New proposals on land reform in Scotland are a mixed bag, writes Craig Bayne: some good, some bad, and some downright ugly. Leading that last category is the failure to tackle offshore land ownership in tax haven shell companies, and force disclosure of the real landowners.
… Scottish land reform - don't forget the tax havens! … Bayne | 18th September 2015 Comment UK ScotlandLand Grabs Law Politics bruce-fummey-cut.jpg …
It may not be on tonight's telly, but there's only one story on the lips of SNP members at their party's conference in Aberdeen, writes Jen Stout - the grassroots revolt against the feeble land reform bill advanced by the party leadership, rejected outright by members in a decisive vote. Now the SNP must come up with a bill that's as 'radical' as Nicola Sturgeon's speeches.
… SNP's land rebellion - we want radical reform, not … Bella Caledonia | 17th October 2015 News Scotland UK Politics Land Farming nicky-lowden-mccrimmon-twtr.jpg …
Australia's nuclear industry has a shameful history of 'radioactive racism' that dates from the British bomb tests in the 1950s, writes Jim Green. The same attitudes persist today with plans to dump over half a million tonnes of high and intermediate level nuclear waste on Aboriginal land, and open new uranium mines. But now Aboriginal peoples and traditional land owners are fighting back!
… level nuclear waste on Aboriginal land, and open new uranium mines. But now Aboriginal peoples and traditional land owners are fighting back! From 1998-2004, … a national nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land in South Australia. Then the government …
Those who value public lands - for economic, environmental, recreational and aesthetic values - owe a debt of gratitude to Harney County, Oregon, writes Peter Walker. A violent branch of the Sagebrush Rebellion came to town, and the community told it to go away: the decisive factor in the occupiers' defeat. But the greater war for America's public lands has only just begun.
… of the beginning: war for America's public lands rages on Peter Walker University of … | 23rd February 2016 News USA Politics The Land Commons Protest gun-cut.jpg Those who value public lands - for economic, environmental, …
The closing down of a community radio station in eastern Paraguay is the latest example of political repression in the country with the most unequal land distribution in Latin America, writes Toby Hill, and in which the media are dominated by a tiny elite of the super-rich. As small farmers begin to reclaim the land that is rightfully theirs, landowners and the state they control are striking back.
… and violence, Paraguay's rural poor fight for land and freedom Toby Hill | 27th May 2016 News Paraguay South America The Land Farming Society Politics paraguay-cut.jpg … in the country with the most unequal land distribution in Latin America, writes …
Land theft, agribusiness and violence pose an existential threat to Brazil's Guarani people, writes Lewis Evans. They maintain a powerful resolve to regain their historic lands, and even have the law on their side - but the tribe will need international support to prevail against murderous ranchers and farmers, corrupt politicians and a paralysed legal system.
… June 2016 News Indigenous Peoples Brazil The Land Human Rights Politics braz-guar-fw-2010-371a-cut.jpg Land theft, agribusiness and violence pose an … a powerful resolve to regain their historic lands, and even have the law on their side - …
A deal to give up 500,000 acres of public lands in Utah to the tar sands industry in return for 1.5 million acres of industry is a sacrifice too far, writes Alexander Reid Ross, as it disclaims the wider costs of massive water use and contamination in the headwaters of the Colorado River, already seriously stressed by drought.
… A deal to give up 500,000 acres of public lands in Utah to the tar sands industry in … state. Trading away half a million acres of land to the energy industry for 1.5 million … for the past twenty years that the Bureau of Land Management and School and Institutional …
At a time when the Labour Party is discovering its egalitarian roots, inequality is as much of an issue in the countryside as in the city, states this 'Rural Manifesto' from the Land Workers Alliance and The Land. The neglect and exclusion of Britain's rural poor and landless farmers must end.
… Equality in the countryside Land Workers Alliance The Land | 7th January 2016 Comment The Land Farming UK Politics rural.png At a time …
On the one side, the Guarani people and the entire panoply of international and Brazilian law asserting the rights of indigenous peoples to their lives, lands, and way of life. Against them, the entrenched economic and political power of farmers, ranchers, loggers and others exploiting the wealth of the Guarani's soils, forests and waters. Right now the power of money is winning every time. Only with international pressure can the Guarani emerge victorious.
… Only global protest can secure land rights and justice for Brazil's Guarani … rights of indigenous peoples to their lives, lands, and way of life. Against them, the … stake in it. The theft of their ancestral land by ranchers and agribusiness has been a …
In the thick of the Olympic frenzy, one voice that was systematically excluded from mainstream narratives is that of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples, writes Lewis Evans, who have fought to survive through centuries of dehumanisation, theft and genocide. And now they face a fresh attack as a proposed constitutional change, PEC 215, threatens a new round of indigenous land theft.
… Indigenous Peoples Brazil Genocide The Land Forests Politics … PEC 215, threatens a new round of indigenous land theft. Whatever your view of the Olympic … shooting s, arrest and beatings, systematic land-theft , forest fires and racism. All of …
Rising anger by China's dispossessed - those displaced from their homes, villages and farms to make way for ever-expanding cities and infrastructure - is posing an existential threat to the ruling regime, write Samantha Hoffman & Jonathan Sullivan. At the root of the problem is the state's inability to tackle endemic official corruption and deliver justice to its citizens.
… Tianjin, China: a village 'land grab' protest spells trouble for the … Jonathan Sullivan | 11th April 2015 News Land Grabs China Politics Development … protests taking place on the Chinese mainland. Without much fanfare or media attention, …
Impunity reigns in the Amazon, write Joe Sandler Clarke & Sam Cowie, and the indigenous peoples of the forest are the big losers as they suffer repeated killings and land grabs. Big cuts to Funai, the agency meant to protect Brazil's indigenous tribes, have encouraged land barons to expand their land holdings into indigenous territories and murder any who resist.
… Brazil: Increase in land killings as political crisis threatens … 7th June 2017 News Indigenous Peoples Brazil Land Grabs Politics Forests Human Rights … losers as they suffer repeated killings and land grabs. Big cuts to Funai, the agency …
A new dam on indigenous lands at Muskrat Falls will join a network of other hydroelectric projects spanning Innu territories across the Labrador-Quebec peninsula, writes Colin Samson. The continual violation of Innu rights imperils their ability to enjoy healthy and sustainable lifestyles - and follows in a long tradition of indigenous land theft in North America.
… muskrat-falls-cut.jpg A new dam on indigenous lands at Muskrat Falls will join a network of … and follows in a long tradition of indigenous land theft in North America. A controversial … on local Innu people giving up their own lands. Nalcor Energy, the firm building two …
The shocking death of Zane Gbangbola, killed by toxic gas from a 'forgotten' landfill under his home, exposes the UK's dangerous legacy of contaminated land, writes Paul Mobbs. Without action, these polluted sites will damage health and even kill for centuries to come. But governments, local authorities, landowners and developers are united in a shameful policy of silence and denial.
… conspiracy of silence over contaminated land must end Paul Mobbs | 6th September 2016 News Waste Pollution Politics England UK Health trespassers-will-cut.jpg The … killed by toxic gas from a 'forgotten' landfill under his home, exposes the UK's …
The public interest is already derelicted by federal officials on the US's public lands routinely intimidated by aggressive local economic and political interests, writes George Wuerthner. And now it's only going to get worse, with media coverage of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge debacle uncritically promulgating the false narrative of over-zealous enforcement of regulations.
… Americans are losing control of our public lands George Wuerthner | 12th February 2016 Comment The Land Commons Forests Farming USA Politics … by federal officials on the US's public lands routinely intimidated by aggressive …
At the heart of Poland's capital, Warsaw, farmers have founded a flourishing encampment known as the 'Green City', writes Julian Rose. It's a focus of protest against the sell-off of their land to agribusiness, the arrival of GMO crops, and the imposition of a failed 'Western' model of farming that's creating huge corporate profits while debasing food and bankrupting small farmers.
… Occupy agriculture! Polish farmers sit in for land and freedom Julian Rose | 19th March 2015 News Poland Farming Food Corporations Politics Protest GMOs Land Grabs occupy-farming-adam_payne-cut.jpg …
Jeremy Corbyn's soaraway success in Labour's leadership contest poses an existential threat to the Greens, writes Rupert Read. To counter it we must re-assert our distinctive ethos, values, policies and principles, rooted in ecologism not socialism, respecting natural limits, opposed to endless economic growth, dedicated to building and sharing the wealth we all hold in common.
… clean, green, renewable energy. Taking land seriously Next, being Green means taking … in pleasant contrast to 'New Labour') but land. Land is the complement to labour; it is the …
Peru is in hot competition with Brazil to be the main focus of Amazonian deforestation, writes Clément Doleac. A neoliberal government desperate to hand over the country's forests, oil, gas, minerals and indigenous lands for corporate exploitation is unafraid to break national laws, turn a blind eye to air and water pollution, and respond to any challenges with overwhelming violence.
… Doleac | 5th October 2015 News Peru Forests Land Grabs Indigenous Peoples Corporations … forests, oil, gas, minerals and indigenous lands for corporate exploitation is unafraid … million hectares, or more than half of the land area in Peru (53%). [4] Officially, and …
The US is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, write Colin Samson & Øyvind Ravna. Both require free, prior and informed consent for any intrusions on indigenous lands and stipulate that indigenous peoples shall own and control their traditional lands. The US is violating both at Standing Rock.
… consent for any intrusions on indigenous lands and stipulate that indigenous peoples … shall own and control their traditional lands. The US is violating both at Standing … unity against the exploitation of indigenous lands. For a long time, it looked like a …
For 80 years Australia's Aboriginal peoples have called for land rights and sovereignty, writes Harry Hobbs. And for 80 years they have been ignored or brushed aside. But now delegates meeting at Uluru have issued a 'statement from the heart' demanding constitutional reform to empower Indigenous people to take 'a rightful place in our own country'. Their call must be heard!
… Australia Indigenous Peoples Human Rights The Land Politics uluru-cut.jpg For 80 years … Aboriginal peoples have called for land rights and sovereignty, writes Harry … aspirations. A rightful place in their own land - 80 years of demands ignored Indigenous …
First the Government failed to include a Forests Bill in its legislative programme, writes Owen Adams. Next, campaigners spotted that the Infrastructure Bill enables a wholesale selloff of public lands. Just how safe are Britain's public lands and forests?
… Save our public lands and forests Owen Adams | 23rd June 2014 … Bill enables a wholesale selloff of public lands. Just how safe are Britain's public lands and forests? The idea of selling off the …
As the G7 leaders prepare to meet in Bavaria this weekend, small-scale farmers from around the world call on them to abandon their disastrous plan for the corporate takeover of global agriculture and the extirpation of small-scale farmers everywhere - those who produce most of the world's food. True food security must be rooted in local control over land, seeds and water.
… small-scale farmers The Global Convergence of Land Water Struggles | 4th June 2015 Activism … security must be rooted in local control over land, seeds and water. Small-scale food … local control over natural resources, seeds, land, water, forests, knowledge and …
As Cameron 'cuts the green crap' Paul Mobbs remembers how the decisions of a Conservative government 20 years ago to go easy on the owners of contaminated land and old waste dumps have led to present day blight, ill-health and death. Now brow-beaten regulators and politicians in hock to party funders are doing it all over again.
… Death by landfill - cutting 'green tape' … ago to go easy on the owners of contaminated land and old waste dumps have led to present … to the chemical plants of Teeside, to the landfills of South Wales. The point at which I …
The indigenous Wampis people of the Peruvian Amazon have demanded the immediate closure of a Petroperú oil pipeline after a series of devastating spills, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. The company has already been found guilty of 'negligence' after previous oil spills contaminated the Wampis land and rivers.
… previous oil spills contaminated the Wampis land and rivers. The autonomous territorial … to OEFA reports, affected an area of 400m2 of land immediately adjacent to the pipeline … severe and irreparable harm to the community lands of Mayuriaga and to our collective …