Kenya

In the wake of a year filled with scandals involving REDD-type projects, this report by SOMO released in November 2023 reveals that the North American company Wildlife Works is responsible for serious human rights violations in its Kasigau project, in Kenya.

In order to better understand peoples' struggles across the southern and eastern regions of Africa, reflecting on its history is crucial. This editorial highlights some parts of this history. And this, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg.

This briefing, compiled by the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) and the Timberwatch Coalition (TW), is now also available in Swahili. It focuses on various internal and external factors determining changes in the extent of land under industrial tree plantations in 11 eastern and southern African countries: Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe; Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho; and Madagascar.

The Programme of Infrastructure Development for Africa (PIDA) was adopted in 2012 with the aim of connecting the continent’s energy, transport, water and communication infrastructure. But what kind of infrastructure does “Africa” really need and who is getting more access with such initiative? This article looks into the hydropower dams proposed for PIDA

This article gives an overview on the industrial tree plantation expansion threat in eastern and southern African countries, its external drivers, as well as the challenges this expansion presents to affected communities struggling to defend their land and livelihoods.

 That is the title of a book co-authored by Mordecai Ogada and John Mbaria. “In many parts of Africa, conservation goes along with controlling lands in one way or another. It’s rarely practised at the level of just looking at the species and the issues, it always includes controlling lands, for better or for worse,” says Ogada during a presentation of his book at the Colorado State University Africa Center in March 2017. The one and a half hour video uncovers many of the myths, lies and hidden truths behind the conservation industry. Watch Ogada’s presentation (in English) here:

BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining and petroleum company running mines in 13 countries. Its main offices are in Melbourne, Australia, and in London, UK, where the company sells shares on the London Stock Exchange.

Download the publication. Also available in Swahili.

It would be both ahistorical and apolitical to not firmly locate the roots of the western concepts of nature conservation to the colonial era. Political ecologist and eco-feminist Dr. Vandana Shiva makes this relationship very clear in her book, ‘Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India’, when she states that,

REDD: A Collection of Conflicts, Contradictions and Lies presents summaries of reports from 24 REDD projects or programmes with a common characteristic: they all show a number of structural characteristics that undermine forest peoples' rights, or fail to address deforestation. As offset projects, they all fail to address the climate crisis because by definition, offset projects do not reduce overall emissions: emission reductions claimed in one place justify extra emissions elsewhere.

12 March, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE