Papua New Guinea’s government announced that it will restore the right of landowners to challenge in court any project they feel could be detrimental to the environment. According to reports in The National The National Executive Council agreed to repeal the Environmental Amendment Act, passed by the legislature in May 2010, which denied landowners this right.

On October 10, over 100 protesters marched to the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to demand a halt to the construction of the Patuca III hydroelectric dam. Miskitu, Garifuna and Lenca marchers called on the government to address 16 issues of concern to the Indigenous peoples of Honduras. 

Last week, Indigenous landowners rested their appeal to Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court, asking for a permanent injunction to prevent a Chinese nickel mine from dumping toxic mine waste into the Bismarck Sea.

The Oglala Sioux Nation has declared opposition to plans for the Keystone XL gas pipeline project unless the US government can agree to certain conditions set by the Nation. 

A Brazilian judge brought construction of the Belo Monte Dam project to a halt last week as he ruled in favor of environmental activists to protect fish species and the Indigenous people who depend on them for food and livelihoods. 

The following video was produced by Global Witness based on interviews and research in 67 communities of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  It tells the personal stories of the impacts of large-scale logging companies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxn5jfgED1w&feature=player_embedded

As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate talks opened in Panama this week, Indigenous leaders from around the world gathered in Finland and called upon the international community to remove scientific bias against Indigenous knowledge from climate change science and policy.

On September 29, 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will clean up approximately 1.4 million tons of radium and uranium contaminated soil at the Northeast Church Rock Mine, the largest uranium mine on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.

On September 26, 2011 over 200 people protesting Canadian government's support for Alberta's Tar Sands and the Keystone pipeline XL were arrested trying to carry out a sit-in in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

On September 10, 2011, the Honduran president’s office announced that the Minister of Finance signed a contract with the Chinese company Sinohydro to build three dams on the Patuca River, with construction scheduled to start in 2012. Sinohydro expects to fund the project with loans from Chinese financial institutions. A previous contract had only contemplated one dam, Patuca III, which will be built first.

See the full article here.