News

Nigeria: The Ordinary People Keeping the Peace in Nigeria’s Deadly Land Feuds

Dec 10, 2018 | Max Bearak, Washington Post

Nigeria’s population has grown exponentially and is projected to surpass the United States’ by 2050, although Nigeria is 11 times smaller in area than the…

Afghanistan: Afghan Villagers Face Hunger as Fighting Cuts Northern Roads

Dec 10, 2018 | Matin Sahak, Reuters

Villagers in the northern Afghan province of Faryab have appealed to the government for help after being cut off from food supplies for weeks by…

Afghanistan: Armed Groups, MPs, Officials Involved in Illegal Mining: MEC

Dec 10, 2018 | Anisa Shaheed, TOLOnews

The Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) on Monday released its first report on extraction of mines in the country, in which it…

Colombia: Miners Operating in Colombia Accused of Forcing People off Their Land

Dec 9, 2018 | Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.com

Colombian Forjando Futuros foundation issued a report accusing 33 companies and 150 individuals, both foreign and Colombian, of forcing people living in rural communities off…

Opinion: Connecting The Dots- Land Rights And Inclusive Economic Growth in Colombia

Dec 8, 2018 | Jolene Sanjak

With no shortage of development dollars flowing to Colombia, how can that investment translate into an inclusive model of private sector-led economic growth? And how…

Afghanistan: 'Worst Drought I Have Seen': Afghan Farmers Forced to Flee

Dec 7, 2018 | Phys.org

Wheat and opium farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai, 80, has never seen a drought as bad as the one ravaging western Afghanistan where more than 250,000…

Colombia: 'Forgiveness Is to Remember Without Pain': FARC Ex-Combatants Live Fragile Peace in Colombia

Dec 7, 2018 | Albin Hillert, SOJO

Following the 2016 peace treaty between FARC and the Colombian government, Rubén and a group of ex-combatant families purchased and now cultivate 36 hectares of…

At What Cost to Develop Timor-Leste’s Oil Resources?

Dec 6, 2018 | Vijayalakshmi Menon

In March, Timor-Leste and Australia signed a treaty resolving the issue of the long-disputed maritime boundaries between the two countries. This treaty recognised Australia’s and…

New Zealand: Food Scarcity, Land Disputes: New Zealand Defence Force Issues Alarming Climate Forecast

Dec 6, 2018 | Zane Small, NewsHub

The New Zealand Defence force has issued a stark warning about the effects of climate change and how it will be forced to adapt to…

Yemen: Almost Four Years of Conflict Leads to Declaration of Catastrophic Food Security Conditions in Yemen

Dec 6, 2018 | CARE

As pockets of famine-like conditions are announced in parts of Yemen and the majority of the population are shown to be suffering from emergency or…

Colombia: Their Waters Wrested Away, Colombia's Island Fishermen Lament - and Learn

Dec 6, 2018 | Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation

“But we can’t fish there. I’m afraid to go there,” fisherman Oreste Howard laments, as his small one-engine motor boat bobs in the breeze. The…

The New Rebels of Colombia's Forests

Dec 5, 2018 | Lucy Sherriff

Colombian forests had protected Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fighters from attacks and surveillance. In turn, FARC’s presence in the Magdalena River Valley, nestled…

Iraq: Cleaning up after ISIS: How Iraq’s New Chemicals Team Is Trying to Undo Years of Conflict Pollution

Dec 5, 2018 | UN Environment

ISIS (also known as the Islamic State or Da’esh) has more or less been defeated in Iraq, but throughout the areas it once occupied, the…

Sri Lanka: Tamil Villagers Call for End to Archaeology Land Grab in Trincomalee [Photos]

Dec 5, 2018 | Tamil Guardian

Locals in Trincomalee have written to the Divisional Secretariat of Kuchchaveli, calling for an end to an attempt by Sri Lanka’s archaeology department to seize…

DRC: DRC Classifies Cobalt, Coltan as 'Strategic' Minerals

Dec 5, 2018 | Africa News

Cobalt and coltan, used in electric vehicle and renewable energy technology have been classified as strategic minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congolese Prime…

Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone's 'Peace Diamond' Dividend Slow in Coming

Dec 5, 2018 | Agence France-Presse

They were promised a "peace diamond" dividend in the Sierra Leone village of Koryardu after the stone they handed over for auction fetched $6.5 million…

Myanmar: Jade Is Anything but Green

Dec 5, 2018 | Nick Meynen, Ecologist

Jade is the diamond of the East. A fast-growing, high-income class in China - who often cherish mystical values associated with jade - are causing a…

Peace, Not War, Responsible for Deforestation in Armed Conflict Zones

Dec 5, 2018 | University of Waterloo

Rates of deforestation in war zones increase dramatically once peace is declared, according to a study from the University of Waterloo. Forests and jungles provide…

Less Than One Month Left to Join the Environmental Peacebuilding Association as a Founding Member!

Dec 4, 2018

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association, founded in April of this year, is offering founding membership to individuals and institutions who join by December 31, 2018. With members from more…

Power Play: Can Micro-Hydropower Electrify Remote Afghanistan and Promote Peace?

Dec 4, 2018 | Elizabeth B. Hessami

After close to 40 years of armed conflict, Afghanistan may be poised to begin a period of economic recovery. Electrifying remote areas and establishing pervasive…

Pakistan: Land Grabbers, Henchmen Arrested in Islamabad after Gun Battle with Police

Dec 4, 2018 | Munawer Azeem, Dawn

The police arrested 42 people posing as the Taliban in order to grab land, after a gun battle during an operation Sunday night. Four policemen…

Colombia: El Nino May Cut Colombia's Rainfall by 80 pct in Q1 2019 - Minister

Dec 4, 2018 | Reuters

The El Nino weather phenomenon could reduce rainfall in Colombia by 80 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the country's environment minister said on…

Colombia: Colombia Tropical Forest Fires Spike after 2016 Peace Accords

Dec 4, 2018 | Rutgers University

Fires that contribute to deforestation spiked six-fold in Colombia in the year after an historic 2016 peace agreement ended decades of conflict between FARC guerrilla…

Casimiro Villadiego Olvida

Sarangani Energy Corporation
Philippines
Dec 4, 2018

Casimiro Olvida is a practitioner from the Philippines, focusing on watershed rehabilitation through public-people-private sector partnership, forest land use planning, forest governance, watershed management, and…

Refining the UN's Approach to the Water-Security Nexus

Dec 3, 2018 | Danilo Turk

Today, the world is increasingly aware of the dramatic meaning of water. Water stress and water-related disasters are among the main consequences of global warming…

DRC: Cobalt Mining Shows Clean Energy Revolution Comes at a Price

Dec 3, 2018 | Zoe Dawson, Irish Times

Iraq: Iraqi Security Prevents Protesters from Storming Oilfield

Dec 3, 2018 | Middle East Monitor

Iraqi security forces yesterday prevented dozens of demonstrators from storming the major oilfield of West Qurna 2 in the country’s southern province of Basra.

Myanmar: Chinese Company behind Controversial Copper Mine Eyes Additional 100k Acres

Dec 3, 2018 | Zarni Mann, Irrawaddy

Local concerns over the environmental impacts and potential for land confiscation in the Latpadaung copper mining area are rising again with the submission of an…

Colombia: Deforestation Is Unexpected Result of Peace in Colombia

Dec 3, 2018 | Stony Brook University

War can have devastating effects on nature, but what happens in times of peace? In a first-of-a-kind study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, scientists provide…

Russia/Ukraine: HotSpots H2O, December 3: Water Infrastructure Still a Target in Ukrainian Conflict

Dec 3, 2018 | Kayla Ritter, Circle of Blue

Attacks on civilian water infrastructure remain a strategic vulnerability in the ongoing conflict between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists. Two major water lines were…