaragua. Community leaders say that the government has not allowed them legal council in the meetings, violating international regulations.

    “They keep saying that we don’t need a legal advisor,” Allen Claire-Duncan, the leader of the Monkey Point Kriol community, told Mongabay. “Many people do not know how to read or write, and if the [government negotiators] come to the community they will speak in terms that the people don’t understand. [The government does] not want to do these meetings the right way.”

    Claire-Duncan is the leader of one of nine indigenous and Afro-Caribbean communities in Nicaragua’s East. While officials from Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Group (HKND), the Chinese company building the canal, say only 25 indigenous households will be relocated for the canal’s construction, indigenous groups disagree. They say that the planned route will displace the entire communities of Bangkukuk Taik, Monkey Point and Wiringay, while most other local communities will be indirectly affected by canal support projects. Bangkukuk Taik is the last place where the Rama indigenous language is still spoken. Officials estimate that between 30,000 and 120,000 people will be displaced in total by the canal.

    #Canal_du_Nicaragua #peuples_autochtones #déplacement #terres

  • Indigenous Dayak tribe pitted against palm oil giant in new film
    https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/indigenous-tribe-pitted-palm-oil-giant-new-film

    A conflict between an indigenous group in Borneo and a major palm oil company is the subject of a new documentary by one of Indonesia’s most accomplished directors.

    The film depicts the Dayak Iban people of Semunying Jaya’s struggle against a subsidiary of the Darmex Agro Group, whose owner, Surya Darmadi, is one of Indonesia’s richest men.

    The case was one of those featured in the National Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into land conflicts affecting indigenous peoples. The community has separately sued the company for grabbing its land. Late last year, the lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that there was no evidence the community was indigenous, a decision the plaintiffs have appealed.

    The film was directed by Nanang Sujana, a member of the Rejang indigenous group from Bengkulu in Indonesia’s Sumatra, as part of the “If Not Us Then Who” project, which explores issues facing the world’s forest-dwelling peoples under the rubric of climate change.

    #industrie_palmiste #Indonésie #peuples_autochtones #forêt #terres #documentaire

  • Brazilian court suspends operating license for Belo Monte dam
    http://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/brazilian-court-suspends-operating-license-for-belo-monte-dam

    The gigantic Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, located on the Xingu River in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, stood just weeks away from beginning operation this week — but the controversial mega-dam, the third largest on earth, has now been blocked from generating electricity by the Brazilian court system until its builders and the government meet previous commitments made to the region’s indigenous people.

    Federal court judge Maria Carolina Valente do Carmo in the city of Altamira, in the state of Pará where the dam is located, has suspended the dam’s operating license. It will not be reinstated, she decided, until the dam’s owner Norte Energia SA, along with Brazil’s government, meet a 2014 court-ordered licensing requirement to reorganize the regional office of Funai, the national agency that protects Brazil’s indigenous groups.

    Judge Valente do Carmo has fined the government and company R$900,000 (US$225,000) for non-compliance with the Funai requirement, a provision included in the rules governing Belo Monte when the project was given its preliminary license in 2010.

    ...

    In December, Brazil’s Public Federal Ministry, an independent state body started legal proceedings to have it recognized that the crime of “ethnocide” was committed against seven indigenous groups during the building of the Belo Monte dam.

    Earlier in 2015, federal prosecutors found that Norte Energia violated 55 different obligations it had agreed to in order to guarantee the survival of indigenous groups, farmers and fishermen whose homes and lands will be lost.

    #barrage #grand_barrage #Brésil #peuples_autochtones

  • In China, 110 nuclear reactors to be operational by 2030 | Business | chinadaily.com.cn

    http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2015-12/04/content_22630779.htm

    Puisqu’on parle de la Chine, cette nouvelle réjouissante (et cette fois-ci, comme par miracle, le lien marche !)

    Exports of indigenous technologies to be key thrust in new five-year plan, says Power China

    China will have 110 operational nuclear reactors by 2030, making it one of the largest nuclear energy users in the world by then, a leading power plant builder said on Thursday.

    Power Construction Corp of China Ltd, also known as PowerChina, said that the total scale of nuclear power generation from reactors both under construction and in operation in the country will reach 88 gigawatts by the end of 2020, according to estimates in the draft 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) for the power industry.

    According to the draft plan, China will set aside 500 billion yuan ($78 billion) for setting up nuclear power plants using its homegrown nuclear technologies and add six to eight nuclear reactors every year from 2016 for the next five years.

    #chine #nucléaire

  • Ukraine-based wood firm extends reach to Canada
    http://www.kyivpost.com/content/business/ukraine-based-wood-firm-extends-reach-to-canada-357835.html

    Active Energy Group, a Ukraine-based supplier of wood chip and timber products traded on London’s Alternative Investment Market, on July 15 started a landmark forestry joint venture with three indigenous aboriginal groups in Alberta.

    The business has the exclusive right to commercialize more than 100,000 hectares of mature forests belonging to Metis Settlements, descendants of European fur traders and aboriginal peoples.

    The Métis Settlements and Active Energy Group will each hold a 45 percent equity interest in the project, which will be incorporated in Canada and headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia, with the remaining equity to be held by Ronald M. Derrickson. He and Active Energy CEO Richard Spinks of England met in Ukraine in 2008 when they were both involved in agriculture.

    Active Energy Group will commit to commercialize the forestry assets in exchange for its equity stake. According to the firm’s statement, the forests are primarily composed of mature standing aspen and poplar hardwood and spruce, pine and fir softwood species. The joint venture will be allowed to enter into subleases with third parties for approximately 200 years to help the “long-term economic development for the Metis peoples, in collaboration with international investors and commercial partners,” the statement says.
    (…)
    Who owns the company isn’t as clear as its financial figures and operations. Spinks declined to say who actually owns Active Energy. According to its annual report, its largest shareholders are Gravendonck Private Foundation (Holland) with 30.5 percent, Eastwood SA (Luxembourg) with 12.22 percent, Windstar Investment SA (Panama) with 11.38 percent, Brahma Finance Limited (Monaco) with 3.89 percent, and Otkritie Securities Ltd (U.K.) with 3.4 percent
    Incorporation information of the shareholders was provided by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a Kyiv Post partner.

    One shareholder, Otkritie, is Russia’s largest independent financial group by assets, which exceed $51 billion. Otkritie’s major shareholders currently include Vadim Belyaev of IFD Kapital Group, Ruben Aganbegyan of ICT Group, LUKOIL-GARANT Private Pension Fund, Alexander Mamut, and Sergey Gordeev, according to company information.

  • Rainforest tribes seek World Cup spotlight | Climate News Network

    http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2014/06/tribal-leaders-seek-world-cup-spotlight

    By Kieran Cooke

    Tribal leaders from the Amazon rainforest are using the glare of publicity on the football World Cup in Brazil to highlight an impassioned plea for recognition of their lands and an end to dam building and deforestation

    LONDON, 17 June − Chief Raoni Metuktire, head of the Kayapò indigenous group from the Xingu region, deep in the Amazon rainforest, sits in a packed lecture hall in London. With his jutting lip plate and large feather headdress, the elderly, gently-spoken tribal leader is an imposing presence.

    #climat #brésil #amazonie

  • Inuit go hungry more than any other indigenous group: report - North - CBC News
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuit-go-hungry-more-than-any-other-indigenous-group-report-1.2588107

    people in Nunavut have the highest food insecurity rate for any indigenous population in a developed country at 68 per cent.

    The report, published by the Canadian Council of Academies, notes that a quarter of Inuit preschoolers are severely food insecure. Of that 25 per cent, 76 per cent skip meals and 60 per cent have gone a day without eating.

    #arctique #faim #inégalités #canada