Forests are home to people. Rural communities and Indigenous Peoples have been living with and protecting their forests for centuries. But their lands and way of life are under threat, and their rights to govern, live in, use and conserve their territories are often not recognised or respected.
The Global Forest Coalition has always identified itself as a rights-based forest policy advocacy group. Part of the rationale for the birth of the Global Forest Coalition was the need for an organisation that took the rights of Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent peoples as a starting point in the fight to protect forests.
In the name of forest conservation, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have also been forcibly relocated: moved away from their lands and territories and resettled in areas that are alien to them. This has sometimes happened with the consent, or even the involvement, of conservation organizations. We particularly denounce so-called ‘Green Land Grabbing’ for false solutions to climate change, in the name of forest carbon offset or bioenergy projects (see also our Forests, Trees and Climate Change Campaign).
Women are often the main victims of projects and policies that exclude and ignore forest-dependent peoples. Their rights, needs and fundamental roles in forest conservation and restoration should be at the heart of rights-based forest policy. GFC believes that forest conservation policies that ignore the rights, needs and roles of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women violate fundamental human rights and are a barrier to creating broader support for forest protection. See also our Women’s rights and Empowerment program
Forest Cover 61: #OurNatureIsNotYourSolution, International Day for Biological Diversity
Climate Finance, Results-based Payments and Conservation by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
Forest Cover 54 – Latin America’s Veins Remain Open
Forest Cover 51 – Mainstreaming biodiversity? Mainstream equity and justice
Briefing Paper: What can Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women expect from Global Climate and Forests Funds in terms of their rights?
Open Letter to the Member States of the United Nations on Draft Zero Binding Treaty
Policy Recommendations for CBD SBSTTA-22 and SBI-2
Policy Recommendations for CBD SBSTTA-21 and WG8(j)-10
SDG Policy Brief: Biodiversity Conservation
Civil Society Views in Scaling up Biodiversity Finance, Resource Mobilization, and Innovative Financial Mechanisms
5 May 2021
A bill that would raise taxes and force working people to bear the costs of the Colombian crises is the spark that has lit a fuse in the country, which has gone to the streets for six days demanding an end to the measure as well as others that would perpetuate the poverty of the masses in exchange for the privilege of a few. The cost of the crises should be paid by those who are responsible: those who have …
9 Apr 2021
The Global Forest Coalition strongly condemns the violent attacks by the military junta in Myanmar against Indigenous Peoples and other innocent citizens, including in particular the recent military airstrikes on…
4 Mar 2021
by Rachel Smolker, Biofuelwatch, USA Read the full report: Swallowing Indonesia’s Forests The Indonesian government recently announced plans for several new “food estate” projects in Central Kalimantan, Papua and North…
10 Dec 2020
December 10th commemorates the day in 1948 when the Universal Human Rights Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Although it lay the foundations for fundamental human rights…
10 Aug 2020
The Global Forest Coalition embraces the Mapuche men, women and children who are victims of the violence carried out at Wallampu by the Chilean state and para-state actors on the…
9 Aug 2020
We celebrate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples each August 9th, but the human cultures that have conserved biodiversity since time immemorial should be celebrated year-round. Indigenous Peoples and…
5 Jun 2020
by John C. Cannon, originally published on Mongabay Gender-based violence shakes communities in the wake of forest loss Women in the province of East New Britain in Papua New Guinea…
3 Dec 2019
by Eduardo Giesen (Colectivo VientoSur) and Ruth Nyambura (Global Forest Coalition) On the 18th of October, the largest protests witnessed since the end of the 17-year dictatorship of General Augusto…
3 Apr 2019
by Linde Berbers, Global Forest Coalition intern Citizens and civil society organisations representing rightsholders and stakeholders play an essential role in all societies. In order to ensure the participation of…
16 Mar 2019
Reflecting on the outcomes of the 4th Meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya (UNEA-4), the Women’s Major Group offered the following statement: Nairobi, Kenya. The conclusion…
22 Feb 2019
Press Release by All India Forum of Forest Movements (AIFFM) On 13 February, the Supreme Court of India, hearing a decade-old petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights…
