The Naso People of Panama have been fighting for legal recognition of their territory for more than 50 years. On February 20, 2019, the National Assembly of Panama officially recognized their lands. But will the President ratify the decision?
The National Coordination of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP) has been engaged in a decades-long battle with Panama’s Ministry of the Environment to secure land rights for ancestral forests. Read about this fight, and the renewed push for recognition by COONAPIP.
Fortress conservation is a standard method of protection for old-growth forests. This practice forbids any and all human interference with the land. Read how this idea, while good on paper, has troubling implications for indigenous populations.
After hundreds of indigenous representatives and their allies blocked the entrances to Panama’s Ministry of the Environment, the director of MiAmbiente sat down to negotiate land rights petitions.
Panama recently passed Law 81, securing indigenous collective rights, and reaffirming the importance of the UN’s role in securing global human rights.
This International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples shines a light on inequalities in indigenous education.
Indigenous communities are using 21st century solutions to defend their ancestral lands from encroachment.
The Panamanian government recognized the Wounaan people’s right to their land, which had been invaded by ranchers. But the struggle doesn’t end there.
On International Human Rights Day, the Arimae people are handed the legal rights to their ancestral homes, thus signaling a new hope for the future of Panama’s rainforests.
As the Land Rights Now initiative gains momentum, Rainforest Foundation US offers insight into achieving legal recognition of indigenous peoples’ lands.
Rainforest Foundation US is training teams of indigenous people to fly drones. These teams will support communities to document and deter illegal invasions on their lands.
Decades ago, private interests drove the Ipetí people off of their ancestral lands. Finally, the Panamanian government recognizes their land rights.
Will you listen?
Any amount makes a difference.
Didier Devers
Chief of Party – USAID Guatemala
gro.y1713613145nffr@1713613145sreve1713613145dd1713613145
Didier has been coordinating the USAID-funded B’atz project since joining Rainforest Foundation US in April 2022. He holds a Master’s in Applied Anthropology and a Bachelor’s in Geography. Before joining the organization, Didier worked for 12 years in Central and South America on issues of transparency, legality, governance, and managing stakeholders’ processes in the environmental sector. Prior to that he worked on similar issues in Central Africa. He speaks French, Spanish, and English, and is based in Guatemala.
