Legal Land Theft
In most countries with tropical forests, governments uphold the colonial legacy that declared the State to be the owner of forest lands. This has enabled governments to legally grant land to private investors, often violating communities' customary ownership of the land. As a result, corporate activities that destroy forests continue to expand.
Bulletin articles
23 April 2025
The "Deklarasi Solidaritas Merauke" (Merauke Solidarity Declaration, see below) has been collectively written by participants of the "Konsolidasi Solidaritas Merauke" (Merauke Solidarity Consolidation Meeting), a people's gathering that took place in the town of Merauke, South Papua Province in March, 2025. The declaration calls for an immediate halt of the National Strategic Project (PSN) Merauke.
Other information
22 August 2024
Articles
4 April 2024
An alliance of organizations have demanded that European governments pause the mediation process and provide the communities access to the land documents and legal support to defend their interests.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
Land related struggles in India’s Northeast states might worsen with the push to expand oil palm plantations on small-farmers and Indigenous land, threatening their food sovereignty and the ancestral practice of Jhum (shifting cultivation). On top of this, a new Forest Amendment Law will facilitate this expansion, jeopardizing further the region’s forests and Indigenous Peoples.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
WRM’s reply to Biofílica Ambipar’s “Clarification Note” about the article "REDD and the Green Economy exacerbate oppression and deforestation in Pará, Brazil", written by WRM and published in its Bulletin of July 2023.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
With the support of international funding, the establishment of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park has led to the forced and violent eviction of the Batwa Indigenous People. The DRC government recently passed a new law on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which, though a step forward, does not apply to lands that have already been designated as protected areas, nor does it make any mention of historic injustices.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
This time we would like to remember a Bulletin that includes ten important contributions around the issue of ‘rights’.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
Exchanges between activists put the voices of those who fight to defend their territories at the center of the conversation. In September, members of communities from Brazil and Mozambique united their struggles and connected their histories once again, helping to strengthen solidarity in the fight against industrial tree plantations.
Bulletin articles
30 March 2023
At the foot of Mount Mabu, Mozambique, the expansion of rubber tree monoculture plantations has restricted Manhaua communities’ access to their own territory. This process has occurred by means of systematic abuses, thus depicting the contrast between the different ways the population and foreign capital relate to the environment where they find themselves.
Bulletin articles
30 March 2023
Forests in Cambodia have seen large-scale deforestation with rubber and cassava plantations, illegal logging and other economic interests. Besides, Protected Areas and carbon projects like REDD+ have severely affected forest communities. Despite the criminalization, communities fight back, underlining the important connection between living with their forests and having autonomy to enough, diverse and nutritious food.
Other information
30 March 2023
Other information
16 January 2023
An investigation by SourceMaterial and Unearthed exposed some of the impacts of a major tree-planting carbon offsetting project in the Republic of Congo from oil giant TotalEnergies, which was announced at the end of 2021.