After the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries, where communities were expelled from their lands in favour of sheep, legislation was brought in to give people secure tenancies, called crofts, to protect them from being cleared from the land again. In 2007 the Crofting Reform Act opened up the traditional crofting model to […]

“If not us, who will protect our territories? Who will manage our territories?” Indonesian Indigenous Youth called their fellow brothers living in the cities and finished their studies back to the community. They called it the ‘Homecoming movement. Youth are driving new models of sustainable rural development, creating organic vegetable gardens, herbal medicine gardens and […]

Update: April 2021 The Dutch National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines announced on April 20, 2021 that they would accept a complaint against Pluspetrol, a multinational oil firm headquartered in an Amsterdam mailbox. The decision gives Indigenous communities in the oil fields of the Peruvian Amazon a path for seeking remediation from Pluspetrol for […]

The community of Lago do Mainá have lived with the forest and the river, nature for them is the most fundamental thing they have. However a military training base and increasing incursions by soldiers created tension between the community and the army. Through the use of social mapping the people of Lago do Mainá have […]

Wildfires may grab headlines but indigenous peoples and local communities who depend the Amazon face many different threats. Not only are their territories targeted for illegal extractive activities such as gold mining and deforestation but without clear land titles their situation remains legally precarious. But more than this – indigenous peoples and local communities offer […]

Results of a new scientific study show that indigenous peoples using remote sensing technology can better survey their lands and reduce deforestation by half. Under the community-based forest monitoring program, called Rainforest Alert, indigenous scouts combine satellite imagery with foot patrols to verify evidence and equip community leaders with the information they need to take […]

Having lived for millennia in the forests of the ‘Amazonian Trapezoid’, today the Amacayacu National Park, indigenous communities there are now treated as an obstacle to conservation. Their rights have been systematically violated since the National Park was created in 1975. In April 2015 the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism signed an agreement to […]

In a rapidly dwindling community forest the people of Pandumaan & Sipituhuta have put up a strong fight to stop the growth of monoculture eucalyptus plantations. But the aggressive actions of the company & its close alignment with local politicians & the police have led this struggle down a dark path – protests, intimidation, arrests […]

Imagine communities and land-owners being paid by the government to protect their forests & natural resources? Costa Rica is the only tropical country in the world that has reversed the process of deforestation through a unique fuel tax law that impresses the importance of protecting the environment & helping develop communities.

The indigenous people of Sungai Utik, a Dayak Iban community in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, have maintained a strong traditional connection to their forests despite continuous pressure from logging and palm oil companies intent on taking their land. Their forests remain intact and their traditional values are keeping their community together. If we want to keep […]

Kalfein Michael Wuisan, o Kale, es un joven indonesio Minahasa del área de Wuwuk, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia. Además de ser parte del …G.

Edivan Guajajara is from the Zutiwa village, located in Arariboia Indigenous Land (Maranhão, Brazil) and one of the creators of the c…

Tirza Yanira Ixmucané Saloj Oroxom, Maya k’iche, nacida en Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Ilustradora, Muralista, artista plástica y re…

Noveni pertenece al pueblo indígena Dayak Bahau de Borneo Oriental (Indonesia). Desde 2017, se ha dedicado a defender los derechos de …u.

Chris Elliman, 32 años, es un indígena perteneciente al pueblo de los arecuna (Guyana). Durante los últimos tres años, Chris ha tra…

Jhonatan Yuditya Pratama, 21 años, es un joven indígena de la comunidad Dayak Kanayatn, situada en Sungai Ambawang, Borneo Oriental. …

Jimmy Piaguaje es un cineasta indígena. Nació en la comunidad Siekoya Remolino. Le encanta afrontar nuevos retos, nuevos lugares y pe…s.

Welder Ramirez, 28 años, tiene nacionalidad Guatemalteca, con residencia en una comunidad que se llama Cruce a La Colorada, en la cual…

Nelson Danilo Flores Guzmán nació en Melchor de Mencos del departamento de Peten y vive en la Cooperativa Integral Agropecuaria Técn…

Nazario Tiul Choc es de la comunidad conocida como Cooperativa Unión Maya Itzá (comunidad repatriada de México a Guatemala en el añ…

Jose Hernandez Zapata nació en el año 1994, en la comunidad de Carmelita, San Andrés, Peten, Guatemala que se encuentra ubicada dent…

Yumi Ortiz (también conocido como Lyudmila Vallarino) es originaria de la comarca de Guna Yala, de la costa del caribe de Panamá. En …

Alcibiades Rodriguez es facilitador, fotógrafo y cineasta aficionado que cuenta historias en temas ambientales. Es miembro de la ONG i…

Yarixa Torres es originaria de la Comarca Guna Yala, en la costa caribeña de Panamá. Nació y creció en Panamá y actualmente estudi…

Yaily Castillo es originaria de la Comarca Guna Yala, Panamá, licenciada en Saneamiento y Ambiente y egresada de la Universidad Tecnol…

Kuyu Saul Lopez es realizador audiovisual en Kuyujani Produccion Audiovisual. Licenciado en Comunicación Social, con especialidad Audi…a.

Carlos Enqueri es documentalista y vive en la comunidad Waorani ‘Titepare’ en la Amazonía Ecuatoriana. Para ello, se dedic…

Cineasta emergente, perteneciente al pueblo Garifuna, con formacion en temas de Derechos de los Pueblos indigenas y negros de Honduras,…

Elizabeth Swanson Andi is a member of the Santu Urku Kichwa community on the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is an indigenous …

Ribaldo is a young Siekopai photographer and filmmaker. He lives in the Ecuadorion Amazon and is a member of the NGO Alianza Ceibo, an …

Luciane Saw Munduruku, more known among her friends and relatives as Beka Munduruku, is 18 years old and lives in Sawre Muybu villag…e.

Kokoyamaratxi Renan Suya is a photographer, filmmaker and motion graphic maker from the Kisedjê people (Mato Grosso, Brazil). In 2008…

The journalist and communicator Erisvan Bone Guajajara is founder of the digital platform Mídia Índia. He was born in Lagoa Quieta vi…

Alexandro lives in Rio Bonito indigenous village, located in Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. Since he was 12, Alexandro has worked within …

Indigenous groups across Indonesia believe there are consequences to the life cycle, like in Manusela Village in Maluku, Indonesia. Before cutting down trees in the forest, the Manusela Indigenous People carry out a tradition known as “Pisinae”. This is done to ask permission from the Creator of the universe and ancestors for the needs of […]

“If not katong, who else?” Emil and Viko are members of the “Small Kewang” in Haruku Country, in Maluku, Indonesia. “Kewang” not only stands as an institution, but also a home for them to continue the tradition of protecting the environment in Haruku Country, Kab. Central Moluccas. Being a Kewang since childhood is a matter […]

Thanks to arduous resistance the Sapara Nation won a great victory against the oil concessions in their territory , however, it still runs the risk that its territory, in the future, will be taken again as an object of oil exploitation. The Sapara Nation of Ecuador demands the cancellation of the oil exploitation contract that […]

A powerful film by Ivan Jaripio, Embera indigenous filmmaker from Panama. In this short creative film he contrasts indigenous traditions with the contemporary world of Panama. Faced with the territorial and cultural threat of modernization, the resistance of the indigenous peoples to defend their traditions is urgent.

A look back on 30 years since the Mayan Biosphere Reserve was created in 1990. Local communities brought the forest back from the brink with a Forest Protection Association by requesting a concession from the National Council of Protected Areas. the odds were stacked against them, 30 years ago no one believed the community could […]