Afghanistan
Afghanistan: opium crop breaks record
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan is expected to increase for a third straight year, expanding even to new areas of the country, warns the UN Office of Drugs and Crime.
Tag: control of water
The Andes
Peru: disappearing glacier sounds climate alarm
A new study published in Science finds that the critical Quelccaya Ice Cap in the Peruvian Andes has shrunk to it smallest extent since the end of the last Ice Age.
Central America
Panama: Ngöbe-Buglé leader murdered after anti-dam protest
Masked men killed an indigenous activist from the Ngöbe-Buglé people after a protest against the Barro Blanco dam in Panama’s western Chiriquí department.
Inner Asia
China: Mongol herders’ protest march blocked
Police in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region blocked an attempted cross-country march by traditional Mongol herders, with police assaulting hundreds in two incidents.
The Amazon
Brazil: protesters briefly reoccupy Belo Monte dam
Area residents carried out the fifth occupation in less than a year at a construction site for the $13 billion Belo Monte dam to protest environmental damage.
The Andes
Ecuador: campesinos march on World Water Day
World Water Day marches in Ecuador ironically coincided with the start of a brief jail sentence for three campesino leaders in Cuenca, convicted in a protest over water rights.
Central America
Panama: Ngöbe-Buglé renew anti-dam protests
Indigenous Ngöbe-Buglé activists continue to protest hydroelectric projects they say threaten their way of life in their own territory, despite previous pacts with the government.
The Andes
Peru: two dead in miners’ protest
A clash broke out as riot troops from Peru's National Police force evicted a group of informal miners from their encampment in northern La Libertad region, leaving two miners dead.
Southern Cone
Chile: hydro projects threaten sacred Mapuche sites
Plans for a major hydroelectric plant in southern Chile have been stalled by environmental concerns and oppostion from Mapuche communities fearing the loss of sacred sites.
The Andes
Peru: Newmont denies plans to quit Cajamarca
Peru’s Yanacocha mining company, facing an ultimatum from protesters to leave the contested Conga site, denied press reports that it plans to quit gold-rich Cajamarca region.
Palestine
Negev Bedouin struggle for water, land
The Israeli high court dismissed an appeal by an “unrecognized” Bedouin village demanding access to water. A land titling plan for the Bedouin is being blocked by the military.
Central America
Honduras: Lenca communities on ‘maximum alert’
Lenca indigenous communities in Honduras have declared a state of “maximum alert,” pledging to resist hydro-electric and mineral development projects slated for their lands.