Governing the Palm Oil Industry


Book Description

This book examines how different countries across Southeast Asia and Latin America respond to the emergence and expansion of the lucrative, yet controversial palm oil industry, paying attention to how national policy and governance regimes are shaping this global industry. With its historic roots in Southeast Asia, oil palm cultivation continues to expand beyond its historical centres. In Latin America, many countries are now developing their own policies to promote and govern oil palm cultivation. This book provides a unique examination of how different countries strive to strike a balance between developmental and environmental concerns, through case studies on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico, and an outlook for the industry's prospects in Africa. This book applies an assemblage approach to draw out lessons on the global challenges posed by the industry and how differing national governance regimes and communities might respond to them. Rather than a single global industry, the book unveils a complex arrangement of national and even local palm oil assemblages, indicating that there is more than one way to do palm oil. In doing so, the book contributes to a better understanding of the drivers and processes that shape the governance of the industry, both in different nations and globally. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the palm oil industry, as well as those interested in natural resource governance, sustainable agriculture, conservation, environmental justice, and environmental and development policy more broadly.




Reclaiming collective rights


Book Description

In Peru, since 1974, more than 1,200 communities have been titled in the Amazon for over 12 million hectares, representing about 20% of the country's national forest area. This working paper analyzes policy and regulatory changes that have influenced how indigenous peoples access, use and manage forest and land resources in the Peruvian Amazon during the last fifty years. It reviews the main motivations behind changes, the institutional structures defined by law and the outcomes of these changes in practice. The paper discusses political priorities related to land and forest tenure, social actors involved in reform debates and the mechanisms used for recognizing indigenous rights claims. The paper argues that there has not been a single reform process in Peru; instead multiple reforms have shaped forest tenure rights, contributing to both progress and setbacks for indigenous people and communities. This working paper is part of a global comparative research initiative that is analyzing reform processes that recognize collective tenure rights to forests and land in six countries in highly forested regions.




Post-frontier Resource Governance


Book Description

The author presents an anthropological analysis of the regulatory technologies that characterize contemporary resource frontiers. He offers an ethnographic portrayal of indigenous rights, resource extraction and environmental politics in the Peruvian Amazon.




Indigenous Peoples in Isolation in the Peruvian Amazon


Book Description

"This book offers a historic and anthropological perspective from which to understand the fragility of isolated indigenous groups in the face of contact with outside society. It helps us appreciate the importance, in terms of cultural and biological diversity, of safeguarding their territories for both their future and that of the human race." "Drawing on scientific and legal principles, international agreements, and primarily from the perspective of human rights, Beatriz Huertas Castillo presents solid arguments concerning the urgent need for national and international efforts to defend the territories, cultural integrity and life ways of isolated indigenous peoples."--BOOK JACKET.







Liberation Through Land Rights in the Peruvian Amazon


Book Description

This book is an attempt to reflect on the process which made the Ucayali titling project possible. Begun in 1986 and involving the AIDESEP, IWGIA and OIRA, it was an innovative and essential first step in the process towards indigenous self-management.




The context of REDD+ in Peru: Drivers, agents and institutions


Book Description

This country profile contains an analysis of the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Peru, and the economic, institutional and political context in which REDD is emerging in the country. Peru has a total forest area of approximately 73 million hectares, almost 60% of national territory. In the past few years, deforestation decreased from 150,000 ha/year to 106,000 ha/year but it still represents one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the country. While it has decreased recently, an increase is expected during coming years due to development policies that support the expansion of road infrastructure in the Amazon, an increase in agricultural production and support for the extractive sectors. The government has declared a goal of reducing to zero the deforestation rate across 54 million hectares of primary forest by 2021, and has initiated the preparation process for REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus) at a national and subnational level. While the pilot projects are already underway, with international and national funding, and even certification according to international standards, the national government is still in the process of developing REDD+ and MRV (Measuring, Reporting and Verification) strategies under the leadership of MINAM. Even if REDD has solid support within certain sectors of the government and civil society, it will face big challenges during the implementation phase due to a lack of intersectoral coordination and support to a socioeconomic development that would stimulate conservation and stop deforestation and degradation. In the process of preparation for REDD+, the country has advanced with the processes of safeguarding the participation of the civil society and the protection of native and local communities’ rights. At the same time, the challenges concerning weak governance at a national and regional level and conflicts of interest are threats to the effective, efficient and equitable implementation in the long-term.




Tenure of Indigenous Peoples Territories and REDD+ as a Forestry Management Incentive


Book Description

"Programmes to reduce emissions from deforestation and ecosystem degradation, such as REDD+ and other forestry incentive programmes, including Payment for Environmental Services (PES), could represent an opportunity to strengthen processes of conservation, sustainable usage and poverty reduction in the Mesoamerican region, particularly in indigenous territories and communities. Analysing the context of such initiatives and how they are interlinked is relevant to understanding how these multipurpose programmes can achieve their objectives in the light of recent developments in the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights over land tenure and natural resources in the region. Examining these contexts and their linkages in countries such as Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama, where there are considerable forest areas with significant indigenous populations, is the aim of this study."--Publisher's description.