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The IISD Handbook on Mining Contract Negotiations for Developing Countries (Volume 1) outlines a strategic framework for host governments to move from a 'win-lose' to a 'win-win-win' negotiating paradigm involving the state, companies, and local communities. It emphasizes the critical importance of the pre-negotiation phase, including resource valuation, interdepartmental coordination, and the establishment of a 'social license to operate.' The guide analyzes the legal interplay between domestic law, investment contracts, and international treaties, while cautioning against stabilization clauses that may hinder future sustainable development regulations. It also provides detailed advice on maximizing economic linkages through local purchasing, employment, and downstream processing, as well as managing social and environmental risks, including climate change adaptation.

Friends of the Earth International celebrates the leadership of women in justice movements and emphasizes that dismantling the patriarchy is essential for a just world. The statement highlights the central role of women in agroecological production and the disproportionate violence faced by women human rights defenders, particularly those protecting land and natural resources.

The assessment finds that while Uganda has established a comprehensive legal and policy framework for mining, its actual implementation readiness is medium to low due to severe capacity constraints in monitoring, inspection, and enforcement. Strengths include the public availability of geological data and a progressive variable tax rate for mining companies. However, critical gaps exist in mine closure planning, financial assurance for restoration, and the formalization of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, which accounts for 90% of national production but remains overwhelmingly informal. The report recommends prioritizing socioeconomic benefit optimization, improving post-mining transition frameworks, and increasing transparency in the distribution of mining revenues.

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and a coalition of civil society and community organisations are urging the South African National Assembly to reject the Mining and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill 15B of 2013. Following President Zuma's referral of the bill back to Parliament, the LRC argues that the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and provincial legislatures failed to facilitate reasonable public participation, violating sections 72 and 118 of the Constitution. The LRC specifically highlights that the bill removes community participation in mining and eliminates requirements for addressing socio-economic needs. They contend that the bill was influenced by 'lobbying and influence peddling' from the mining industry and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) outside of parliamentary processes. The LRC demands a fresh start to the legislative process to ensure meaningful consultation with affected mining communities, particularly regarding living customary law and the principle of community consent.

The document outlines a pilot project by Natural Justice and partners to implement biocultural community protocols (BCPs) in four countries to safeguard community rights against extractive industries. It details specific regional efforts—addressing infrastructure and oil/gas/coal in Kenya, diamond mining in Zimbabwe, lithium mining in Argentina, and various mining forms in India—while identifying BCPs as tools for internal consensus and external rights assertion. The report highlights successes in community mobilization and challenges such as political will, safety threats, and the difficulty of defining 'community' in non-homogenous groups.

The policy brief contends that South Africa is failing to secure land tenure for those affected by apartheid-era dispossession. Instead of democratic reform, the authors argue that the state is implementing a separate legal regime for former 'homelands' that empowers chiefs and marginalizes rural communities, particularly regarding the distribution of wealth from platinum mining in the North West and Limpopo provinces.

The Ogiek Bio-Cultural Community Protocol (BCP) serves as a community-determined framework to protect the rights and traditional knowledge of the Ogiek, an indigenous hunter-gatherer group in Kenya. It documents their unique relationship with the Mau Forest Complex, detailing their eco-climatic zoning system, traditional medicinal knowledge, and sustainable honey-harvesting practices. The protocol outlines the challenges the community faces, including forced evictions, forest degradation from logging and charcoal burning, and cultural erosion. It establishes a community agreement based on national and international law, demanding Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for development projects and equitable Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for the use of their resources. The document also defines a traditional governance structure led by a Council of Elders and proposes a land management system divided into biodiversity conservation, rehabilitation, and settlement zones.

The report examines the intersection of energy poverty and gender inequality in West Africa, highlighting how socially determined roles lead to differential access to and use of energy services. It identifies significant barriers for women in the energy workforce and entrepreneurship, including gaps in STEM education and limited access to land and finance. The document assesses the existing regional and national policy landscapes, noting a general lack of gender-disaggregated data and limited collaboration between energy and gender ministries. It argues for a gender-responsive approach to energy planning to maximize the impact of interventions and achieve universal energy access by 2030.

The document examines the rollout of biofuels and agribusiness in Southeast Asia, finding that promised poverty reduction and rural development benefits often fail to materialize. It highlights systemic issues including unclear land tenure, the vulnerability of small-scale producers, and weak enforcement of environmental laws. The authors argue that investments frequently precede inclusive development planning, leading to social tensions and ecological risks, and recommend prioritizing 'upstream' planning and strengthening dispute resolution mechanisms.

The report identifies significant gaps between Zambia's national agricultural policies and the proposed global SDGs, noting that while national goals focus on production and exports, the SDGs emphasize human well-being and systemic sustainability. It highlights that current Zambian interventions, such as the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), reinforce a reliance on maize and fail to address structural barriers like poor market access and climate vulnerability.

The report evaluates the Makeni Project, a 400 million EUR sugarcane-to-ethanol investment by Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL). While the project has introduced formal wage labour, new infrastructure, and agricultural support through the Farmer Development Programme (FDP), it has also created pressures on natural resources, such as fuelwood and water, and highlighted significant gaps in local skills and government governance. The study concludes that while FDI can catalyze development, it cannot replace the public sector, and the transformative potential of the project is limited by weak institutional capacity and a lack of coordinated public investment to complement private efforts.

Between 1986 and 2005, Costa Rica increased its forest area by 394,000 hectares, primarily through passive restoration on abandoned pastures. This success is attributed to a combination of crisis-driven motivation, ecological viability, and market shifts—specifically the decline of the cattle industry and the rise of eco-tourism. While the Pago de Servicios Ambientales (PSA) system is a well-known financial incentive, the document argues that structural economic changes and restrictive forestry laws were equally or more critical to the country's reforestation outcomes.

The HASHI program in Tanzania's Shinyanga region restored 500,000 hectares of woodland by reviving 'ngitili', a traditional Sukuma practice of seasonal livestock enclosures. This effort reversed decades of desertification caused by cash-crop expansion and 'villagization' policies. Success was driven by a combination of traditional knowledge, decentralized governance, and long-term funding from the Norwegian Development Assistance Agency. While the program provided significant economic benefits and reduced workloads for women, it faces ongoing challenges from population growth, socioeconomic disparity in land ownership, and a lack of national monitoring systems.

The document examines the restoration of 5 million hectares in southern Niger through farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), a locally driven agroforestry practice. It details how FMNR improved food security, household income, and climate resilience while sequestering 25 million tons of carbon. The study identifies key success factors, including the 1989 Rural Code which secured land and tree tenure for farmers, and the role of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and international funding from USAID and IFAD.

The Panama Canal Watershed experienced significant deforestation between 1974 and 1991, with forest cover decreasing by 43 percent. In response to water scarcity risks and the operational needs of the canal, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Panamanian government implemented a combination of strict legal prohibitions, financial incentives, and active reforestation. By 2010, approximately 18,000 hectares of forest had been restored. Key success factors included the creation of the Interagency Watershed Commission (CICH) and the Environmental Economic Incentives Program, though challenges remain regarding invasive species, land tenure, and community participation.

Since the 1950s, Vietnam lost over 80% of its mangroves due to war-time defoliants and post-war aquaculture expansion. Restoration efforts since 2001 have added a net 18,000 hectares. In northern Vietnam, restoration focused on disaster risk reduction through top-down, monoculture plantations that protected sea dikes. In southern Vietnam, a bottom-up approach integrated poverty alleviation and livelihood diversification, utilizing species-rich plantations and land-use leases for households. While economically beneficial—with some mangrove areas generating more value than aquaculture—sustainability is threatened by declining incentives in the north, tenure conflicts, and overlapping regulatory mandates for payments for ecosystem services (PES).

Friends of the Earth International and its signatories critique the Lima Conference for producing weak pre-2020 mitigation pledges and failing to secure binding commitments on finance, adaptation, and loss and damage. The statement asserts that the outcome shifts responsibility to the Global South, protects polluting corporations, and risks expanding carbon markets at the expense of land rights. It calls for a systemic transformation away from fossil fuels toward community-controlled renewable energy and agro-ecological solutions.

The document analyzes the evolution of community-company engagements in the mining, oil, and gas sectors, emphasizing the need for community-driven processes to ensure fair outcomes. It categorizes types of agreements—ranging from Joint Venture Agreements to Consultation and Negotiation Agreements—and evaluates the risks associated with government-led processes. Through case studies in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Ghana, the paper highlights the importance of self-identification of affected communities and the role of international human rights frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles and FPIC, in protecting community rights.

The report examines the tension between Mozambique's progressive legal frameworks, such as the 1997 Land Law, and a state tendency toward recentralization and the prioritization of extractive industries. While laws recognize customary land rights (DUAT), implementation is often hindered by bureaucratic hurdles, flawed community consultation processes, and legislation that gives mining operations priority over other land uses. The document highlights the failure of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives like Tchuma Tchato due to lack of genuine power devolution and the negative social impacts of large-scale resettlement projects, such as those led by Vale in Tete Province.

The report examines the legal landscape for indigenous peoples and local communities in South Africa, highlighting a tension between constitutional human rights and state-led developmental interests. While frameworks like the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) provide for benefit-sharing in bioprospecting, other sectors—particularly mining and large-scale infrastructure—often prioritize national interests over community rights. The document notes that the lack of a permanent communal land tenure regime and the 1913 cut-off date for land restitution significantly hinder the self-determination of groups like the Khoi-San. It concludes that while co-management models in protected areas exist, they often fail to decentralize power effectively.