The BBC World Service is hosting a series of debates on the topic, "Is 'land-grabbing' good for Africa?"  The debates are taking place within Africa, with participation from local communities who are experiencing the impacts of foreign agricultural investment.  The first debate was held today in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with panelists including representatives of the Sierra Leone minister of agriculture, foreign investors, local activists, and The Oakland Institute.

On February 17, the prime minister of Cambodia signed a sub-decree that protects 480,000 hectares of the Prey Lang forest as a conservation area.  Local activists from the Prey Lang Network are celebrating the decision, but remain skeptical of the plans. 

Human rights organizations and government institutions of Southeast Asia formed a joint statement after a four-day workshop in Bali, Indonesia, this past November.  The workshop was convened by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission and organized by Forest Peoples Programme and Indonesian NGO SawitWatch, with participation of 60 individuals from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia. 

Hundreds of Wixárika pilgrims traveled last week from their homes in the Western Sierra Madre mountains to Wirikuta, expressing their united determination to save this most sacred place. Wearing ceremonial dress and bearing gifts and offerings, they traversed the path of their ancestors to the place where the sun first rose, Wirikuta.  Customarily, small groups of Wixárika people (better known by their name in Spanish, Huichol) travel the pilgrimage route on their own.