Inclusive Land Governance
Both ENDS works with partners around the world to ensure that land is governed fairly and inclusively and managed sustainably with priority for the rights and interests of local communities.
Conflicts over land are common in many places around the world. The increasing demand of the global economy for minerals, natural resources, and primary products drive agribusinesses and mining companies into new areas in search of land. Where communities lack secure land (use) rights, the land they use is at risk of conflict, being allocated to or grabbed by large companies often with the support of local or national authorities. Land insecurity and dispossession poses a direct threat to people's livelihoods, right to food, health, access to water, social and cultural integrity, and identity.
Securing land (use) rights at all levels
Access to and control over land that is used by local communities is a fundamental part of inclusive land governance and sustainable land use practices. Sustainability means investing for the long term and, unfortunately, land-insecurity often prevents land users from doing so. Securing land (use) rights at the local, national and international level is therefore central to the discussions of sustainability, including sustainable trade & investments, ecosystem management, halting land degradation and deforestation and protecting biodiversity.
At the local level, land users (many of them women) and communities often lack formal recognition of their land (use) rights, despite having used and protected the land for generations. Both ENDS works with civil society organisations towards recognition of land (use) rights in policy processes, for example by community mapping, land use planning, advocacy towards local and national governments, and securing a seat for communities at local, national and international decision-making tables. At the same time, we support communities by putting collective, communal and women's land (use) rights on the international agenda, which is too often mainly focused on land use practices without taking into account the importance of land security.
Both ENDS and partner organisations have actively contributed in the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) by the UN Committee on World Food Security. Since the adoption of the VGGT by all UN Member States, we advocate for these guidelines to be implemented in national and international policies, such as the UNCCD's Strategic Framework and Dutch land-use policies.
Identifying and upscaling sustainable land use practices
Communities who depend on their natural environment for their livelihoods tend to use natural resources in a sustainable way, in order to secure their children's livelihoods. They have developed sustainable land-use practices, that are tailor-made for the local situation and needs. However, due to climate change these practices have to change, as the knowledge of natural systems has to adapt to new weather patterns, droughts and rainfall patterns. Where land (use) rights are insecure, due to land conflict with other users, communities tend to spend less time and resources in long-term investments in the land (e.g. planting trees, foster soil health, etc.) .
Therefore, Both ENDS together with partner civil society organisations – is committed to identifying sustainable, climate-resilient land use practices, like agroecology, Non Timber Forest Products, farmer-led restoration etc., in order to promote them, spread knowledge to other communities interested in these practices, and seek finance for implementation. At the same time, Both ENDS and partners speak with policy-makers at all levels about these sustainable alternatives to unsustainable practices and the enabling policy environment that is needed.
Examples of inclusive and sustainable land governance
Both ENDS and partner organisations have been advocating for and supporting inclusive and sustainable land governance initiatives for a long time. Some examples include:
• Participatory land use planning (PLUP):
In 2010 we started a pilot project on Participatory Land Use Planning in West-Kalimantan. We have shared our experiences with PLUP with other CSOs, policy makers and scholars and in various other projects and contexts.
• Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR):
This is a method of land restoration by nurturing what spontaneously springs from the soil and protecting the sprouts from cattle and hazards. Besides sharing knowledge of this method between communities, in our FMNR-projects we foster cooperation between farmers and pastoralists and advocate for responsible land governance with local and national authorities.
• Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs):
Harvesting and processing Non-Timber Forest Products such as fruits, nuts, honey, herbs or rattan is an important livelihood strategy for many forest communities. We work together with local communities to support the sustainable collection of NTFPs while also ensuring that local land (use) rights and forest management policies support secure communal land tenure and sustainable forest management.
Building an inclusive land justice movement
Both ENDS is committed to work towards land justice together with a wide and diverse network of civil society organisations. These organisations identify, promote, upscale and implement inclusive land governance and sustainable land-use practices, work with communities, and advocate towards their local and national governments. Both ENDS' expertise lies in building international networks of like-minded organisations, linking local realities to international policy arenas, and connecting civil society organisations with funders. Together we have the capacities, knowledge and skills needed to make global land justice a reality.
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Alternative
Rich Forests
Rich Forests promotes a sustainable and future-proof production system and supports, among other things, the transformation of degraded land into food forests. With this, people provide for their livelihood, increase their income and at the same time restore soil and biodiversity.
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Dossier
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Dossier
The Climate lawsuit against Shell
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Dossier
The Netherlands and the SDGs: A better world starts with yourself
In 2015, the member states of the United Nations committed themselves to the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unlike their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SDGs recognise the importance of equality within and between countries, of decision-making processes in which all people are included and heard, and of legal systems that are independent and accessible to all.
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Dossier
Trade agreements
International trade agreements often have far-reaching consequences not only for the economy of a country, but also for people and the environment. It is primarily the most vulnerable groups who suffer most from these agreements.
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Dossier
The JWH Initiative: supporting young environmental leaders
The JWH Initiative aims to stimulate leadership of young people in environmental organisations by giving small grants to individuals to expand their knowledge, experience and training.
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Dossier
Investment treaties
Investment treaties must be inclusive, sustainable and fair. That means that they must not put the interests of companies before those of people and their living environment.
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Dossier
Advocating for responsible policies of development banks
Development banks should comply with strict environmental and human rights rules to ensure that their projects benefit and do not harm the poorest groups. Both ENDS monitors the banks to make sure they do.
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Dossier
Export Credit Agencies: Who pays the price?
Both ENDS calls on the government only to provide export credit insurance to sustainable projects that cause no social and/or environmental damage in the countries where they take place.
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Dossier
Large-scale infrastructure
Large-scale infrastructural projects have detrimental effects on local people and the environment, while their benefits are felt elsewhere. Both ENDS is working to ensure that local people have a greater say in decision-making and is investigating the way these projects are funded.
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Dossier
Small Grants Big Impacts
Small grants funds offer an effective, alternative way to channel big money from large donors and funds to local groups and organisations that are striving for a sustainable and just society everywhere around the world.
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Dossier
Green Climate Fund: calling for local access to climate finance
Local organisations and groups must be given access to climate finance from the Green Climate Fund. They know exactly what is happening in their local context and what is required for climate adaptation.
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Dossier
Fair Green and Global Alliance (FGG)
Together with civil society organisations from all over the world, the Fair Green and Global (FGG) Alliance aims for socially just, inclusive and environmentally sustainable societies in the Netherlands and the Global South.
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Publication / 8 January 2021
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News / 30 June 2020
Extra export support from the government must stimulate green growth
Almost 40 civil society organisations and networks from around the world, including Both ENDS, today sent a letter to Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag and State Secretary for Finance Hans Vijlbrief. They are asking the ministers to ensure that the expansion of export credit insurance as a result of the Corona crisis contributes to a green recovery.
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News / 16 August 2019
Opinion: "Sustainable land use needs radical policy change"
Today, an op-ed by Nathalie van Haren and Stefan Schüller was published in the Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant about the IPCC's latest report "Climate Change and Land". Below you find the English translation.
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Publication / 11 July 2019
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Blog / 18 January 2019
Unambitious and uninspiring: the European Commission’s proposal for stepping-up action on global deforestation
By Michael RiceAfter five years of equivocation the European Commission has proposed a ‘roadmap’ for stepping-up EU action to address its contribution to global deforestation. Despite the escalating impact of EU trade in forest-risk commodities, regardless of repeated calls from the European Parliament for regulatory measures and contrary to the conclusions of the Commission’s own feasibility study in support of legislative intervention, the Commission has ruled-out out any new initiatives, let alone any legislative measures. The Commission’s solution to this complex problem: policy coherence.
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News / 26 July 2018
Both ENDS and partners: recognize human rights in French strategy against imported deforestation
Both ENDS together with partners from Indonesia, Malaysia, Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Kingdom, filed a joint submission to the French Government on its draft National Strategy to Combat Imported Deforestation (Strategie Nationale de Lutte Contre la Deforestation Importee – "SNDI").
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News / 28 June 2018
Indigenous leaders present 'Supply Chain Solutions' and petition in Paris and Brussels
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