JAKARTA — Indigenous rights activists in Indonesia have expressed concern that the government is stalling the passage of a long-awaited bill on indigenous rights by tangling the legislative process in red tape.

The government said in July that it had agreed with members of the House of Representatives to stat discussions on the bill on Aug. 16. But the legislative docket seen by Mongabay shows the start of those discussions has been pushed back to Sept. 27.

In a watershed moment for land rights in Liberia and across Africa, President George Weah on Sept. 19 signed into law a land reform bill that extends land rights to millions of rural Liberians.

The Land Rights Act ensures, for the first time, that the land rights of rural Liberians are recognized, protected, and guaranteed by law – an essential ingredient for these communities to achieve secure land rights. Under the previous land tenure system, as much as 80 percent of Liberians lived without legally recognized rights to land.

Up to now, there is no announcement on a date when the trial will continue until the Court of Appeal resolves the legal objections filed.

The first trial for the murder of Honduran Indigenous activist Berta Caceres was suspended on Monday in Tegucigalpa.

The organizations claim the bill hurts both Indigenous people's rights and the environment.

Indigenous organizations in the Amazon have demanded Peru's Congress backtrack a recently passed Hydrocarbon bill, arguing it ignores the right of Indigenous peoples and undermines environmental conservation efforts.

Delayed payments of compensation for compulsory acquired lands by the state have been cited as a major cause of land litigation and inadequate security of tenure in the country.

Dr. Benjamin Armah Quaye, National Coordinator, Land Administration Project (LAP) explained that the yet-to-be compensated owners become frustrated by the delays and resort to encroaching the land, leading to litigations.

For more than half a century, the indigenous Kaiowá and Guarani people of Brazil have been deprived of their ancestral lands, and consigned to small reserves where it is impossible to maintain their traditional livelihoods. Generations of these indigenous peoples’ lives have been marked by violence and vulnerability as they have tried to reclaim what, according to the Brazilian constitution, is rightfully theirs.

Growing demand for palm oil is depleting forests as the Orang Asli tribe fights for its rights.

Dendi Johari is an Orang Asli fighting for his tribe's rights in Malaysia's eastern state of Kelantan.

As an indigenous activist, Dendi makes trips from his village in the deep forest of Gua Musang to the state's capital to attend court hearings, community meetings and participate in forest road blockades to protest logging in the lands that Orang Asli consider theirs.

On the rainy night of Friday, August 3, the community of Chácara do Catumbi had much to celebrate: after 17 years of struggle, 17 of the community’s 22 families were the first in Rio de Janeiro history to receive land titles through the legal instrument of collective adverse possession.

There are more than 100 "uncontacted" tribes in Brazil's Amazon rainforest - the highest anywhere on the planet

RIO DE JANEIRO - Up to 2.5 billion people depend on indigenous and community lands, which make up more than half of all land globally, but they legally own just 10 percent.

The right of indigenous people to land and territories is protected by international legal conventions including the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was endorsed by hundreds of countries in 2007.

Sangrur, Punjab: “Our struggle is not just about money. It’s about owning a farm where we can go without fear,” said Paramjit Kaur, standing at the door of her kitchen, rolling a dough ball to make chapatis. “Now, our daughters can go alone to harvest fodder at any time.”

Paramjit Kaur was talking about the 15.5 acres of common land she is jointly tending with 200 other Dalit families of the village, earning 2.5 quintal wheat and Rs 1,200 annual profit per household.

Thousands of Colombians take to the streets Aug. 7 to demand President Ivan Duque uphold the 2016 peace accords he has promised to amend. 

On the day that newly elected president Ivan Duque is sworn in, activists across Colombia are demanding that he continue to implement the country’s 2016 peace accords to protect social rights activists and take up new talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

Over the past ten years, the number of violent conflicts around the world has increased significantly, having a negative impact on food production and availability.

Since 2000, almost half of all civil conflicts around the world have taken place in Africa, where land issues have played a significant role in 90 percent of the 30 interstate conflicts.  

Competition over land and water can trigger conflict, threatening the welfare and the food security of the most vulnerable.