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The Land Struggles Series

Realizing the right to land is critical to addressing current interlinked crises. This publication shows the importance of implementing a human rights framework and putting land at the center of public and climate policies.

Introduction

Land along with other natural resources are the very basis of life for communities worldwide, who are at the same time the best guardians of those ecosystems. However, corporate control over land and natural resources has triggered a new wave of land grabsspeculation, and land concentration, leading to massive dispossession and ecosystem destruction. In the face of the multiple interconnected crises that are affecting millions worldwide, ensuring the equitable distribution of land needs to be at the center of public and climate policies.

The publication of this Land Struggles Series aims to bring the right to land back to the political agenda. The case studies on this website showcase people’s struggles for their lands, fisheries and forests, and underline the international and national mechanisms and strategies that can be used to defend the right to land. Finally, they illustrate how realizing the right to land is a core part of achieving today’s most pressing larger systemic transformation.   

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Case Studies

Colombia

The Failure of Land Reform

In a country where the level of land concentration is extremely high, land has become the most precious right
Mali

A Successful Social Struggle

Peasant communities successfully mobilized to implement the Tenure Guidelines and secure their customary rights, including those of women and youth
South Africa

The Nature Conservation Fortress

In the name of conservation, human and customary tenure rights are violated
Spain

Financialization of Housing

Residents fight against investment funds speculating in the housing market
Palestine

Women’s Rights and Occupation

Palestinian women face deprivation of their land rights due to occupation and patriarchy
Ukraine

Land Speculation and War

Ukrainian peasants are not only dealing with damages caused by war; they are also under pressure from corporations hungry to control Ukraine's productive land
India

Digitalization of Land Tenure

Digitalization of land records presents a number of challenges related to the power tied to control of data assets
The Philippines

Criminalization of Peasants’ Struggles

Land and environmental defenders face continuous harassment, violent intimidation and legal criminalization for resisting corporations and the state
Tanzania

Eviction Under The Guise of Ecosystem Protection 

Indigenous land of the Maasai is seized in the name of profit and ‘conservation’
Brazil

The Injustice of Carbon Markets 

Land is increasingly being grabbed for carbon removal and offsets leading to displacement, conflicts and financialization of nature