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Ahead of the impending October 10, 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections, the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) calls on all political parties and aspirants to clearly share their vision as to how they will address the ‘massive corruption’ in the land and natural resource sectors of the country.

Wilfred Gray-Johnson, Executive Director @ SDI

Last May, our Ugandan partner organisation Friends of Zoka took an important step towards protecting Zoka Central Forest from logging. President Museveni issued an order that bans logging for commercial charcoal production in the region where Zoka forest is located. If properly executed, this order will take pressure from the forest which is under threat from charcoal production and other logging activities.

Photo: Logging for charcoal in Zoka Central Forest, Uganda © Friends of Zoka

A law in Ghana stipulates that all naturally growing trees are owned by the state. In 2022, female cocoa farmers collaborated with Tropenbos Ghana to draw attention to the adverse effects of this law on their livelihoods.

The past two weeks have been marked by votes on the update of the OECD Guidelines and the European Parliament’s proposed amendments to the European Commission’s proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Both votes went favourably, which is good news for Indigenous Peoples and nature.

Photo © Galen Priest/Alto

Tropenbos Viet Nam actively engaged government officials in research into the forest management traditions of ethnic minorities. As a result, government officials are now more aware of the role that ethnic minorities can play in forest management and conservation.

Tropenbos DR Congo assisted communities to apply for local community forest concessions, which give them the right to use and manage their forests. Within the degraded parts of these concessions, Tropenbos DR Congo has been promoting agroforestry to improve livelihoods without putting pressure on the forest. This effort resulted in a surge of farmers adopting cocoa agroforestry practices throughout the Bafwasende landscape in 2022.

Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke is a Congolese environmental and human rights defender who has dedicated his life’s work to advocating for environmental rights, land rights and land justice, especially in and around Virunga National Park. Last week, Olivier was awarded the Front Line Defenders Award 2023.

Photo © Conor McCabe

The Dutch Agriculture Agreement currently under development focuses exclusively on the Netherlands. A group of 60 civil society organizations and scientists advocates to offer prospects for sustainable farmers and consumers worldwide. They outline what an international strategy for sustainable agriculture should look like.