Training manual written for indigenous trainers who intend to facilitate a training on REDD for indigenous leaders. It has been devised for a proposed five-days training programme with five modules. The manual includes suggestions for the objectives of each module, activities and methods, materials and a schedule. It is suggested that you use this training manual together with the informatio0n boo...

For decades, indigenous peoples living in the highlands of Thailand have been accused of deforestation, causing forest fires and thus air pollution. In recent years, they have also been accused to cause global warming by producing greenhouse gases due to the alleged “improper” form of agriculture they are practicing. Thus, indigenous communities have come under even greater pressure by the gov...

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh had been historically inhabited by indigenous peoples (IP), locally known as the Paharis. From the 1970s, however, counter-insurgency operations resulted in the forced eviction of the IP. Massive numbers of Bengali settlers were brought in from outside and placed on Pahari lands, forcibly changing the demographic composition and land distribution of t...

The Annual Report 2010 is a status report that describes the activities of IWGIA in 2010. You can order a free copy through: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloakf45bd195f007f09e886c00fe2534f46d').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var add...

The adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the Human Rights Council in May 2006 was hailed as a major step forward in recognising the indigenous peoples’ situation and their inherent rights. It was also an achievement for IWGIA, as we have put a considerable amount of effort into the whole process ever since the idea of a Declaration was launched – providing info...

This issue of Indigenous Affairs is a combined issue that brings together a mixture of different articles and perspectives on development, self-determination and the role of customary law. The articles touch upon indigenous peoples' economic, legal, social and political development. 

Ce livre présente des informations sur la REDD (Réduction des émissions dues à la déforestation et à la dégradation des forêts dans les pays en voie de développement), l’une des mesures d’atténuation mises en avant actuellement pour combattre les changements climatiques,et sur ses implications pour les peuples autochtones. Il vise principalement à aider les peuples autochtones à co...

The Danish support programme for indigenous rights in Bolivia came to an end on 31 December 2009, after 10 years in operation. The aim of the programme was for indigenous peoples to "obtain full exercise of their economic, political, social and cultural rights", and substantial results were achieved in this regard. In order to analyse this process and the programme’s overall results, particularl...

This book provides information material on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries), one of the mitigation measures now promoted for combating climate change, and its implications for indigenous peoples. It is intended primarily for indigenous peoples as a guide in understanding climate change, REDD and how they relate to the recognition and exerc...

Available as book and CD. This yearbook contains a comprehensive update on the current situation of indigenous peoples and their human rights, and provides an overview of the most important developments in international and regional processes during 2010. In 66 articles indigenous and non-indigenous scholars and activists provide their insight and knowledge to the book with country reports coverin...

En la Amazonía brasilera se encuentran la mayor cantidad de pueblos en situación de aislamiento y un número importante de comunidades de contacto reciente o esporádico con la sociedad nacional. Este documento actualiza la información disponible sobre estos pueblos y propone una serie de medidas urgentes para su protección. A lo largo del texto se presentan las metodologías de trabajo, los ...

Interest in the Arctic as one of the world’s last energy frontiers is increasing. The indigenous peoples of the circumpolar North have long been involved in struggles to make sense of, adapt to, and negotiate the impacts and consequences of resource exploration and development but they have also been involved in struggles to gain some measure of control over development as well as to benefit fro...

This issue of Indigenous Affairs focuses on the situation of the millions of indigenous peoples who are nomadic pastoralists. Nomadic pastoralists have unique cultures and make unique and productive use of harsh environments. Nomadic pastoralists the world over are, however, the subject of an unusually large number of myths and misconceptions that have led to inadequate, often hostile development ...

The Tibetan Plateau, known today as the Earth’s third pole,1 averages over 4,500 meters in elevation and covers some 2.5 million square kilometers in south-central Asia. The size of Western Europe, the region is bounded to the south and west by the Hindu-Kush Himalaya complex of mountains, to the north by the vast Taklamakan Desert, and to the east by lowland Han China. The region, which receive...

Productivity in the face of environmental variability and resilience to periodic but unpredictable cycles of drought and flood are built into pastoral livelihoods, institutions and knowledge systems. Yet poverty, environmental degradation and conflict persist in many pastoral areas of Africa. This is, in large measure, a direct result of inappropriate policy and development interventions. Enduring...

This book provides information material on REDD (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries), one of the mitigation measures currently promoted for combating climate change, and its implications for indigenous peoples. It is intended primarily for indigenous peoples as a guide in understanding climate change, REDD and how they relate to the recognition and ...

If forests are destroyed or degraded, large amounts of gases that cause global warming are released into the atmosphere. The most important of these gases is carbon dioxide, or CO2, a gas that is present in high levels in trees, forests, animals and nature. When trees grow, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and bind it into themselves and their root systems. When trees die, the gas is released b...

You are an indigenous person. It is likely that you and your community have lived in the area where you are in for decades if not hundreds of years. It is important that you are aware of discussions and decisions on climate change, including REDD. It is important that you participate in discussions where the land you live and make your living is concerned. It is important that you have a voice, t...

If your community is approached to be part of a project or programme that will be funded by the carbon market, by carbon finance funds, or that will create carbon credits then it is important to try to get as much information as possible before entering into any agreement. This checklist is intended to provide a minimum list of questions that you should get answers to. You should also access the a...

Mr Masambe Nguya was standing outside his burning homestead when he was spotted by a police officer who poured petrol over him and pushed him towards the flames. Luckily, he stumbled and fell and managed to flee whereby he survived…. In early July, more than 200 Maasai homes were burnt down and 3,000 people from eight villages in Loliondo, Ngorongoro District in Tanzania, left homeless. Food s...

Over the last year and a half, over 30% of Africa’s 53 countries have expressed interest or are participating in the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) proposed climate change mitigation strategy. Fourteen countries are involved in the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility while two are involved in the UN-REDD program. Others are enga...

While donors and many governments in developing countries are joining hands in promoting the UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) initiative, representatives from international NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations (IPOs) have expressed concern about the possible effects of REDD on indigenous peoples’ livelihoods. In Tanzania, enormous amounts of money are...

The Indigenous Peoples of Tanzania have recently started engaging in the REDD programme development in the country. This follows from a realization that Tanzania has embarked on developing a national REDD strategy with funding from the Government of Norway without involving indigenous peoples. It was also understood that there is already a task force in place that is charged with coordinating UN-R...

The REDD process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was officially launched on 21 and 22 August 2009 in Kinshasa through a workshop that gathered together government officials, the private sector, researchers and civil society. This was a good opportunity to discuss some issues that will be vital for the success of REDD. Among these are the identification of the real drivers of deforestatio...

In the name of forest conservation and development, colonial and post-colonial governments in Asia have for more than a century devised policies and laws seeking to eradicate shifting cultivation.1 Many of the arguments brought against this form of land use – that it is an economically inefficient and ecologically harmful practice – have been proven inaccurate or outright wrong.2 Notwithstandi...

The Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) held a national consultation of indigenous communities from 5-8 August 2009 on Climate Change and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). This was followed by AMAN’s national strategic meeting.

In 1974 the Ikalahan people of Santa Fe in the northern Philippines finally, after three years of negotiations, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Government recognizing the control of the Ikalahan over about 15,000 hectares of their ancestral land in exchange for protecting the water supply for the users downstream. There was no precedent for such an agreement. There was n...

At the 38th International Congress of Americanists, held in Stuttgart, Germany in 1968, a number of anthropologists presented alarming reports of atrocities being carried out against indigenous peoples in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Brazil. In a post-conference meeting just outside Copenhagen, in the home of Helge Kleivan, a Danish anthropologist, fellow anthropologists Milton R. Freeman, Lars P...

Key note speech by Johnson Malih Ole Kaunga at IWGIA’s 40th anniversary celebration When I was asked to give a key-note address on this auspicious moment of IWGIA’s 40th anniversary, I found it a challenge for a number of reasons. First, I had only known IWGIA for about 10 years. Second, I am five years younger than IWGIA and, looking round the audience, I may well be the one with the least ...