Background briefings

India's Forest Rights Act

When the Forest Rights Act was passed in 2006 it was intended to address the ‘historical injustice’ to India’s ‘traditional forest dwellers’. But now this vital law is under threat.

Mainstreaming

‘Unless we affirm our culture and right and language, we won’t live. We have to say, by ourselves at least, ours is good: our colour is good, our language is good, our art is good, our way of living is good. If we can respect your religion and y...

Shifting cultivation

What is it and who does it? Swidden agriculture, also known as shifting cultivation, refers to a technique of rotational farming in which land is cleared for cultivation (normally by fire) and then left to regenerate after a few years. Governmen...

Camisea Gas Project

100km from Machu Picchu the lives of uncontacted tribes are at threat. A huge gas project known as Camisea is located in the heart of their land. Now the Peruvian government is searching for more gas that will reach further into their territory.

Protected areas

‘Protected areas’ or ‘parks’ are catch-all phrases for areas of land or sea that are being protected in the name of conservation. Over 13% of the land on our planet is in a protected area. That is a vast two billion hectares – over twice the area ...

The Bennett Code

The Bennett Code is a draft Code of Conduct for conservation organisations, endorsed by Survival.

Conservation Refugees

Across the world millions of people – the majority of them Indigenous – have been illegally evicted from their ancestral homelands in the name of conservation. In India alone hundreds of thousands of people have been evicted from parks and over th...

Community Mapping

Indigenous people around the world are creating maps of their lands and resources. It is a way for them to stake a claim to their land, and can be a powerful tool in establishing tribal peoples’ rights.

Hunting

Many of the communities that Survival works with are hunter-gatherers. Hunting is more than a way of life; it is part of their identity.

Poaching

Hunting is the main source of protein for many tribal people, and is central to their identity. But when their land is stolen from them in the name of conservation, tribal hunters become “poachers” overnight. And they face arrest and beatings, tor...

Parks and Peoples

Conservation – a necessity for the world’s dwindling resources – is an integral part of life for many tribal peoples. But conservation by outsiders that ignores tribal peoples’ rights can be catastrophic for all.

Yanomami blood controversy

In 1967, thousands of blood samples were taken from Yanomami Indians in Brazil and Venezuela, by North American researchers. It took until 2010 for the return of the samples to be assured.