As the Chairperson of Community Leaders Network of Southern Africa, I participated in the recent 22nd Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) held in New York, USA. It was a real eye opener for me, as I started to appreciate the challenges, abuse and human rights infringements that over 6.7 million indigenous peoples around the world have had to endure.
Host Dr. Moreangels Mbizah chats with Dr Shlock Muyengwa, about origins, the principles and practice of community based natural resource management or CBNRM in Africa.
Conservation comes with deep interconnections between human rights and nature preservation. The rights of animals over the rights of humans or the rights of humans overs the rights of animals? How do we strike a balance? What does it mean to act fairly and morally?
On International Human Rights Day, we celebrate Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. At long last the world is increasingly hearing their voices, acknowledging their rights to sustainably manage their resources, and respecting their ecological knowledge.
In response to The Times editorial (“Blood Money”, 7 December), Resource Africa has submitted a response to the Letters Page which, amongst other observations, states:
“Local people’s rights to make a living by sustainably using their land and wildlife are enshrined in international and national laws, and cannot be undermined by one-sided views. They are not up for debate”
In June of this year, a group of youth leaders and young conservationists in Zimbabwe participated in a webinar entitled Building a Wildlife Economy on the critical importance of rights in ensuring species conservation.
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