This blog, which is part of a wider global initiative on Commercial Pressures on Land led by the International Land Coalition, contains press reports, research papers, case studies and any other relevant information about the new wave of “commercial pressures on land” that poor rural land-users are facing all over the world.
It seeks to provide updated information to all those trying to monitor, quantify and understand the extent of this ongoing phenomenon.
Read more about the Blog
Read more about the Commercial Pressures on Land Initiative
-
Modeling the global trade and environmental impacts of biofuel policies
Posted on 03 September, 2010 No comments
IFPRI, August 2010By Bouët, Antoine, Dimaranan, Betina V., Valin, Hugo
“There is rising skepticism about the potential positive environmental impacts of first generation biofuels. Growing biofuel crops could induce diversion of other crops dedicated to food and feed needs. The relocation of production could increase deforestation and bring significant new volumes of carbon into the atmosphere. In this paper, we develop a methodology for assessing the indirect land use change effects related to biofuel policies in a computable general equilibrium framework. Read the rest of this entry »
research papers (english), *EU*, *global*, agrofuels, climate change, CPL leading to land use change, deforestation, environmental degradation, policies and laws, [Brazil], [Indonesia], [USA] -
Parecer que limita a compra de terras por estrangeiros terá efetividade reduzida
Posted on 02 September, 2010 No comments
MST, 2 Setembro 2010Por Igor Felippe Santos
Foto por Ali Mustafa/Flickr
“O presidente Lula assinou na semana passada um parecer da Advocacia Geral da União (AGU), que impõe limites para a compra de terras pelo capital estrangeiro, com base na lei n° 5.709, de 1971. O texto impede empresas controladas pelo capital estrangeiro de adquirir imóveis rurais acima de 50 módulos fiscais (varia entre 250 a 5 mil hectares, dependendo da região do país). Read the rest of this entry »
press (portuguese), *Latin America*, agribusiness, agriculture, land concentration, policies and laws, privatization, [Brazil] -
Burger King drops palm oil supplier linked to Borneo rainforest destruction
Posted on 02 September, 2010 No comments
mongabay.com, 2 September 2010Photo by rockito/Flickr
“Burger King announced it would no longer source palm oil from Sinar Mas, an Indonesian conglomerate, after an independent audit showed one of the company’s subsidiaries had destroyed rainforests and carbon-dense peatlands in Borneo and Sumatra, according to a statement on the fast food chain’s Facebook page. In a report issued last month, Sinar Mas tried to misrepresent the results of the audit by claiming it cleared its subsidiary PT Smart of environmental transgressions. Read the rest of this entry »
press (english), *Asia*, agrofuels, corporate social responsibility, deforestation, [Indonesia] -
AUDIO “Perú:La invasión de las mineras chinas”
Posted on 02 September, 2010 No comments
Radio Web Rural, Mayo 2010Por Nelly Rivera
Foto por Explorer Bijorn/Flickr
“El Perú se ha convertido en el epicentro de las inversiones y operaciones de las mineras chinas. En los últimos años han ingresado a nuestro país, tres consorcios mineros chinos que desarrollaran los megaproyectos Río Blanco, Toromocho y Galeno. Y ¿porque hay interés de las empresas mineras chinas en invertir en nuestro país? A continuación la respuesta.” Read the rest of this entry »
multimedia (spanish), *Latin America*, conflict, free trade agreements, indigenous people, land rights, mining, [China], [Peru] -
80% of tropical agricultural expansion between 1980-2000 came at expense of forests
Posted on 02 September, 2010 No comments
mongabay.com, 2 September 2010By Rhett Butler
Photo by Frank Kehren
“More than 80 percent of agricultural expansion in the tropics between 1980 and 2000 came at the expense of forests, reports research published last week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Read the rest of this entry »
press (english), *Asia*, *Latin America*, agribusiness, agrofuels, climate change, CPL leading to land use change, deforestation, food production, policies and laws, r.e.d.d. -
Secret titanium mine threatens Cambodia’s most untouched forest
Posted on 01 September, 2010 No comments
mongabay.com, 1 September 2010By Jeremy Hance
Photo by christof tof/Flickr
“Although the mining consortium, United Khmer Group, has been drawing up plans to build a massive titanium mine in a Cambodian protected forest for three years, the development did not become public knowledge until rural villagers came face-to-face with bulldozers and trucks building access roads. Reaction against the secret mine was swift as environmentalists feared for the impacts on wildlife and the rivers, local villagers saw a looming threat to their burgeoning eco-tourism trade, and Cambodian newspapers began to question statements by the mining corporation. Read the rest of this entry »
press (english), *Asia*, conflict, deforestation, environmental degradation, land rights, mining, [Cambodia] -
Bushmen launch appeal over right to water
Posted on 01 September, 2010 No comments
Survival International, 1 September 2010Photo by Al Green/Flickr
“The Bushmen of Botswana have lodged an appeal against a High Court decision that denied them access to water on their ancestral lands. In July, Justice Walia dismissed the Bushmen’s application for permission to use a well on their lands inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, expressing sympathy for the government’s position that ‘having chosen to settle at an uncomfortably distant location, [the Bushmen] have brought upon themselves any discomfort they may endure.’ Read the rest of this entry »
press (english), *Africa*, indigenous people, Land acquisitions for tourism, land rights, water, [Botswana] -
Banco Mundial: cortina de humo para las plantaciones de palma
Posted on 01 September, 2010 No comments
Ecoportal, 1 Septiembre 2010Foto por wajakemek/Flickr
“El Banco Mundial realiza en Frankfurt entre el 31 de Agosto y el 1 de Septiembre 2010 la última sesión de su proceso de consulta acerca de una estrategia de financiación para sus proyectos de palma aceitera. Grupos ambientales exigen al Banco Mundial que detenga definitivamente su financiación a la palma aceitera. Read the rest of this entry »
press (spanish), *global*, agrofuels, deforestation, land rights -
Chile: La pobreza que no tapa el bosque
Posted on 31 August, 2010 No comments
IPS noticias, Agosto 2010Por Daniela Estrada
Foto por americanartmuseum/Flickr
“Comunas del sur de Chile, donde prevalece la industria forestal, presentan casi el doble de pobreza que el promedio nacional, según un estudio que recoge datos de la última Encuesta de Caracterización Socioeconómica Nacional (Casen). “A nuestro juicio, una industria madura como la forestal, que genera 26 por ciento de pobreza, es insostenible”, señaló a IPS Eduardo Ramírez, investigador principal del no gubernamental Centro Latinoamericano de Desarrollo Rural (Rimisp), con oficinas en Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador y Nicaragua. Read the rest of this entry »
press (spanish), *Latin America*, evictions, forests, indigenous people, land rights, timber, [Chile] -
Non à l’accaparement des terres agricoles
Posted on 31 August, 2010 No comments
Actualite News Environment, 30 août 2010Par Jean-Charles Batenbaum
Fóto par Lin Chia Hui/Flickr
“Les Amis de la Terre publient aujourd’hui un tout nouveau rapport qui met en évidence les conséquences funestes de la politique Agrocarburants de l’Union européenne. En effet, selon le rapport de l’organisme, afin de satisfaire ses besoins, l’UE provoque une vraie ruée sur l’Afrique où des étendues toujours plus vastes de terres sont confisquées aux populations locales. Pour les Amis de la Terre, ce phénomène échappe à tout contrôle et est largement sous-estimé. Read the rest of this entry »
press, research papers (french), *Africa*, *EU*, agrofuels, conflict, evictions, food security, land rights