Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples

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LAND GRABBING & CARBON TRADE
For Agribusiness, Carbon Trading, Energy, Logging, Mining, and Other Profit Schemes 
Alphabetical Order 

Biggest carbon credit certifier to replace its rainforest offsets scheme  -- The Guardian, 10 Mar 2023

REDD: A Mechanism Rotten to the Core - World Rainforest Movement, 2022

NO to Nature Based Dispossessions! - 25 Mar 2022

From Land Grab to Soil Grab - GRAIN, 24 Feb 2022 ​

Harvard's land grabs in Brazil are a disaster for communities and a warning to speculators 
GRAIN & Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos -- May 2020 

A Darker Shade of Green: REDD + Alert and the Future of Forests [Video]
Global Forest Coalition & Global Justice Ecology Project -- 2010

A terra é dos índios. E o carbono, é de quem? (In Portuguese)
Agenciapublica (Brazil) -- 09 Mar 2012 

A Tree for a Fish: The (il)logic Behind Selling Biodiversity 
Joanna Cabello & Tamra Gilbertson, Carbon Trade Watch -- Dec 2014 

Africa Faith & Justice Network [Website] 

African Agricultural Growth Corridors: Who benefits, who loses?
Helena Paul, Ricarda Steinbrecher, EcoNexus -- Dec 2012 

African court sets major precedent for Indigenous Peoples' land rights 
Minority Rights Group International -- 26 May 2017 

Agricultural Investment Activities in the Beira Corridor, Mozambique: Threats and Opportunities for Small-Scale Farmers [Executive Summary in Portuguese]
African Centre for Biodiversity -- Oct 2015 

Amazon Deforestation, Once Tamed, Comes Roaring Back 
Hiroko Tabuchi & Jeremy White, New York Times -- 24 Feb 2017 

Belo Monte: After the Flood [Film]
Produced by International Rivers, Amazon Watch, Todd Southgate (Exec. Producer).  Narrated by Peter Coyote.  -- Initial release Oct 2016 
                         Download the Film     Download the fact sheet/companion guide 

Biodiversity Offsetting: License to Destroy 
Giulia Franchi, RE: COMMON -- Mar 2017 

Biodiversity Offsets: Open letter to Janez Potočnik, EU Commissioner for the Environment, about biodiversity offsetting -- 17 Oct 2014 

Biopiracy of Biodiversity: Global Exchange as Enclosure
Andrew Mushita and Carol Thompson, African World Press -- 2007 

Brazil: Study Released on 30 Years of Land Conflicts 
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns -- May-June 2015 NewsNotes 

Brazilian Megaproject in Mozambique Set to Displace Millions of Peasants 
GRAIN -- Nov 2012
See also: Statement from UNAC (National Peasants' Union of Mozambique) -- 11 Oct 2012
Follow Up Report:
Leaked ProSAVANA Master Plan Confirms Worst Fears 
Justiça Ambiental et al, GRAIN - 30 Apr 2013 

Carbon Colonialism: The Failure of Green Resources' Carbon Offset Project in Uganda
Kristen Lyons and David Ssemwogerere. The Oakland Institute -- Dec 2017 

Carbon Crooks - A Film About Carbon, Credits and Crooks [Video]
Tom Heinemann, Director -- Sep 2013 

Carbon Markets: Trading with our Future [video]
Occupy COP17 -- 2009 

Carbon Offsets Cause Conflict and Colonialism: Indigenous Peoples Denounce at United Nations; Demand Cancellation of REDD+ 
Indigenous Environmental Network -- 18 May 2016 

Carbon Pricing: A Critical Perspective for Community Resistence 
Tamra Gilbertson, Indigenous Environmental Network & Climate Justice Alliance -- Oct 2017 

Carbon Trade Watch [Website] 

CIMI Report on Land and Violence Toward Indigenous Peoples in Brasil 
Indigenous Missionary Council of Brasil's Catholic Bishops' Conference -- Jul 2014 

CIMI: Annual Report on Violence Suffered by Indigenous Peoples in Brazil 
Indigenous Missionary Council, Brazilian Catholic Bishops' Council -- 05 Oct 2017
The data for 2016 documents an increase in cases of the most flagrant violations of basic human rights, such as murder, assinations, child mortality, suicides, chronic malnutrion and lack of legal recognition to ancestral lands.  Political setbacks, due to the ever-increasing power of the Ruralist Lobby in Brazil, are a main driver of the violent disregard and offensive attacks on indigenous communities in the country.  See the Report in Portuguese 

Also, read Chris Lang's latest report on the conflictual REDD+ projects on indigenous territories 

Common Ground: Securing Land Rights and Safeguarding the Earth 
Fred Pearce, Land Rights Now: A Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights -- Mar 2016 

Corporatising Agriculture: World Bank Rankings Facilitate Land Grabs [Article]
Alice Martin-Prével, Bretton Woods Project  -- 09 May 2014 

Court Rules that Brazilian Businessman Who Sold Lands to TIAA-CREF Acquired Lands Illegally 
GRAIN, Rede Social de Justiçia e Direitos Humanos, et al -- 20 Jul 2016 

Data Set of More Than 400 Global Land Grabs
GRAIN -- 2012 

Deadly Environment: The Rise in Killings of Environmental and Land Defenders 
Global Witness
-- 2014  

Dealing with Disclosure: Improving Transparency in Decision-Making over Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, Allocations, and Investments
International Land Coalition   The Oakland Institute   Global Witness -- Apr 2012 

Declaration on Land Grabbing & Just Governance in Africa 
Limuru, Kenya -- 22-25 Nov 2015 

Dossier: New Economy of Nature 
Heinrich Böll Stiftung-The Green Policitcal Foundation -- 2016 

Down on the Farm 
Lukas Ross, The Oakland Institute -- 2014 

End of Mission Statement by UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil  [Portuguese Version]
Victoria Tauli Corpuz
-- 17 Mar 2016  

Ethiopia: Land and Water Grabs Threaten Half a Million
The Oakland Institute -- 2011 

European Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in possible land grabs: The Need for Further Independent Scrutiny 
Mark Curtis, FERN -- Aug 2017 

Every Day Should Be International Day of Peasants' Struggles 
Adrian Bebb and Ramona Duminicioiu, euobserver -- 18 Apr 2016 

Farming Carbon Credits a Con for Africa: The Many Faces of Climate Smart Agriculture
Teresa Anderson, The Gaia Foundation -- Dec 2011 

Farming Money: How European Banks & Private Finance Profit from Food Speculation & Land Grabs
Friends of the Earth Europe -- 2012 

Farmland Grab [Website]
GRAIN 

Feeding the 1 Percent: An IT Billionaire's Foray into Agribusiness Paints a Disturbing Picture of Today's Farm Land Financiers
GRAIN -- Sep 2014 

Food Commodity Speculation and Food Price Crises
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
BBC World News Interview -- 2010 

Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab: Governments and Corporations are Buying up Farmland in Other Countries to Grow Their Own Food - or Simply to Make Money
GRAIN - A Collection of Solid Resources on the Topic -- 2013 

Food Speculation Fact Sheet
WEED (World Economy, Ecology & Development) -- 2011 

Food Speculation [video]
WEED (World Economy, Ecology & Development) -- 2011 

FUNAI: “Os contratos com indígenas não têm validade” (In Portuguese)
Agenciapublica (Brazil) -- Mar 2012 

G8 New Alliance Hits and Grabs Land & Water of 50 Thousand People in Mozambique 
ADECRU (ACÇÃO ACADÉMICA PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO DAS COMUNIDADES RURAIS) -- 15 Mar 2015 


Grow-ing disaster: the Fortune 500 goes farming 
GRAIN -- 15 Dec 2016 

Harvard's Billion Dollar Farm Fiasco 
GRAIN and Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos - 06 Sep 2018 

Harvest of Hardship: Yala Swamp Land Grap Destroys Kenyan Farmers' Livelihood
GRAIN -- 23 Oct 2014 

Honey At the Top [Film] 
Film by Dean Puckett, run-time 57:26 -- June 2015 

How Will We Survive: The destruction of Congo Basin tribes in the name of conservation 
Survival International -- 25 Sep 2017 

Hungry for Land: Small Farmers Feed the World with Less than a Quarter of All Farmland
GRAIN -- May 2014 

Indigenous People Pressured on REDD + [Video]
Alto Xingu Tribe, Brazil, Sommer Films (English subtitles) -- 2010 

Indigenous Peoples Contaminated by Mercury from Illegal Gold Mining 
Report from Brazilian Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and an article from the Amazonian newspaper, ACritica -- Mar 2016  [Both publications currently in Portuguese.  Please see the following links respectively:
1. 
http://portal.fiocruz.br/pt-br/content/pesquisa-da-fiocruz-revela-alto-indice-de-contaminacao-por-mercurio-em-reserva-yanomami 
2. http://www.acritica.com/channels/governo/news/pesquisa-da-fiocruz-revela-alto-indice-de-contaminacao-por-mercurio-em-reserva-yanomami

Invested In Exploitation: TIAA’s Links To Land Grabbing & Deforestation 
ActionAid USA, Friends of the Earth, Inclusive Development International, Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos - Apr 2017 

It's Time to Outlaw Land Grabbing, Not to Make it Responsible!
Friends of the Earth International et al -- 2011 

Key Arguments Against "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation"
(REDD +)
Carbon Trade Watch -- 2011 

Land and Seed Laws Under Attack: Who is Pushing Changes in Africa [Report]
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), GRAIN -- 21 Jan 2015  Portuguese Version
 

Land Ceilings: Reigning in Land Grabbers or Dumbing Down the Debate
GRAIN -- Feb 2013 

Land conflicts and shady finances plague DR Congo palm oil company backed by development funds 
World Rainforest Movement, GRAIN, Africa-Europe Faith & Justice Network, et al -- 03 Nov 2016 

Land Grabbers of the Nacala Corridor (Portuguese Version)
Mozambique National Farmers' Union (UNAC), GRAIN -- Feb 2015

Land Grabbing for Biofuels Must Stop
GRAIN -- Feb 2013 

Land Grabbing: Journeys into the New Colonialism 
Stefano Liberti, Verso Publications -- Nov 2013 

Land Grabs and Fragile Food Systems 
Sophia Murphy, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policies -- Feb 2013 

Land Matrix: Public Database of Large-Scale Land Deals
Documentation of Global Land Deals Since 2000 

Land Monitor Site (Post Information about Land Grabs in the USA)
National Family Farm Coalition  

Land Rights and the Rush for Land
International Land Coalition -- 2012 

Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm 
Carlos A. Nobre et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
-- 16 Sep 2016 

Licensed to Grab: How International Investment Rules Undermine Agrarian Justice
Pietje Vervest and Timothé Feodoroff, Transnational Institute -- Jan 2015 

Make Money, Save Forest: Part 1 [Video - English sub-titles] 
Antonio Aldo "Tony" Papaleo, Investigative Journalist -- 2014 

Mali Conference: Final Declaration on Land Grabbing 
19 Nov 2011 

Missing the Poorest for the Trees: REDD+ and the Link Between Forestry, Resilience and Peacebuilding, Tobias F. Dorr, Adriaan B. Heskamp, Ian B. Madison, Katherine D. Reichel, London School of Economics and International Alert -- June 2013 

Mozambique Cedes 6 Million Hectares to Brazilian Farmers
Global Voices Online -- 2011 

My Home, My Land: A Graphic Novel on Land Grabs 
Oakland Institute -- 2015
"... this publication dismantles the many myths promoted by so-called donor countries, development agencies, and corporations about the positive effects of foreign direct investments through large-scale land acquisitions." 

Nature Not For Sale [Website] 
Challenging Biodiversity Offsetting and the Financialisation of Nature 
See Also Open letter to Commissioner Potočnik about biodiversity offsetting (below) 

Nature is Not For Sale: The Dangers of Commodifying Our Natural World
Friends of the Earth Europe
-- June 2014 

New Alliance, New Risk of Land Grabs: Evidence from Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania 
Mark Curtis, ActionAid International -- May 2015 

No REDD!  A Reader
Carbon Trade Watch -- 2011 

No REDD in Africa Network [Website]

On Our Land: Land Grabs in Papua New Guinea [Video]
Anuradha Mittal, Executive Producer -- 2013 

Ongoing Destruction of the Amazonian Region -- Aug 2017 
1. Amazon Reserve the Size of Denmark Abolished 
2. Major Catholic Networks of the Pan-Amazonian Region Publicly Condemn the Brazilian Government’s Decree which Abolishes the RENCA Reserve: [Portuguese statement available only] 
“We heard the cry of the land and the cry of the poor” 
3. Canadian Entrepreneurs Received Inside Information on Amazon Reserve Extinction: 

Open Letter to Commissioner Potočnik About Biodiversity Offsetting 
Letter to the European Commission -- 17 Oct 2014 

Open Letter to the World Bank & International Community on the Tenth Anniversary of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility 
Rainforest Foundation UK -- 08 Dec 2017 

Opening Pandora's Box: The New Wave of Land Grabbing by the Extractive Industries and the Devastating Impact on Earth
Philippe Sibaud, Commissioned by the Gaia Foundation -- 2012 

Our Land is Worth More Than Carbon 
Global Forest Coalition -- 15 Nov 2016 

Pension Funds Help Fuel Global Land Grabs
GRAIN -- 2011 

Planet for Sale: Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab [Documentary]
Alexis Marant, produced by CAPA PRESSE TV, Distributed by ARTE -- May 2011
50 minute version of the full 90 minute French Documentary 

Planet Palm Oil: Peasants Pay the Price for Cheap Vegetable Oil 
GRAIN -- Sep 2014 

PLANT Report: Current Risks to Amazonian Traditional Peoples
PLANT (Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples) -- Mar 2012 

PLANT SPECIAL REPORT: Indigenous Communities' Struggles for Recognition -- 2018
​"The laws supposed to protect traditional peoples’ rights to their lands and ways of livelihood are becoming progressively corroded in Brazil ... Community leaders continue their struggle for recognition despite death threats, assassinations and multiple schemes of encroachment into their lands and interwoven waterways." 
​

Position Statement on the Threat from Industrial Oil Palm Expansion to Equitorial Forests in Africa 
Stephen M. Awoyemi, Martin Nganje, Beth A. Kaplin and Dhaval Vyas, Society for Conservation Biology -- Jan 2015 
 

Positive Investment Alternatives to Large-Scale Land Aquisitions or Leases 
Sylvia Kay, Transnational Institute for the Hands Off the Land Alliance -- June 2012 

Protected Areas in the Congo Basin: Failing Both People and Biodiversity? 
Aili Pyhälä, Ana Osuna Orozco, Simon Counsell, Rainforest Foundation UK -- Apr 2016 

Rainforest Mafias: How Violence and Impunity Fuel Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon​ 
[Portuguese Version] 
Human Rights Watch -- 17 Sep 2019 

REDD in Brazil: Two Case Studies on Early Forest Carbon Offset Projects 
Jutta Kill, Heinrich Böll Foundation Brazil -- 2014 

REDD+ in Central America: ​It's Better to Ask for Forgiveness than Permission 
Henry Picando, Kioscos Ambientales, Mariana, World Rainforest Movement -- 21 Oct 2016 

REDD-Monitor [Website]
Analyzes and critiques the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) mechanism that has been under negotiation by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 2005.   
[Note: The now commonly used term REDD + "goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks"]  See UN-REDD Programme.

Rio de Janeiro Green Exchange (BVRio): Trading Away Brazil's Forests
Chris Lang, Redd Monitor -- 07 May 2015 

Rio Tinto's Biodiversity Offset in Madascar: Double Landgrab in the Name of Biodiversity? [French Version] 
Jutta Kill and Giulia Franchi, World Rainforest Movement and Re:Common -- Mar 2016 

Sacred Voices: What Our Sacred Natural Sites Mean to Us [Video]
The GAIA Foundation and the African Biodiversity Network -- 2012 

Seeds of Discontent (Video)
Geoff Arbourne, Duckin' & Divin' Films, Transnational Institute -- Oct 2013 

Soy, Corn & Cotton Make Brazil World Leader for Hazordous Pesticides 
Crispin Dowler, Unearthed & Public Eye -- 20 Feb 2020 

Soy Story: Factory Farming, Land Grabs and the Destruction of Argentina [Video]  12:14 minutes
Compassion in World Farming -- 2013 

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
Vandana Shiva, South End Press -- 2000 

Take Action: Stop EcoEnergy's Land Grab in Bagamoyo, Tanzania 
Mark Curtis & Richard Mbunda, ActionAid International -- 18 Mar 2015 

Tanzanian Villagers Pay for Investment Disaster 
Mikael Bargius, The Oakland Institute -- Sep 2012 

Territories of Life: A Video Toolkit for Indigenous Peoples about Land and Rights
LifeMosaic, Supporting Indigenous Peoples to Defend Their Rights, Edinburgh, Scotland -- 2015 

The Carbon Con: Investigating the True Cost of Offsetting [Video]
Ecologist Film Unit -- 2011   Read Article 

The Darker Side of Green: Plantation Forestry and Carbon Violence in Uganda
Assoc. Prof. Kristen Lyons, Dr. Carol Richards and Dr. Peter Westoby, published by the Oakland Institute -- Nov 2014 

The G8 and Land Grabs in Africa 
GRAIN -- Mar 2013 

  • The Global Land Grab: A Primer
  • Transnational Institute Agrarian Justice Programme -- Feb 2013 

The Great Food Robbery: How Corporations Control Food, Grab Land and Destroy the Climate
GRAIN, Fahamu Books & Pambazuka Press -- 2012 

The Great Hunger Lottery
World Development Movement -- 2010 

The Great Land Grab: Rush for World's Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor
Shepard Daniel with Anuradha Mittal, The Oakland Institute -- 2009

The Great Land Heist: How the World is Paving the Way for Corporate Land Grabs
Julian Oram, ActionAid International -- May 2014 

The Great REDD Gamble: Time to Ditch Risky REDD for Community-Based Approaches that are Effective, Ethical and Equitable 
Ronnie Hall, Friends of the Earth International -- Oct 2014 

The Highest Bidder Takes It All: The World Bank's Scheme to Privatize the Commons 
Frédéric Mousseau et al, The Oakland Institute - 2019 

The Reality of REDD + in Peru: Between Theory and Practice
Amazonian People's Analyses and Alternatives -- 2011
Forest People's Programs 

The Story of REDD: A Real Solution to Deforestation? [Video]
FERN -- 2012 

Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa: Land Grabs Leave Africa Thirsty
The Oakland Institute -- 2011
Visit Oakland Institute for African country-specific reports on this topic 

Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa: Massive Deforestation Portrayed as Sustainable Development - the Deceit of Herakles Farms in Cameroon
The Oakland Institute in collaboration with Greenpeace -- Sep 2012
Watch the Video 
See follow-up report - Herakles Exposed: The Truth Behind Herakles Farms False Promises in Cameroon -- 2013
See update: Activists Claim Win as Herakles Halts Cameroon Operation -- 26 May 2013 

Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa: SOCFIN Land Investment in Sierra Leone 
The Oakland Institute -- 2012 

Unheard Voices: The Human Rights Impact of Land Investments on Indigenous Communities in Gambella
The Oakland Institute -- 2013 

Vale: Leading the Corporate Lobby for Easier Offsetting and Other False "Green" Solutions
Friends of the Earth International -- Jan 2011 

Vanderbilt University Divests from Land Grab in Africa 
The Oakland Institute -- Feb 2013 

Who Will Control the Green Economy
ETC Group -- 2011 

Who's Behind the Land Grabs?  A Look at Some of the People Pursuing or Supporting Large Farmland Grabs Around the World 
GRAIN -- 2012 

Why REDD’s not dead, despite its “dismal track-record” 
Chris Lang, REDD-Monitor -- 21 Mar 2020 
  ​

Willful Blindness: World Bank's Country Rankings Impoverish Smallholder Farmers
Alice Martin-Prével, the Oakland Institute -- 2014 (See "Our Land, Our Business" above) 

World Bank Paving the Way for a National Biodiversity Offset Strategy in Liberia 
Jutta Kill, World Rainforest Movement (included in Bulletin 213) -- 06 May 2015