Local communities

TOSHAOS and Regional Chairmen of the 10 administrative regions yesterday declared that Guyana does not have any existing group of indigenous people living in isolation. This declaration came following a presentation by Project Coordinator- Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Sharon Austin, on the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) with particular emphasis on indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact.

Amerindian leaders have agreed by majority vote to a resolution calling for the fast-tracking of the institutional requirements for the release of the Norway funds critical to the implementation of projects under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

The UN’s flagship business initiative is being used as a tool to mask human rights abuses, according to Ayoreo Indians in Paraguay.

The process of creating “carbon rights” – ownership of carbon stored in tropical forests – risks excluding the poor and landless who depend on forests if it is not done properly, a new briefing warns.

A public debate about the potential for emerging conservation initiatives to make international forestry fairer for local communities in developing countries will take place at UEA London on 20 July.