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
In this opening episode of Roots of Resilience, host Chithira Vijayakumar speaks with three of GFC’s lead campaigners on the work of GFC and our members and allies.
We hear about the impacts of climate change and market-based false solutions on Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and in particular, women in all their diversities. We also demystify some of the confusion around “false solutions” and hear more about what real solutions to the climate crisis look like.
Global North Must Immediately Divest From False Climate Solutions Corporate co-opting of global climate policy is leading us to a climate catastrophe BONN, June 6, 2023 – UN member states…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
