Stories Articles Podcast: Rights to millions of hectares of Indigenous & local communities’ lands restored by ‘barefoot lawyers’

2025-12-02

Podcast: Rights to millions of hectares of Indigenous & local communities’ lands restored by ‘barefoot lawyers’

Mike DiGirolamo, Mongabay

Our executive director Nonette Royo spoke with Mongabay from the United Nations climate summit, COP30, in Belém, Brazil. In their conversation Nonette dives into why land rights are so crucial both for cultural survival and slowing the pace of global ecological degradation, as well as the progress being made in this movement, lessons learned, and the forward-looking steps we at Tenure Facility will take to keep supporting our partners and the broader tenure rights movement.

“This work is really about land tenure, and about land and people. And it is very important because at this point in our world, where we are breaching planetary boundaries, we are still hesitating to invest in the people who protect our land, our forests and our diverse systems.” Nonette Royo.

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Articles

04 August 2026

Blogs

Pourquoi les droits fonciers ne peuvent pas attendre la paix

Et si attendre la paix était l’un des plus grands obstacles à la sécurisation des droits fonciers ? Pendant des décennies, la gouvernance foncière a été largement considérée comme un élément de la reconstruction post-conflit. L’hypothèse était simple : le conflit prend fin, les institutions se redressent, les populations rentrent chez elles, et ce n’est qu’alors que les droits fonciers peuvent être rétablis. Dans de nombreuses régions du monde, cependant, cette séquence ne correspond pas à la réalité. Les conflits sont souvent prolongés, les institutions peuvent être affaiblies ou inexistantes, et les registres fonciers officiels ont parfois disparu. Pourtant, les communautés continuent de cultiver leurs terres, de gérer les forêts, de résoudre les différends et de défendre leurs territoires en s’appuyant sur les systèmes de gouvernance qui restent à leur disposition.

23 July 2026

Blogs

Why land rights can't wait for peace

What if waiting for peace is one of the biggest obstacles to securing land rights? For decades, land governance has largely been treated as part of post-conflict recovery. The assumption has been straightforward: conflict ends, institutions recover, people return home, and only then can land rights be restored. In many parts of the world, however, that sequence does not reflect reality. Conflict is often prolonged, institutions may be weakened or absent, and official land records may have disappeared. Yet communities continue farming, managing forests, resolving disputes, and defending their territories using the governance systems still available to them.

13 July 2026

Brazil

"We are the middle, the beginning and the middle." : Quilombola women in land rights and climate action

Long before a land title is granted or a policy is signed, movements are built. They are built by women and men organising communities, defending territories, passing on ancestral knowledge, protecting culture, and ensuring generations of struggle are never forgotten. Between 10 and 14 June 2026, the III Meeting of CONAQ's Quilombola Women's Collective brought hundreds of these leaders together from across Brazil, alongside representatives from Latin America and Africa. Over five days, they celebrated victories, confronted urgent challenges and strengthened a movement that continues to shape Brazil's conversations on land rights, climate justice, gender equality and historical reparation.

02 June 2026

Congo Brazzaville

Seeding land rights in northern Republic of Congo

The road into the Sangha and Likouala departments in northern Republic of Congo passes through thick forest. Yet asphalt gives way to red soil where logging trucks pass day and night, carrying off trees that stood firm for centuries before concession paperwork tried to redefine who owns the land. These forests hold more than timber—they cradle rivers, fertile soils, unique species, and carbon stock.

14 May 2026

India

Reclaiming forests, reviving lives: a global lesson from Kalika Prasad, India

In the past, protecting the forests of eastern India could make you a criminal. “We were afraid to enter the forest where we had lived all our lives,” recalls a villager. “Today, that same forest is under our care.”

10 April 2026

Belize

The Maya People’s path to pursuing Green Climate Fund financing

In a landmark moment for Indigenous-led climate action, the Julian Cho Society (JCS), an Indigenous organisation representing Maya Q’eqchi’ and Maya Mopan communities, has submited a concept note to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The concept has now been endorsed for full proposal development,