News of Note 2/21/25: Timber Withdraw from Baram Land, Indigenous Futures Thinking, Extraction Fast-tracks from Tariff Fears
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Indigenous Baram communities celebrate timber company’s withdrawal from their lands (ICCA Consortium)
“In a major victory for Indigenous communities defending their customary lands, Samling has withdrawn several of its timber concessions from the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS). This development follows years of persistent resistance from communities across Sarawak, who have long challenged the company’s failure to obtain Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and its encroachment into Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands.”
Tariff threats have unified Canadians around resource extraction — at the expense of Indigenous Rights (The Narwhal)
“Among the 18 projects the province intends to expedite are several opposed by Indigenous nations, including the Highland Valley copper mine extension in the Interior, which is opposed by the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation. [...] And on Feb. 7, the Tahltan Nation released a statement saying it was ‘frustrated’ and ‘surprised’ by the province’s announcement of projects to be fast-tracked, two of them in Tahltan territory.”
Indigenous lands are key to conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change (Renewable Matter)
"Contributions of Indigenous territories to planetary health are linked to the worldviews, values, and ways of life of their peoples. This is the case of the good living of the Quechua people (Sumak Kawsay) in various Andean countries, or the good living of the Guaraní people (Teko Porâ) in Paraguay, southern Brazil and northern Argentina, as well as the Mapuche worldview in southern Chile and Argentina, and that of numerous Amazonian native peoples. In fact, it is no coincidence that the social and cultural disintegration of Indigenous peoples and of the ecological integrity of their territories occur at the same time, both in the name of development and in the name of economic interests (legal and illegal), or due to pressures from impoverished populations (Indigenous or non-Indigenous)."
More News
How indigenous peoples preserve their forests amidst commercialization (The Philippine Star)
Sámi need better legal protections to save their homelands (Grist)
Aboriginal group seeks $1.1 billion from Western Australia in iron ore claim (Reuters)
Giving a Dam: Wyoming Tribes Push to Control Reservation Water as the State Proposes Sending it to Outside Irrigators (ICT News)
For Immediate Release: The Haida Nation and Canada announce a first-of-its-kind agreement recognizing Aboriginal title on Haida Gwaii (Council of the Haida Nation)Bad River tribe says Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute will violate its water quality standards (Wisconsin Public Radio)
Renewable energy ambitions in northern Colombia collide with Indigenous worries (Associated press)
Indigenous people cut down trees as solar energy remains inaccessible and costly in DRC (Mongabay)
Tribal funding caught in crossfire from Trump administration (ICT News)
Indigenous futures thinking: 4 approaches to imagining a better world (The Conversation)
Seven ways to support the Indigenous economy for nationwide benefits (Women's Agenda)