Ogiek facing imminent eviction despite African Court’s judgment

Written on 27 October 2023.

Local authorities have informed the Ogiek community residing in the Maasai Mau Forest in southwestern Kenya that eviction orders have been processed for those in the Sasinwani and Nkareta regions, the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Programme (OPDP) reported on 26 October.

The orders have come with no preparation and no plans for relocation, restitution or reparations, leaving at least 500 Ogiek without a home.

The area chief claims he is acting on orders from his superiors and that there is no turning back.

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The impact of conservation on Indigenous Peoples: a case study of the Loliondo pastoralists in Tanzania

Written on 20 October 2023.

BY DEBATES INDÍGENAS

In Africa, the protected area model known as "fortress conservation" is encroaching on Indigenous lands and infringing on their rights. A very clear case is that of the Maasai people in Loliondo, in whose ancestral lands and territory the Tanzanian government wants to create a conservation area in the form of a Game Reserve. As a result, the Maasai communities have suffered forced evictions and human rights violations. Instead of recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge about how to protect nature, the fortress conservation methods regrettably undermine Indigenous ways of life and endanger the balance of their ecosystems.

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Bolivia: moving towards Indigenous led conservation

Written on 25 October 2023.

BY LILIAN PAINTER, ZULEMA LEHM, OSCAR LOAYZA AND ROBERT WALLACE FOR DEBATES INDÍGENAS

The experience of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Bolivia, biodiversity conservation has evolved from a focus on wildlife protection to collaborative alliances with Indigenous communities. What at the beginning was an isolated conservation effort, has been transformed into an essential cooperation, where conservation and Indigenous Territorial Management converge in the Madidi Landscape.

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Self-determination, conservation and Tarimat Pujut in the Wampís Nation

Written on 18 October 2023.

BY SHAPIOM NONINGO & FREDERICA BARCLAY FOR DEBATES INDÍGENAS

Despite progress at the international level, the environmentalism movement and the Peruvian state have not yet fully recognized the role played by Indigenous Peoples in the protection of Amazonian biodiversity. For the communities, man and nature form a whole and, as such, they take advantage of the benefits of the forests, while at the same time imposing limits on their extraction. The Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation seeks to implement a comprehensive system of territorial control based on traditional teachings, constant monitoring, Indigenous justice and "sustainable bio-businesses". 

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