In 2020, IUCN NL together with local partners carried out an investigation about informal mercury trade in different countries. Our local partner organisation CEDIB has gathered ground-breaking evidence about the informal mercury flows to and from Bolivia. They used this evidence and the media to make the public and government aware of the issue of mercury trade and push for action. CEDIB’s efforts were successful: the Bolivian government will start a national plan of action to reduce and phase out mercury.

Header photo: Landscape of the San José de Chiquitos mountain range (c) Sara Crespo-Probioma.

The formalization of forest tenure rights of Indigenous people and local communities is expected to contribute to forest conservation, livelihood improvement and local self-determination. But formalization alone is not enough. More attention is needed for the conditions that must be in place for these expectations to materialize.

The Tampakan mining project in the province of South Cotabato on the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao is said to be the largest undeveloped copper-gold mine in Southeast Asia. Opening the mine would spell disaster for the region’s watershed systems, agricultural lands and climate resilience. Since the 1990s, the mine has faced stiff resistance from civil society, farmers and Indigenous peoples. A recent amendment to the province’s environmental code, which would have allowed for open-pit mining in the province, has now been vetoed by the province’s governor.

Header photo: Protest against mining that ATM organised together with human rights groups (c) Alyansa Tigil Mina