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	DRC: Indigenous peoples must not be forgotten in conflict by Minority Rights Group Democratic Republic of Congo   4 Feb. 2025   Minority Rights Group is gravely concerned by the impact of the developing situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo on its indigenous Batwa and Bambuti communities. The security situation is deteriorating daily with the presence of the M23 rebel group in Kalehe territory since last Saturday.   MRG urges all parties to the conflict to respect and to ensure respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, halt their violations and ensure the protection of all civilians affected by the conflict. According to credible reports received by MRG, indigenous communities living in affected areas find themselves in a situation of particular vulnerability.   This is due to repeated and protracted displacements and to the destruction of their shelters, forcing them to be on the move in a conflict zone. They are facing heightened risk if they try to return to their ancestral territory as it is occupied by rebel groups. They also face unique challenges in terms of access to humanitarian aid.   As the security and human rights crises are unfolding, impunity is not an option. Violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by all parties must be duly investigated, and perpetrators must be held to account.   The international community has a role to play in that regard, and MRG calls on the UN Human Rights Council to urgently establish an independent investigative mechanism with a robust mandate to investigate violations committed since the resurgence of the M23 in late 2021, identify perpetrators, establish facts and preserve evidence to pave the way for justice, truth and reparations for victims, survivors and their families.   Special efforts must be made to ensure equal and inclusive access to humanitarian aid. MRG calls on all parties to the conflict to allow unhindered humanitarian access to the affected region.   The situation is having a very serious impact on the lives of the indigenous Batwa people, especially those living in and around their ancestral lands within the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, already marginalized by a long history of human rights violations against them.   It is foreseeable that the presence of minerals and other raw materials including gold and cobalt in the areas around the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, could soon increase the violence faced by this Batwa community as armed groups seek to profit from these valuable commodities. The clashes between the various armed groups vying for these mining areas seem to be more focused in Batwa villages, particularly: Tchimoto, Katasomwa, Batanga and Bakubanagana.   Indigenous Bambuti communities in the region are affected in North Kivu and part of Ituri. It should be noted that the persistence of armed conflict in North Kivu is causing the further deterioration of living conditions of these indigenous people, particularly individuals from Rutsuru and Masisi, which are currently occupied by the M23 rebels. These persons have now been displaced to informal camps around the town of Goma, cut off from access to humanitarian assistance.   The situation in these camps is very insecure, leaving many Bambuti with no option but to return to their ancestral land, where they are better able to meet their needs. This puts them at risk of being caught in the crossfire between the Congolese army and the rebels occupying the forest areas and further increases their vulnerability, in addition to the precarious humanitarian situation they are facing.   Community leaders also describe how the biometric registration system recommended by several humanitarian agencies for registering internally displaced people excludes indigenous peoples from receiving support because of their low level of literacy and the constraints imposed by the technology. As a result, many internally displaced Bambuti do not have the same access to humanitarian assistance as other populations.   http://minorityrights.org/drc-2025/ Visit the related web page
	After gaps in UN Agreement, National laws must step up to protect Community Land Rights by Rebecca Iwerks, Alain Frechette IPS, Rights and Resources Initiative, Namati   Dec. 2024   This time last year, the forestry space was abuzz with news of the big Blue Carbon deals. The deals set a staggering amount of land in Sub-Saharan Africa – 20% of the land in Zimbabwe, 10% of Liberia and Zambia, 8% of Tanzania, and an undisclosed amount of land in Kenya – to be managed by a firm in the United Arab Emirates.   Without involvement of communities impacted by the projects, countries across Africa were strapped into memorandums of agreement with 30 years of commitments. Reports suggested that Blue Carbon was retaining upwards of 70% of the project revenues while impacting the livelihoods of millions. The audacious scale of the project shocked the conscience.   One year later, among the jumble of headlines coming out of the recent UN climate change talks in Baku was the adoption of new rules intended to jumpstart the carbon credit markets.   These financial initiatives were included in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to provide incentives for efforts that reduce carbon emissions. The new UN rules, however, have already been criticized for not providing sufficient guardrails to avoid transactions like the Blue Carbon deals from happening elsewhere.   With the new rules, it won’t be clear whether communities who have lived on and worked their territories for generations should be consulted as part of a project. If things go well, it won’t be clear that they are entitled to benefits and if things go poorly, it won’t be clear that they should be able to claim remedies.   Carbon projects have run afoul of community land rights throughout the Global South, from Brazil to Laos to Malaysia. In many places, communities have not received revenue – or, worse, have been removed from their land – after keeping the landscapes intact for generations.   The repeated headlines have impacted market confidence – volume and value have decreased for two consecutive years. Unfortunately, policy makers have yet to make changes that would reduce the risks.   Governments and companies have repeatedly asserted the important link between community land rights and better outcomes for the planet.   At the start of November, at the UN talks on biodiversity, the governments emphasized the critical importance of tenure security to protect biodiversity.   Ten days later, leaders from 12 countries joined with Indigenous leaders to stress the importance of land tenure to protect forests as part of the Forest Climate Leaders Partnership.   Governments are saying this because study after study shows that when Indigenous Peoples and local communities have clear tenure over their forest, the forest is better protected.   National legislation is murky, however. Most countries do not recognize the rights of people living on the land impacted by carbon projects.   We collaborated with experts at McGill University to study the legal frameworks of 33 countries and found only three countries recognized community-based carbon rights.   The lack of national legal guidelines for the carbon markets is alarming. More than half of the countries we studied do not have regulations for carbon trading.   Almost two-thirds have no evidence of a registry of carbon projects and, of those that do, only six have this information publicly available. Only seven have designed or implemented benefit-sharing policies that apply to carbon market projects and only four of the seven have established a minimum allocation requirement for affected communities.   Policy makers at the global level had the opportunity to fix this problem. But now, all eyes turn to national governments. Before they rush to create new carbon policies after Baku, they can make their countries a place where carbon projects are more secure by making community land rights front and center.   This is still a story that has yet to end. Just a few months ago, the Liberian National Climate Change Steering Committee (NCCSC) put a moratorium on all carbon credit projects until they have proper carbon regulations in place.   Liberia had two things going for it: strong land laws and strong organizing. Now it needs regulations to handle carbon trading.   The international carbon markets need recognition of community rights to be integrated in the national and international supporting regulations and guidance. The markets are like any other financial market – transparency, guardrails, and enforcement measures are needed to bring about confidence, and at this point, they’re needed very quickly.   * Alain Frechette, is Rights, Climate & Conservation Director at Rights and Resources Initiative. Rebecca Iwerks is Director of Global Land and Environmental Justice Initiative at Namati.   http://www.ipsnews.net/2024/12/gaps-un-agreement-national-laws-must-step-protect-community-land-rights/ Visit the related web page
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