August 2021
50 – Newsletter LAFP-LM August 2021
Boletín 49 – Agosto 2021 LAFP-LM
26 agosto, 2021
Seguimos Capacitandonos
31 agosto, 2021
The new advocacy tool
A new product called «Fact Sheets» is now available from Land Matrix Lac, whose objective is to generate advocacy tools based on statistical results that will be useful for all those interested in land-related issues. In this first instance, data sheets on large land transactions (GTT) for Ecuador and for mining in Latin America and the Caribbean are available. In them you can find a summary of the main results obtained from the analysis of the GTTs present in the Land Matrix database. The data sheets are open access documents and share the same format for all Latin American countries, which allows for comparative analysis. With this new tool, Land Matrix contributes to improve the participation and exchange of public information, aiming at the continuous improvement of the GTT database.
Find the full document in the following link:
https://www.landmatrix-lac.org/category/incidencia/hoja-de-datos/
«We’re not going to let you in.»
In collaboration with Asociación Civil de Pequeños Productores del Noroeste Copo (ACProNoC), ONA is investigating land conflicts in the Salado Norte region, province of Santiago del Estero, with the aim of analyzing current social and environmental effects.
Peasant and indigenous organizations are resisting the advance of companies and landowners, claiming their right to land. In this sense, Alicia Lopez, peasant leader of ACProNoC details the situation they have been living for approximately 20 years and where the company El Romeral S.A., of Chilean capital, is advancing on communal lands using different strategies, including violence.
The disputed area is located on the border of three provinces, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Chaco and represents an area of 20,000 hectares, where approximately 50 peasant and indigenous families (Lule Vilela ethnic group) make domestic use of the land.
The area is favored by the presence of an artificial irrigation canal that benefits several towns in the northern region of the Province of Santiago del Estero. Therefore, it represents a strategic zone for the potential of other larger-scale activities such as cattle ranching and goat dairy farming, expressions of interest revealed by the companies involved in the conflict.
«…if you have the tranquility and security of the land, you have everything…»
With the objective of adding information for advocacy and feeding the database of the Land Matrix platform, the technical team of FUNDAPAZ – ONA, with the support of the organizations belonging to ENCONA and together with leaders of ACProNoC a preliminary orientative map of the area was prepared, and it is intended to complete the participatory mapping process with members of the communities, giving visibility to the current land use, the intervening parties and the main areas of the conflict. The final technical document will also make up a tool to make the claim visible to provincial and national governments, seeking to guarantee land tenure rights.
We continue our training
During the second week of August, an internal training session was held for the collaborating members of the Latin American Focal Point. The main objective of the training, entitled «Platform Management and deal Loading», was to introduce the participants to the loading of deals into the platform and thus increase the quality of the cases.
The training took place virtually and was supported by Angela Hardin (global coordinator of the LM initiative), Altoff Christof (global data coordinator) and Andrea Suarez (PFAL data coordinator). Participants included members of: EL Observatorio Nacional de LM (Argentina), INENCO (Argentina), FUNDAPAZ (Argentina), OUOT (Honduras), NITLAPAN (Nicaragua), SIPAE (Ecuador), Javeriana (Colombia) and DATA LUTA (Brazil).
Beef chain in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and Rama Kriol Territory in Nicaragua.
Proposal to stop cattle ranching in the Indio-Maíz Biological Reserve and Rama-Kriol Territory.
In 2020, Nitlapan-UCA, together with the Indio Maíz Civic Battalion and within the framework of the work carried out by ENI Nicaragua, conducted an investigation related to the cases of land grabbing identified by Land Matrix in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and related to the expansion of extensive cattle ranching. Three key messages emerged from the investigation:
Extensive cattle ranching is the main cause of deforestation in the Indio-Maíz Biological Reserve and destroys the natural heritage that is also part of the ancestral territory of the indigenous Rama and Afro-descendant Kriol people.
The cattle traceability program is used by invaders of the Indio-Maíz reserve to «launder» illegally fattened cattle within the reserve.
Private sectors involved in the meat chain, particularly slaughterhouses, can implement mechanisms to prevent cattle ranching from advancing into protected areas and indigenous territories. Alliances with local populations are key.
The full report can be found at the following link:
https://www.landmatrix-lac.org/informes-tecnicos/propuesta-para-frenar-la-ganaderia-en-la-reserva-biologica-indio-maiz-y-territorio-rama-kriol/
Contribute to the database on land transactions!
This is an invitation to organizations working on land issues, academic institutions, researchers, grassroots organizations, government offices, and committed individuals, who are interested in sharing any kind of information on large land acquisitions in Latin America.
If you want to contribute with this initiative, you can file a report on a large-scale land acquisition by filling in a form available here.
Documents and reports produced by the Latin America Focal Point, including an update of large-scale land acquisitions in the region, available here.
