An internal investigative panel has just prepared ‘a stinging indictment’ of the World Bank’s conduct in connection to the large-scale industrial logging campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo; revealing that the Bank encouraged foreign companies to destructively log the rainforests; misled Congo’s government about the value of the forests; repeatedly broke their own rules and regulations to ensure the plan went ahead; and most damningly, threatened the lives of millions of Indigenous People and subsistence farmers who depend on the forests for survival.

The report is the result …

In the video below you’ll find Celina Harpe, an Elder who’s lived in Fort MacKay for all her life, talking about the reality faced by her people today.

Fort MacKay is a community located in Northern Alberta that’s populated by about 500 (mostly Cree) People–a community that exists on top of, and literally surrounded by naturally occurring tar sands (also known as oil sands).

In the 1960’s Companies began to arrive in Fort Mackay to extract the oil. At first there were only a few, but the gettin’ was …

As part of a massive effort to wean Panama off it’s dependence on foreign energy, there are currently over 90 hydroelectric projects slated for development throughout the country.

Of course, not all of them will be pursued, but then several will–including some that seriously threaten Panama’s indigenous People; for starters, the Ngobe and Naso.

The Changuinola project
“I will not go” says Isabel. “If the company wants to send police to kill me, go ahead.”

The Changuinola project, according Isabel Becker and other Ngobe living in Charco la Pava, Panama, …

The Transnational Institute (TNI) has just released a report which examines the impact of coca cultivation, petroleum activity and armed conflict on Cofan, a people traditionally living in the tropical forest between Ecuador and Colombia.

Today their territory, culture and very survival are being threatened by the dynamics associated with the drugs trade, the armed conflict and large mega-projects being developed in their territory.

Here’s the Introduction to the report (links added by me) followed by TNI’s recommendations to the Government of Colombia:

Coca, Petroleum and Conflict in Cofán …

Today, UN Indigenous People’s Day, Survival International will present a petition with 57,000 signatures to the Paraguayan government— in support of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode, South America’s last (known) surviving uncontacted tribe outside the Amazon basin.

Recently, satellite imagery revealed Ayoreo-Totobiegosode land, nearly all of which has been taken over by powerful landowners, is being rapidly bulldozed to make way for cattle ranching. Those living in the forests can do little more than run.

Two Relatives, Leaders from the Ayoreo-Tobiegosode recently had this to …

For Years, Malaysia has been considered a sort of a safe haven for refugees coming from Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal and elsewhere — but now the government of Malaysia is making it clear that most of these refugees will not be finding any safety or freedom in this country.

Last month, Kuala Lumpur began a campaign to round up approximately 500,000 refugees from the above-mentioned countries. To date, close to 10,000 refugees have been picked up and sent off to detention camps where they wait for their imminent return to …

For 37 days now Members of the Lepcha tribe of Sikkim, mostly youth, have been on an indefinite fast (satyagraha) demanding the immediate scrapping of atleast 6 of the seven hydro dams proposed for development in the region of Dzongu— the homeland of the Lepcha people. The Lepcha say these projects will “devastate the region from head to toe.”

As noted here, the government of Sikkim has in the past been negotiable; having been one of the first States in India to ban plastic bags, the Sikkim government …

Here’s an urgent online petition to help protect Apache Leap and numerous other Sacred sites from desecration by copper mining. The land in question is part of the ancestral lands of the sovereign Native Nations of the Apache, Yavapai, Hopi, and O’Odham.

These Nations have not given permission for this land to be mined—and yet, there’s a bill in US congress about to pass which would grant the Canadian mining Company Resolution Copper, unmitigated access to the land.

In other words, the bill will make them exempt from all NEPA mandated …

Here is a petition put together by numerous supporters of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in their struggle to preserve the integrity of the Culbertson Tract lands, and individuals opposed to the theft and plunder of First Nations land. You can view and sign the petition here

Urge the Province of Ontario to Stop Licensing the Plunder of First Nations Land
We, the undersigned, are writing to urge the Province of Ontario to end its complicity in the theft and plunder of First Nations land. Specifically, we ask that the Province stop providing licenses for resource extraction from …

June 30 - Today is the 25th day of the dharna (indefinite fast) which began on June 6th, in protest to the mass displacement caused by the Indira Sagar dam and Omkareshwar dam in India. Nine people are currently fasting, with about half of those displaced (5000 people) sitting with them.
Click here to sign a petition in solidarity.

From Friends of the Narmada - More than 10,000 people affected by the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dam continue in their struggle by shifting their dharna from Khandwa to the Capital …