Archives

Tagged ‘Landgrabs‘

Jul 24

2017

0

Conservation International, Nature Conservancy, Whiteness & Aversive Racism, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Branding Caucasian Validation Conservation Displacement Indigenous Rights Jane Goodall Institute Kenya Kenya Wildlife Service Landgrabs Marketing Nature Conservancy Northern Rangelands Trust Richard Leakey Space for Giants UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Whiteness & Aversive Racism World Bank World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

The Best Lecture You Will Ever Watch on “Conservation”

Mordecai Ogada, Director of Conservation Solutions Afrika – The Big Conservation Lie

Video published on Mar 27, 2017

“That hot afternoon in Amboseli; I experienced my road to Damascus. I realized that I was part of a system that had no respect for the very bedrock on which it stood. I was a qualified black face put in place to smooth over fifty years of exploitation in two and to create a pleasant backdrop that would allow for the renewal of this insidious arrangement. The technical knowledge I had from all the years and energy I spent studying conservation biology weren’t important here. The Dr. prefix to my name, my knowledge of Kiswahili, my complexion were all props to make things appear honest. These realizations came to me in a merciless flood, and I was momentarily filled with outrage and self-loathing. I was part of a fallacy whose sell-by date was fast approaching.”—Mordecai Ogada

A must watch lecture of Mordecai Ogada presenting on his new book The Big Conservation Lie. Sponsored by CSU SOGES Africa Center and The Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University.”

 

 

Sep 08

2014

0

Foundations, Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Whiteness & Aversive Racism

Adivasis Conservation Environmental Markets Forests Landgrabs tourism

‘Trespassing’, Collecting Honey Among Charges Against Nagarahole Tribal People

The Hindu

Sept 5, 2014

by Divya Gandhi,

The State actively prosecutes but ‘Prosecuting them for using forest violates Forest Rights Act’

Between 2001 and 2011, as many as 192 cases were registered against tribal communities living in and around Nagarahole National Park. But their “offences”, which include trespassing forest land, collecting honey and growing ginger in the forest, are, in fact, their rights enshrined in the Forest Rights Act.

A report by a High Court-appointed committee on the status of tribal communities in and around Nagarahole, submitted recently to the Karnataka government, speaks of the “absurdity” of cases booked against tribal people for “trespassing” forests, which they have been living inside for generations.

Booking a large number of cases against tribal people is part of a historical culture of “violence” against the communities, which “takes on different forms,” says the report by the committee, chaired by political studies professor at the University of Mysore Muzaffar Assadi. In the 1970s, it took the form of multiple displacements for tribal families and also the destruction of their homes, crops and settlements “so as to erase their historical presence in the forest region”.

Prosecuting tribal communities for living in and using forests is a violation of the Forest Rights Act that gives them rights over land and forest resources, says Nitin Rai of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. “The Act was enacted to rectify the immense historical injustices reaped on Adivasis and forest-dwellers. Draconian conservation laws have criminalised everyday life of Adivasis, who have lived in these forests for centuries.” But ironically, these very laws are constantly bent for industrial and infrastructural projects, he said.

 

‘Withdraw cases’

All pending cases against tribal people booked on “flimsy ground” should be withdrawn to help build trust between them and the political apparatus, says the report. An advocates’ collective should be appointed to fight cases of tribal people in different courts, it adds.

Cases booked also pertained to setting fire to the forest, to poaching wildlife and birds, and felling trees.

+++

Just Conservation

Some background on the Park:

The name Nagarahole is derived from the winding river which flows through the Park (In Kannada the word ‘Naga’ means snake and ‘Hole’ means stream). Nagarahole National Park is located in the foothills of the misty blue Brahmagiri mountain range and straddles the picturesque districts of Kodagu (Coorg) and Mysore. Initially constituted as a Sanctuary in 1955, it was subsequently enlarged and conferred the status of a National Park in 1974. The Southern end is drained by the Kabini river (a tributary of the Cauvery) which has now been dammed to create a large reservoir, much of which lies within the park and which today separates Nagarahole National Park from Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

Hunter-gatherer tribes have inhabited these forests for several centuries. Of the 1500 or so people that live within the park and an approximate 5 to 6 thousand on the fringes, most are tribals called Jenu Kuruba, Betta Kuruba and Yerava. These tribals later took to slash and burn farming and collecting non-timber forest products for sale to urban markets. Today, many of these people work as labourers in coffee plantations or farms and also engage in seasonal work provided by the Forest Department.

Between 1870 and 1980, 14% of the area of the present Park was clear-cut to raise monocultures of teak. Dense secondary forests now occur in places where these plantations failed. Until recently, both the moist and dry deciduous forests have been selectively logged.

The long term management goal of the British was to replace natural forests with the more profitable teak and they actively pursued this until Independence. Between 1947 and 1955, the new Indian Government’s policy turned to harvesting as much of timber as possible, and to grow more food. Tribal and non-tribal people were encouraged to occupy Nagarahole’s ‘hadlus’, they were encouraged to cultivate rice and in addition provided cheap logging labour. There were no wildlife protection laws and hunting of predators was actively encouraged. In 1955, hunting of large mammals became illegal, but logging and encroachments into the Park continued. It was only in 1974, when Nagarahole was declared a National Park and tough new wildlife protections laws came into force that the situation started to change. In a complete reversal of roles, the management now tried to curb poaching, livestock grazing and removal of illegal encroachments! Between 1970 and 1980 about a 1000 squatters were moved out of the Park into resettlements. Forest product exploitation was regulated in response to lobbying by wildlife conservationists and a core zone of 200sq. km. was demarcated to the exclusion of forestry activities and tourism.

From: http://wildvistas.com/nationalparks/nagarahole/nagarahole.html

+++

Further Reading:

Eviction Slip by Mark Dowie: http://www.guernicamag.com/features/post_1/

Interview with Jenu Kuruba tribal leader: http://wishbone.co.in/interview-with-jenu-kuruba-tribe-leader/

The Green Climate Fund’s Redress Mechanism: A cautionary tale from Nagarahole: http://jusharma.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/the-green-climate-funds-redress-mechanism-a-cautionary-tale-from-nagarahole/

Aug 01

2013

1

Non-Profit Industrial Complex, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Exploitation Green Economy Greenwash Honduras Landgrabs monoculture Palm WWF

Honduras Will Host the 4th Palm Oil Conference (Celebrating the Murder of Peasants)

quotha.net

July 31, 2013

by Adrienne Pine

Shame—once again—on WWF for greenwashing the murderous palm oil industry. It is no wonder that DICTA waited until a week before the conference to announce it in the Honduran media. Click title for original article in La Tribuna – Adrienne Pine

( translation by Adrienne Pine)

The authorities of the Office of Agriculture and Livestock Science and Technology (DICTA) announced this Wednesday that Honduras will be the site of the 4th conference of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)


The RSPO conference has previously been held in Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador and this year it will be in Honduras.

They indicated that the RSPO conference has previously been held in Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador and this year Honduras will host the fourth conference on Sustainable Palm Oil.

This event has the goal of providing information about the production of oil in a way that is responsible toward nature, the environment and society and it will take place from August 6th to 8th of this year in the convention center of the Club Hondureño Árabe, in San Pedro Sula, department of Cortés. →

Jul 22

2013

16

Foundations, Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Whiteness & Aversive Racism, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Adivasi Agricultural Association AIMA Argentina Biofuels Borneo Branding Der Pakt mit dem Panda (The Pact with the Panda) Documentary Ecotourism Ethanol Exploitation Expropriation GE Global Harvest Initiative GMO Hector Laurance HSBC India Jose Martinez de Hoz Land Evictions Landgrabs monoculture Monsanto Morgan Seeds Palm Oil Papua Paraguay Pioneer Racism Rainforests REDD Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil South America Soy Speciesism WWF

WATCH: WWF SILENCE OF THE PANDAS | A Journey into the Heart of the Green Empire

HectorLaurenceWWFDorteWWFJasonClayWWF

Above: Three of many individuals creating mass-misery and ecological devastation via WWF. Clockwise: Dr Hector Laurence – WWF Argentina (also president of Agricultural Association AIMA and Director of two GMO companies (Morgan Seeds & Pioneer), Dörte Bieler – WWF spokesperson for Germany, Jason Clay – Senior Vice President, Market Transformation.

The WWF is the largest environmental protection organisation in the world. Trust in its “green projects” is almost limitless. Founded on September 11, 1961, it is the most influential lobby group for the environment in the world, thanks largely to its elitist contacts in both the political and industrial spheres and to its ability to walk a constant tightrope between commitment and venality.

This film will dispel the green image of the WWF however. Behind the organisation’s eco-façade, the documentary maker uncovered explosive stories from all around the world. This documentary reveals the secrets of the WWF. It is a journey into the heart of the green empire that will hopefully shatter public faith in such so-called conservation groups forever. [Synopsis below video.]

A film by Wilfried Huismann, Germany, 2011

Synopsis:

The WWF, the most famous and powerful environmental organization worldwide, is facing accusations of working too closely with industries that destroy the environment and of ‘greenwashing’ dubious companies. The Fund allegedly collaborates with companies that deforest jungles, displace farmers, destroy the habitat of animals and contaminate the environment, German journalist and documentary maker Wilfried Huismann reveals. →