Armed ecoguards funded by WWF 'beat up Congo tribes people'.

Exclusive: Inquiry into $21.4m conservation project reports ‘credible’ evidence of abuse.

Themes: Conservation, Indigenous people, Human rights, Parks, UNDP, Poverty

Armed ecoguards partly funded by the conservation group WWF to protect wildlife in the Republic of the Congo beat up and intimidated hundreds of Baka pygmies living deep in the rainforests, an investigation into a landmark global conservation project has heard.

The Masoka Community in Zimbabwe speak out.

The Masoka community, on behalf of communities in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, add their voices to the current global media debate on trophy hunting and sustainable use.

Themes: Conservation, NGOs

This is a letter that adds the voices of rural communities to the current global debate on trophy hunting. This letter is informed by those who live with wildlife and who are concerned that their livelihoods are protected and their rights upheld. These voices are rarely heard but they are vital to any healthy debate about conservation.

Perfidious Albion

Moves by the United Kingdom to Ban the Import of Hunting Trophies - An Analysis by Rowan B. Martin.

Themes: Conservation, Policy, NGOs

This document reviews a debate which took place at Westminster Hall in the UK Houses of Parliament on the 2nd October 2019 in which the advocacy by Animal Rights parliamentary members was extreme. In this document I challenge some of the misinformation that was prevalent. Much of the ill-informed debate was taken up with trophy hunting of lions while ignoring the social, ecological and economic realities of the rural population and their resource base in Africa.. Zac Goldsmith (Minister for DIFD (Department for International Development) and DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) has initiated a ‘consultative process’ which closes on the 25th January 2020. This paper will be submitted to the Committee responsible for the consultations.

Thailand's disappeared Karen activist.

Billy and the burned village.

Themes: Human rights, Poverty, Parks, Indigenous people

An oil barrel discovered at the bottom of a reservoir in a nature reserve in Thailand in April 2019 has cast a light on a story some would rather stayed hidden. It is a tale of powerful men and the lengths they will allegedly go to keep their crimes covered up. But it is also the story of one woman's determination to get justice for the man she loved and the community he was fighting for.

Why are people killed for protecting their natural lands?

Stories from Colombia, Indonesia and India

Themes: Indigenous people, Conservation, Human rights

“Each year sets a new record for the murder of people defending their lands and the environment,” says Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. “And thousands more are victims of violence or criminalization.”

A US Lawmaker Wants To Ban Funding For Conservation Groups That Support Human Rights Abuses

In the wake of a BuzzFeed News investigation, new legislation promises "to deter possibilities of future taxpayer-funded instances of torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings."

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Indigenous people, NGOs, Parks

Outrage over ‘unethical’ Botswana elephant hunt.

There’s outrage in Botswana over the shooting of a collared elephant and four others on San communal land.

Themes: Conservation, Poverty, Tourism, Indigenous people

When President Mokgweetsi Masisi opened up Botswana’s rich wildlands to hunting, it helped gain him the essential rural votes he needed to get re-elected. But the ‘unethical’ hunting of a collared elephant has the local San community, and supporters of hunting, up in arms.

The Immorality of Saving Elephants.

An opinion piece on the enduring debate about Elephant Conservation following the recent CITES meeting that rewarded those with unsuccessful conservation records over those with manifest successes.

Themes: Conservation