Land Conflicts and Indigenous Lands

Leaders of Arimae point out deforestation in the community's reservationThe Panamanian newspaper La Prensa recently ran an article about the Embera/Wounaan closing the Pan-American highway in the Darien. The block was a reaction to the Panamananian government’s failure to evict squatters from the reservation of our indigenous partner community Arimae.

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Darien, Panama trip in January

An investor stands with a young mahogany tree during Planting Empowerment's first investor trip in 2008As we do every year, Planting Empowerment is hosting a group of investors and interested people in Panama to tour the Darien and our operations. This is a great opportunity to learn about Planting Empowerment’s Equitable Forestry Model and see the first hand benefits of your investments.

We are offering trips to the campo (countryside) December 31st-January 15th. As we have already had numerous inquires, don’t hesitate to contact me at amparrucci@plantingempowerment.com if you’re interested in joining.

These trips are always informative and engaging for those involved. The last group to attend, a group of UN climate change negotiators, found the trip to be very relevant to their work.

As a social business, we use these trips to both generate interest in our investments and raise awareness of what those investments support. You’ll learn about the numerous challenges posed by tropical deforestation and see how we’re creating solutions that meet those challenges.

Interested to know what you'll see?

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Conservation Refugees

Members of Arimae's agricultural association looking at a map of the community's reservationTwo weeks ago the New York Times published an article featuring an Oxfam report on the forced and violent eviction of more than 20,000 Ugandans from their homes. In an effort to access the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism, in 2005 the Ugandan government granted the New Forests Company (NFC) a 50-year license to grow eucalyptus and pine for carbon credits. As seen by big financial supporters of the NFC such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank and HSBC (as well as many conservationists) this would help protect land, grow trees, capture carbon, provide needed jobs and generate almost $2 million in revenues. Everyone wins, right?

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Economic Development vs. Conservation

Indigenous girls from Arimae perform a traditional dance"Don’t you think you’re ruining the traditional values and culture of this community by introducing technology into it?”

A young tourist posed that question to me during her recent visit to our indigenous partner community Arimae. She opposed the idea of teaching computer classes in what was supposed to be an authentic indigenous village (She did, however, take advantage of the computers to check her email).

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Indigenous Land Rights and Economic Efficiency

Assessing the encroachment of squatters into Arimae's reservation.An interesting piece of news recently came out of Indonesia regarding the need for land and carbon rights for Indigenous Peoples if conservation programs (especially REDD) are to work. One of the higher level politicians announced a new focus by the government to deliver and enforce territorial land rights for forest communities.

Often we hear calls for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples land rights, but what is encouraging about this is the government’s recognition that their lack of land rights is economically inefficient. Because the Indigenous Peoples don’t have legal rights to their land, it is partitioned inefficiently and is not generating the potentially significant economic gain and poverty reduction.

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