About 2.5 billion people around the globe, including 370 million indigenous people, depend on land and natural resources that are held, used, and managed collectively.
This means that one-third of the world’s population is vulnerable to dispossession by the more powerful interests. As stated by the “Land Rights Now” campaign, indigenous peoples protect more than 50% of world’s land surface but have formally recognized ownership over just 10%. In many cases, States or corporations have taken or exploited lands that were legally protected. Industries such as logging, mining, fracking, and intensive agriculture bring pollution and disease to these lands and communities, and to adjacent lands, waters, and populations. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples enshrines indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination and the collective control and management of their lands and resources. But many national governments still do not respect these rights or the principle of free, prior, and informed consent, and have failed to implement the UN Declaration.
For indigenous peoples “land” is much more than the place where you farm, fish, gather, or hunt your food: As members of the Indigenous Terra Madre network repeatedly emphasize, “land is identity. It is traditional culture and knowledge. If you take us away from our lands you kill our identities and cultures and our food sovereignty, producing poverty, displacement and conflicts. Well-being is linked to land. Peace and harmony will only come if we are connected to our land.”
2 comments:
"About 2.5 billion people around the globe, including 370 million indigenous people, depend on land and natural resources that are held, used, and managed collectively."
That is to say there is a vast part of our planet that is owned communally, or in socialist terms -- common ownership (of the means of production, by extension.)
This concept of common ownership, although perhaps not always consciously acknowledged, is indigenous to these millions and billions.
Is this not the prime population open to accept one of socialism's principle concepts to create a socialist world? Surely this should be one of the WSM's major activities in places like India, Canada, U.S. of A., Australia, New Zealand and Palestine.
Is there any WSM literature simply explaining these facts? I for one would be willing to approach local local Mohawk groups, who connect with other Indigenous communities.
You might be interested in the latest post on the blog.
http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2018/01/barbuda-and-communal-land.html
I think this is just an echo of The Enclosures that took place in British history.
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