Forest Peoples Programme

Last updated
Forest Peoples Programme (FPP)
Founded1990, UK
Type Charity, International non-governmental organisation
Focus Self-determination
Indigenous peoples' rights
Tropical forests
Community-based forest management
Location
Area served
Global
Method Advocacy, Research, Capacity Building, Training
Website www.forestpeoples.org

Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) advocates an alternative vision of how forests should be managed and controlled, based on respect for the rights of the people who know them best. FPP works with forest peoples in South America, Africa, and Asia, to help them secure their rights, build up their own organisations and negotiate with governments and companies as to how economic development and conservation are the best achieved on their lands. [1]

Contents

Forests cover 31% of total land area of the planet. [2] Of that, 12% are designated for the conservation of biological diversity and nearly all are inhabited. [2] Many of the peoples, who live in and have customary rights to their forests, have developed ways of life and traditional knowledge that are attuned to their forest environments. [3] Yet, forest policies commonly treat forests as empty lands controlled by the state and available for ‘development’ – colonisation, logging, plantations, dams, mines, oil wells, gas pipelines and agribusiness. [4] These encroachments often force forest peoples out of their forest homes. [5] Many conservation schemes to establish wilderness reserves also deny forest peoples’ rights. [5] [6] [7]

History

Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) was founded in 1990 in response to the forest crisis, specifically to support indigenous forest peoples’ struggles to defend their lands and livelihoods. It registered as a non-governmental human rights Dutch Stichting in 1997, and then later, in 2000, as a UK charity, No. 1082158 and a company limited by guarantee (England & Wales) Reg. No. 3868836, with a registered office in the UK.

FPP's focus, in the beginning, came from the expertise and relationships that the small founding team had with specific communities, primarily in the Guyanas and in South and South East Asia. [8] Forest Peoples Programme has grown into a respected and successful organisation that now operates right around the tropical forest belt where it serves to bridge the gap between policy makers and forest peoples. Through advocacy, practical projects and capacity building, FPP supports forest peoples to deal directly with the outside powers, regionally, nationally, and internationally that shape their lives and futures. Forest Peoples Programme has contributed to, and continues supporting, the growing indigenous peoples' movement whose voice is gaining influence and attention on the world-wide stage.

Publications

Forest Peoples Programme produces a wide range of publications, including reports, briefings, training manuals, papers, submissions to human rights bodies, statements, letters, urgent action requests, as well as news articles.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Survival International</span> Indigenous Peoples Human Rights NGO

Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969, a London based charity that campaigns for the rights of Indigenous and/or tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples.

Fauna & Flora is an international nature conservation charity and non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the planet's threatened wildlife and habitats. As the world’s first international conservation charity, Fauna & Flora has been shaping best practice in community-focused conservation for over 120 years. Today, the charity works closely with local conservation partners in almost 50 countries to protect habitats, revive the ocean, reduce extinctions, stop illegal wildlife trade, combat climate change and influence global policy and corporate sustainability.

Size of Wales is a climate change charity founded with the aim of conserving an area of tropical rainforest the size of Wales. The project currently supports seven forest protection projects and one tree planting project across Africa and South America. The charity focuses upon furthering the promotion of rainforest conservation as a national response to the global issue of climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforest Foundation Fund</span>

The Rainforest Foundation Fund is a charitable foundation founded in 1987 and dedicated to drawing attention to rainforests and defending the rights of indigenous peoples living there.

The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with indigenous people of tropical South America in conserving the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, as well as the culture and land of its indigenous people. ACT was formed in 1996 by ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin and Costa Rican conservationist Liliana Madrigal. The organization is primarily active in the northwest, northeast, and southern regions of the Amazon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Rainforest Movement</span> Environmentalist group based in Uruguay

The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) is an international initiative created to strengthen the global movement in defense of forests, in order to fight deforestation and forest degradation. It was founded in 1986 by activists from around the world.

Jean La Rose is an Arawak environmentalist and indigenous rights activist in Guyana. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002 for her work to halt mining in their territories, to secure inhabitants full rights to traditional lands, and to save Guyana's forests.

Indigenous people under the nation-state have experienced exclusion and dispossession. With the rise in globalization, material advantages for indigenous populations have diminished. At times, national governments have negotiated natural resources without taking into account whether or not these resources exist on indigenous lands. In this sense for many indigenous populations, the effects of globalization mirror the effects of the conquest in the mid 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FERN</span>

Fern is a Dutch foundation created in 1995. It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) set up to keep track of the European Union's (EU) involvement in forests and coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Fern works to protect forests and the rights of people who depend on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guyana</span> Country in South America

Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is most probably an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Brazil to the south and southwest, Venezuela to the west, and Suriname to the east. With 215,000 km2 (83,000 sq mi), Guyana is the third-smallest sovereign state by area in mainland South America after Uruguay and Suriname, and is the second-least populous sovereign state in South America after Suriname; it is also one of the least densely populated countries on Earth. It has a wide variety of natural habitats and a very high biodiversity.

Conservation refugees are people who are displaced from their native lands when conservation areas, such as parks and other protected areas, are created.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cool Earth</span> NGO that protects endangered rainforest

Cool Earth is a UK-based international NGO that funds Indigenous communities to protect endangered rainforests in order to combat the climate crisis and protect ecosystems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforest Foundation US</span> Non-profit organization based in the U.S.

Rainforest Foundation US is a non-profit NGO working in Central and South America. It is one of the first international organizations to support the indigenous peoples of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights to land, life and livelihood.

The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) is a non-profit NGO working in Africa and South America. It is one of the first international organizations to support the indigenous peoples of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights to land, life and livelihood. The Foundation aims to protect rainforests by securing the land rights of indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities. It also campaigns internationally on issues such as industrial logging, climate change, agricultural expansion and nature conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Lakes Twa</span> Pygmy ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region

The Great Lakes Twa, also known as Batwa, Abatwa or Ge-Sera, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region on the border of Central and East Africa. As an indigenous pygmy people, the Twa are generally assumed to be the oldest surviving population of the Great Lakes region. Current populations of Great Lakes Twa people live in the states of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2000 they numbered approximately 80,000 people, making them a significant minority group in these countries. The largest population of Twa is located in Burundi estimated in 2008 at 78,071 people.

Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) working to protect the world's rainforests and to secure the legal rights of their inhabitants. It is one of the largest rainforest organizations in the world, and collaborates with around 70 local and national environmental, indigenous and human rights organizations in 7 rainforest countries in the Amazon region, Central Africa and Southeast Asia. The organization works to support people in securing their rights and increase people's level of commitment to rainforest protection; to prevent policy and business interests from contributing to the destruction of the rainforest; and to consolidate policy and practice that serve to protect it. RFN engages in advocacy work in key international processes concerning rainforest issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortress conservation</span> Conservation model

Fortress conservation is a conservation model based on the belief that biodiversity protection is best achieved by creating protected areas where ecosystems can function in isolation from human disturbance. Its implementation has been criticized for human rights abuses against indigenous inhabitants when creating and maintaining protected areas.

References

  1. "Reuters AlertNet -". Archived from the original on 2012-03-06.
  2. 1 2 Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United. "Global Forest Resources Assessment". www.fao.org.
  3. "This week in review … FFP e-newsletter highlights indigenous conservation efforts". 28 February 2012.
  4. "ILC Land Portal -". Archived from the original on 2013-02-18.
  5. 1 2 Chatty, Dawn; Colchester, Marcus (2002). Conservation and Mobile Indigenous Peoples; Berghahn Books, Oxford. ISBN   9781571818423.
  6. CCMIN-AIPP. "Climate Change Monitoring and Information Network". ccmin.aippnet.org. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  7. "WRM in English - World Rainforest Movement". www.wrm.org.uy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30.
  8. Colchester, Marcus (18 June 1997). Guyana: Fragile Frontier. Monthly Review Press,U.S. ASIN   0853459711.