Public Statements

---FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--- October 10, 2019 Media Contact:Anuradha Mittal [email protected] +1(510)469-5228 Proposal for Dividing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Must Be Stopped Oakland, CA — In a shocking move, the Tanzanian government, at the behest of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and international conservation organizations, has announced a plan to divide the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) into four distinctive zones — further marginalizing land rights of the Indigenous communities.

We, members of the civil society organizations from 12 countries express our deep concern at the growing humanitarian crisis in Narmada valley, in Central India, where thousands of families are evicted without rehabilitation for the Sardar Sarovar (Narmada dam). We are also concerned about the deteriorating health of Medha Patkar, the senior activist, who is into her 7th day of indefinite fast.

We, the undersigned 300 civil society organizations and networks, represent hundreds of thousands of people around the world. We stand in solidarity with Global South communities and governments fighting for just climate policy and real solutions.

Nous vous écrivons pour vous demander de mettre fin à la promotion des parcs agroindustriels par la Banque africaine de développement en RDC. Les parcs, basés sur un modèle mal conçu, auront des conséquences dévastatrices sur les communautés locales et ne produiront pas de résultats en termes de développement.

Nous vous écrivons pour vous demander de mettre fin à la promotion des parcs agroindustriels par la Banque Mondiale en RDC. Les parcs, basés sur un modèle mal conçu, auront des conséquences dévastatrices sur les communautés locales et ne produiront pas de résultats en termes de développement.

The AfDB is a key driver and financier of DRC’s plan to establish 22 agro-industrial parks over 1.5 million hectares. Through its provision of US$ 1 million for feasibility studies, the AfDB is explicitly encouraging DRC to prioritize industrial plantations over family farmers, even though it contradicts the country’s own agricultural policy, which aims to support farmers.

We are writing to call on you to end the promotion of agro-industrial parks in DRC by the World Bank. The parks, based on an ill-conceived model, will have devastating consequences on local communities and fail to deliver development outcomes.

"Cross-boundary human impacts compromise the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem," a recent study penned by more than a dozen authors and published in the academic journal Science, warns of the detrimental impact of increased human activity and livestock populations along the borders of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. But, for far too long, fortress conservation, pushed frequently by academics and conservationists in the West, has meant marginalization and destruction for Indigenous Peoples like the Maasai.

Appeal to India, to its Supreme Court, States, Party Leaders, to the NHRC, NCST and to the UN organs to protect millions forest dwellers’ Human Rights and biocultural diversity from forced evictions

Congress has the tools to transition our society away from harmful, inequitable and polluting industrial agriculture to an equitable, healthy and truly sustainable food system that restores our climate and nourishes present and future generations.