Rights and Resources Initiative

🙌 Our new series on "Meet RRI Fellows" continues on #WorldEnvironmentDay2024! Margarita Florez is an RRI Fellow and Director of the Colombia-based NGO, Environment and Society Association (AAS). As a human and environmental rights lawyer, she brings immense expertise to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), forest policy, as well as Afro-descendant and Indigenous collective tenure. For over 30 years, she has worked on innovative and critical reforms in public #environment, #forest, and #tenure policies in Latin America.   Margarita has also served on the boards of Third World Network (Malaysia) and Third World Institute (Uruguay) and authored several books and countless articles, including for RRI's own Land Writes Blog: https://lnkd.in/gf2Uwe4C Learn more about Margarita and RRI's Fellows in our Coalition Guide 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/gKj4Xb3u ------- Who are RRI Fellows? Our Fellows are leading researchers, communicators, conveners, and advocates in the fields of community land and resource tenure, forestry, human rights, and climate justice, helping the RRI coalition to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities. In this new series, we will share a brief profile of our Fellows each week to highlight their contributions and work.

📢 Let's talk about #TerritoriosAfroLAC! Come join us in our streaming on June 11 to 14 in #Bogota #Colombia for the event “Securing Afro-descendant Peoples’ land tenure rights in Latin America and the Caribbean: An effective pathway to conservation and climate change action.” 👉🏿We want recognition for Afro-descendant Peoples’ rights and representation (Voice and vote) in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).#COP16 #COP30 👉🏿We seek visibility for the territories of Afro-descendant Peoples and their role in climate change mitigation, adaptation and protection of biodiversity. 👉🏿We need commitments for concrete actions and greater funding to recognize and protect the territorial rights of fro-descendant Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean. ✊🏿 This historic event is convened by: -The Coalition of Organizations for the Defense of Ancestral Territory and Afro-descendant Collective Lands in Latin America and the Caribbean -Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) -Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN) -Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas (CONAQ) -The Vice presidency of Colombia ✊🏿Supported by: Bezos Earth Fund Earth Fund The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility Ford Foundation Quadrature Climate Foundation Conservation International Re:wild 📲 More information: https://lnkd.in/e_Hs8i2c

🎙️Margaret A. (Peggy) Smith, R.P.F. (Ret.), FSC-IF council member, shared her insights on the podcast Free to Grow in Forestry / Foresterie en croissance libre. She discussed the evolving relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian forest sector, and left advice for Indigenous youth foresters. Check out the images for her key reflections!🌲🌳 #Forestry #IndigenousPeoples #Podcast

Although the logical flaws in carbon offsetting are well-known, offset companies around the world keep pushing them for profit while emissions keep going up. A new report, 'Beyond Offsets: People and Planet-Centred Responses to the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis’ by Fern NGO, Forest Peoples Programme & Rainforest Foundation UK, offers alternatives to flawed voluntary carbon markets -- with contributions from RRI's Director, Rights, Climate + Conservation Alain Frechette. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gaS7vG4j #carbon #climateaction #emissions

Starting today, we will be profiling one of RRI’s Fellows each week to highlight their impressive contributions to our work and field!   But who are RRI Fellows? Fellows are leading researchers, communicators, conveners, and advocates in the fields of community land and resource tenure, forestry, human rights, and climate justice, helping our global coalition advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples and local communities! Thin Lei Win, a new RRI Fellow, is an award-winning Italy-based multimedia investigative journalist specializing in food and climate issues for various international news media and her own newsletter, Thin Ink. She is also Lead Reporter for the Food Systems Newsroom of Lighthouse Reports, a collaborative journalism outlet focusing on public interest investigations and hosts The Index, a podcast based on the Global Organized Crime Index. Thin's extensive experience includes nearly 13 years as an international correspondent for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, covering topics ranging from governance, resilience and climate to food insecurity and refugees and displacement. Born and raised in Myanmar, Thin has lived and worked in Singapore, the UK, Vietnam, Thailand, and most recently, Italy, and has reported from many parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. She is the founder of Myanmar Now, an award-winning bilingual news agency, and co-founder of The Kite Tales, a unique preservation project that chronicles the lives and histories of ordinary people across Myanmar. Read more about Thin and the rest of our Fellows at our brand-new Coalition Guide ⬇ https://lnkd.in/eN4_yyvq Check out more of Thin's work at Thin Ink ⬇ https://news.thin-ink.net/

✍ New on The Land Writes Blog! Despite growing recognition of the link between Indigenous Peoples’, local communities', and Afro-descendant Peoples’ tenure rights and climate change mitigation, there remains a significant gap between formal commitments and actions on the ground. On May 15, 2024, RRI co-organized a multi-sector dialogue with Cadasta Foundation, Land Portal Foundation, Landesa, and Forest Trends Association hosted by Embassy of Sweden in USA. Panelists representing governments, philanthropies, rightsholder groups, and civil society shared insights into the challenges and opportunities in securing tenure rights, highlighting the role of each sector in rights-based climate action. Learn more about the Dialogue on Securing Tenure for Climate Action below! https://lnkd.in/eZNZuM-z

🗺 El 77 por ciento de los territorios de los Pueblos Afrodescendientes de América Latina y el Caribe se encuentran en puntos estratégicos de biodiversidad, que representan más de 205 millones de hectáreas de tierra. A pesar de eso, de acuerdo a un estudio realizado en 2023 por la coalición Afrodescendiente de América Latina y el Caribe de RRI, solo el 5 porciento de ese territorio está reconocido. ¿Por qué? 💡 Esto y mucho más se discutirá del 11 al 14 de junio de 2024 en Bogotá, Colombia en el evento, “Asegurar los Derechos de Tenencia de la Tierra y Territorio de los Pueblos Afrodescendientes en América Latina y el Caribe: Un camino efectivo hacia la conservación y la acción contra el cambio climático." Convocan: Vicepresidencia de la República de Colombia Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN) Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas (CONAQ) La Iniciativa para los Derechos y Recursos   Apoyan: Bezos Earth Fund The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility Conservation International Re:wild Ford Foundation 📆 ¡Reserva la fecha y visita nuestra página web para más información! https://lnkd.in/eepRbXV7

🗺 77 percent of all Afro-descendant Peoples’ territories in Latin America and the Caribbean are in global biodiversity hotspots, crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. But despite inhabiting and protecting more than 175 million hectares of land—larger than the size of Peru— why do these communities legally own only 4.5 percent of their territories? 💡 This and much more will be discussed on June 11-14, 2024, in Bogotá, Colombia at the event, “Securing Afro-descendant Peoples’ Land Tenure Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Effective Pathway to Conservation and Climate Change Action." Convened by: Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN) Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas (CONAQ) Rights and Resources Initiative The Vice-Presidency of Colombia Supported by: Bezos Earth Fund The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility Conservation International Re:wild Ford Foundation 🗓 Learn more below and save the date! https://lnkd.in/e_Hs8i2c

Sharing some moments from yesterday’s fully packed Dialogue on Securing Land Tenure for Climate Action in Washington -- hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in USA and co-organized by RRI, Cadasta Foundation, Land Portal Foundation, Landesa and Forest Trends Association!   Organized along the sidelines of the #WorldBank Land Conference, the dialogue featured a multi-sector discussion on the major challenges and opportunities in securing land rights of Indigenous Peoples (IP), local communities (LC), and Afro-descendant Peoples for climate action. We also celebrated the 15th anniversary of our friends at Land Portal, which works to advancing open knowledge and dialogue on IP and LC land rights.   Moderated by Amy Coughenour Betancourt, CEO of Cadasta, our panel included: Sandrina RANDRIAMANANJARA A. of Madagascar’s Ministry of Decentralization & Regional Planning; Samunda Jabini from Suriname’s Association of #Saamaka Communities; Chris Penrose Buckley, Senior Advisor at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Cristian Samper of Bezos Earth Fund; and Solange Bandiaky-Badji, President & Coordinator of RRI.   Check out some photos from the event below!

FPP, together with other members of the Zero Tolerance Initiative (ZTI) and allies stand in solidarity with AIDESEP and its vice-president Miguel Guimaraes, whose home was recently ransacked and spray painted with death-threats. We urge the Peruvian state to act now and end threats against Miguel, his family, and indigenous communities in #Peru. Apu Miguel Guimaraes, a Shipibo-Konibo leader, leads Aidesep's program for protecting indigenous leaders and environmental defenders in the Amazon. Despite numerous death threats and intimidations, he continues to defend indigenous rights in Peru. We collectively urge the Peruvian State to: - Publicly support Human Rights Defenders - Ensure security for Miguel, his family and community - Stop the smear campaigns - Address the root causes of violence - Investigate the recent attack against Miguel and bring perpetrators to justice To learn more, read the open letter: https://lnkd.in/eMBjdbwx Mary Lawlor Michel FORST José Francisco Calí Tzay