Harvard’s half-billion land stake in Brazil marred by conflict and abuse

After the 2008 economic crisis, Harvard University, one of the most respected educational institutions in the world, sought to reallocate its endowment funds to safer assets. It invested more than $1 billion in land in Brazil, Africa, Oceania, Eastern Europe and the United States.

But a recent report shows that in Brazil, which accounts for almost half of Harvard’s total investment, at $450 million, most of the endowment’s acquired enterprises are territories occupied by land-grabbers in conflict with traditional communities and slave-descended quilombos in the Cerrado grasslands. The report, by GRAIN, a nonprofit that advocates for small farmers, and Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos, a social justice NGO, also links these lands to incidents of deforestation and death threats.

— source news.mongabay.com | Maurício Angelo | 19 Aug 2020

Nullius in verba

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Over 65 Lakh People Affected in 703 Ongoing Land Conflicts in India

Over 65 lakh people and over 21 lakh hectares of land are locked in 703 ongoing land conflicts around India, according to a study by Land Conflict Watch (LCW), a New Delhi-based research initiative that maps and tracks ongoing land conflicts. The study titled ‘Locating the Breach’ found that Rs 13.7 lakh crore of committed, earmarked, and potential investments were found embroiled in 335 of the 703 land conflicts. This constitutes 7.2% of the revised estimate of the country’s Gross Domestic Project for 2018-19.

60% of all mining related conflicts were found in Fifth Schedule districts. 75% of all conservation and forestry related conflicts, and 51.4% of mining related conflicts are involved in violation or non- implementation of the FRA, 2006. In 104 cases, the dispute has been going on for at least two decades and in another 149 conflicts, the case has remained unresolved for at least a decade.

— source newsclick.in | 29 Feb 2020

Nullius in verba

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