From Farms to Forests: Land Rights as an Impact Multiplier
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Session Description
From smallholder plots to indigenous territories, people depend on land to survive. Evidence links secure land rights to bigger, better, and faster development outcomes. Still, it’s an often-overlooked lever for impact on issues ranging from food security and women’s empowerment to carbon emissions. New mechanisms—like incentives for farming or for protecting land—have transformed land tenure into a cutting-edge tool for livelihood and stewardship. Hear from leaders about methods to unearth the impact multiplier right under our feet.
Simultaneous Spanish-English translation will be available.
Time & Location
Time:
1:30 PM - 2:45 PM, Thursday, April 11, 2019
BST
Location:
LectureTheatre 6 (TBEC)
Speakers
-
Speaker
Member of Parliament, Republic of Vanuatu
Ralph Regenvanu was the Director of the National Museum of the Republic of Vanuatu from 1995 to 2006 and Director of the Vanuatu National Cultural Council from 1995 to 2010. He was a founding Board Member of both the Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA) and the regional cultural sites preservation organization, ICOMOS Pacifica, and was on the international drafting committee of the “Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage” which was adopted by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 2003. He has also served as a member of the Advisory Committee of Experts assisting preparation of the 2009 UNESCO World Report on Cultural Diversity. Since 2008, Ralph has been a Member of Parliament in Vanuatu and has held many Ministerial portfolios in Government. In 2013, as Minister of Land and Natural Resources, he initiated a major overhaul of the land laws of Vanuatu aimed at enshrining the jurisdiction of customary law to determine rights to customary land and the ‘free, prior and informed consent’ of traditional owners to dealings in their customary land. From 2013 also, Ralph was Co-chair of the National Sustainable Development Plan Core Group which was responsible for developing Vanuatu’s ‘National Sustainable Development Plan 2016-2030’ which was launched in early 2017. Ralph is an inaugural Committee member of The Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty which was founded in 2010 and is currently serving as Vanuatu's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
-
Speaker
Isidoro works closely with and supports the Executive Vice President in the day-to-day management of programs, specifically for activities related to the development and implementation of conservation strategies, the achievement of ACT-wide field impact objectives, and the attainment of fundraising objectives. He has a decade of experience working with indigenous peoples to advance their collective rights to lands, resources, culture, and self-determination, particularly in Latin America. Isidoro holds a Master’s from Harvard University, and a Bachelor’s from Virginia Tech. At present, he is pursuing graduate studies at the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration and Policy.
-
Speaker
Francis von Hildebrand is the President of Gaia Amazonas (Fundación Gaia Amazonas). Gaia Amazonas is a Colombian NGO whose mission is to protect the Amazon, biocultural diversity, and socio-environmental resilience by actively partnering and collaborating with indigenous peoples’ processes and organizations.
Francis has led Gaia Amazonas as its Director and CEO since 2012 and previously worked for a decade as a researcher advancing development and conservation projects in Amazonia with indigenous communities in Colombia and transfrontier projects.
Francis is a Development Studies professional and an expert in local development strategies, local governance, and intercultural environmental management, emphasizing community-based research and participation.
-
Speaker
Senior Global Policy and Advocacy Lead, Nia Tero Foundation
Jennifer Tauli Corpuz coordinates the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Program of Tebtebba – Indigenous Peoples’ International Center for Policy Research and Education, an organization based in the Philippines. An indigenous woman from the Kankana-ey Igorot People, and a lawyer by profession, she attends to the legal needs of Tebtebba partner communities and conducts regular trainings on indigenous peoples’ rights in the international system. Jennifer graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law and obtained her Master of Laws from the Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy (IPLP) Program of The University of Arizona. She was the 2012 Indigenous Intellectual Property Law Fellow at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and since then has been an active participant in the WIPO IGC negotiations on the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. She was involved as negotiator and expert for the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), representing indigenous peoples’ views and positions at the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
-
Speaker
President and Chief Executive Officer,
LandesaChris Jochnick is a global land rights expert and social entrepreneur with decades of experience in international development. Chris joined Landesa as CEO in August 2015 after leading Oxfam America’s work on corporate advocacy, including the successful “Behind the Brands” campaign. Jochnick is the co-founder and former director of two pioneering non-profit organizations: Center for Economic and Social Rights and the Ecuador-based Centros De Derechos Economicos y Sociales. Jochnick has taught human rights courses at Columbia, Harvard, American University and the University of Melbourne. He is a former fellow of the Echoing Green and MacArthur foundations.
-
Speaker
Abogada con estudios de Historia, tiene una larga experiencia en conservación, áreas protegidas y trabajo con comunidades locales, especialmente indigenas.
Desde Amazon Conservation Team, Carolina y su equipo han trabajado arduamente con Indígenas y Campesinas en la protección de los bosques de la Amazonia y los medios de vida de las comunidades locales. Trabajo que han extendido a la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Antioquia y la Orinoquia. Es una convencida del trabajo en equipo y de la acción colectiva, cree que la mejor forma de construir liderazgo es desarrollando capacidades en los distintos actores que interactúan en el territorio, un buen líder local o institucional dependen de las fortalezas de su comunidad y de su equipo. Es especialista en tender puentes y articular el trabajo de la sociedad civil, con las comunidades y la institucionalidad pública para el logro efectivo de resultados orientado a la protección de los bosques.
Bajo su coordinación y gracias a la “acción colectiva”, el equipo que lidera en Colombia ha impulsado de manera articulada con las comunidades locales y las entidades del gobierno importantes logros para la conservación ambiental y el fortalecimiento de las comunidades.
-
Moderator
COO & Head of Portfolio, Mulago Foundation
Kristin leads Mulago's grant and investment portfolio and oversees operations. She joined Mulago in 2013 to grow and support an exemplary portfolio of social investments – grants, debt and equity – in high-impact organizations with a scalable solution to meet the basic needs of the poor.
Her background spans the private, public and nonprofit sectors, including stints in investment banking, the US Peace Corps, the US National Park Service, and organizations focused on early childhood development and immigrant job placement. Kristin has brought these varied experiences to philanthropy since 2008.
Prior to Mulago, she was a Principal at the Skoll Foundation, where she worked with social entrepreneurs, and Program Finance Officer at the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, where she focused on environmental conservation.
