Documents - Forests and Climate Change

Know Your Rights Related to REDD+

Know Your Rights Related to REDD+ provides fundamental information about human rights that you can use to defend the rights of communities and indigenous peoples in confronting issues related to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiatives. It is also relevant in the context of other forest governance initiatives, such as the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Action Plan. (Center for International Environmental Law, 2014)

Licence to Launder

The oil palm plantation being developed by Herakles Farms in the southwest region of Cameroon – an area of great biodiversity surrounded by five protected areas – illustrates what happens when irresponsible companies are not held accountable to local laws and processes. The companies activities pose a serious threat to forested areas and the communities who rely upon the forest for their livelihoods. In this report, Greenpeace reveals how the company is now colluding with the Cameroonian government to commercialise the timber – much of which was illegally felled – from its project, despite previously categorically stating that it had no intention to do so. (Greenpeace, 2014)

The Great Land Heist

Over recent years, a global land rush has resulted in a massive rise in the number of people in developing countries being evicted or denied access to their own land – sometimes in violent confrontation with the authorities – as big business moves in. . Offered little in the way of compensation or alternative livelihoods, millions are being forced into increased poverty, hunger and dispossession. (ActionAid, 2014)

The Palangka Raya Declaration on Deforestation and the Rights of Forest Peoples

"We, forest peoples, are being pushed to the limits of our endurance just to survive. Checking deforestation requires respect for our basic rights, which are the rights of all peoples and all human beings. Deforestation is unleashed when our rights are not protected and our lands and forests are taken over by industrial interests without our consent. The evidence is compelling that when our peoples’ rights are secured then deforestation can be halted and even reversed. We call for a change in policy to put rights and justice at the centre of deforestation efforts. The world cannot afford further delays." (The Palangka Raya Declaration, 2014)

Status of Forest Carbon Rights and Implications for Communities, the Carbon Trade, and REDD+

The Rights and Resources Initiative have released its latest research on the challenges of establishing carbon rights and its implications on Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The Status of Forest Carbon Rights and Implications for Communities, the Carbon Trade, and REDD+ Investments, reveals that there are very few legal protections and safeguards regarding forest communities' rights to trade carbon. (RRI, 2014)