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More than 60,000 Maya people have been living in the Sierra del Lacandón National Park (SDLNP) and Laguna del Tigre National Park (LDTNP) since before these areas were declared protected, and they are now in a situation of insecurity, constantly facing threats of eviction from their homes.^[1] 

This situation is aggravated by the presence of oil concessions, militarization of the area, unresolved agrarian conflicts^[2], and the lack of effective state mechanisms for the recognition and restitution of Indigenous Peoples' lands. In this regard, in 2004,  the government declared a state of emergency in the (LDTNP). In 2010, the government authorized the continuation of oil drilling in the area for another 15 years by Perenco.^[3] In 2011, a military unit called the Green Battalion was created to combat illegal settlements and the destruction of forests in the region.^[4] By 2018, at least 26 open cases of agrarian conflicts related to protected areas were registered against Indigenous communities, which were either under investigation, facing prosecution, or already under eviction orders.^[5]

From 2007 to 2017, eight of the 54 communities living in the area were violently evicted, including the destruction of housing, food, and livelihoods.[6]  The evictions took place in Nueva Esperanza (2007), Macabilero (2008), Vergelito (2009), Centro Uno (2009), La Colorada (2009), Nueva Esperanza ( 2009), La Colorada (2010), Nueva Esperanza (2011), El Pescadito (2011), El Florido, Centro Campesino, Pollo Solo y Las Cruces.^[7]

In the case of Centro Uno, a  Q'ueqchí' community comprising 164 families was forcibly evicted from the Sierra del Lacandón Park despite having signed a cooperation agreement with the National Council of Protected Areas on 16 June 2009 by about 600 military, police, and guards. 

In September 2016, the communities, including communities of Indigenous Peoples adopted the  Alternative Proposal for Integrated and Sustainable Development for Communities affected by the declaration of Laguna del Tigre and Sierra Lacandón. The proposal included the recognition of land rights and the protection of fundamental rights. ^[8]

The proposal initially raised expectations at both departmental and national levels, briefly opening a dialogue between communities and government authorities. However, this progress was cut short when community leader Jovel Tovar from La Mestiza was arrested for usurpation of protected areas in March 2017, followed by the eviction of the Laguna Larga community in June. ^[9]

In June 2017, 1,500 members of the police and the military, accompanied by personnel from the Nature Protection Division (DIPRONA) and “eco-guards” of the CONAP, carried out the forced eviction of about 500 maya Q’eqchi, Chuj  Indigenous Peoples of the community of Laguna Larga.^[10] Their houses, schools, churches, and animals were burnt. At least 169 community leaders in the area were under investigation by the Public Ministry which demonstrates a strategy and policy of criminal prosecution against communities. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights notably documented a discourse that criminalizes evicted persons, accusing them of collaborating with drug gangs and of committing crimes.^[11] As of 2024, the situation for the displaced Indigenous communities of Laguna Larga remains dire. Over 100 families have spent more than seven years living in precarious conditions along the Guatemala-Mexico border. These families continue to demand either a return to their land or immediate reallocation. 

In 2018 the Pollo Solo community was forcibly evicted in Serra la Candona.^[12] Some of these families were able to relocate with relatives in Alta Verapaz and Izabal, but others continue to live in an improvised settlement in San Andrés, Petén.^[13]

 In addition to the evictions, criminalization, repression, and imprisonment of the communities, authorities, and leaders, ^[14] at least six community members were killed.^[15] Protests have been repressed with the use of military forces. ^[16]

It has been reported that projects promoted by WCS Guatemala may have contributed to a climate of criminalization and evictions.^[17] Among these projects is the adoption by WCS of the master plan for the biosphere reserve, as well as the government-led project “Recovery of Governance of the Candelaria Triangle,” aimed at establishing territorial control and preventing threats to cultural and natural assets in the southeastern area of the Triangle. Additionally, WCS supported the establishment of permanent civil-military patrols within the corridor between Laguna del Tigre and the Candelaria Triangle. In 2016 alone, 48 joint patrols were conducted by CONAP, WCS, and the army, often resulting in the arrest of community members, with a particular focus on communities targeted for eviction.^[18]

In 2011, park rangers working in the region were implicated in a series of incidents resulting in the tragic death of 10-year-old Christine Mayi.^[1]

In 2017, a Congolese group voiced worries that conservation efforts had played a role in the passing of numerous Bayaka children during a 2016 epidemic. A medical specialist linked the deaths to malaria, pneumonia, and dysentery, worsened by profound malnutrition.^[2]

The U.N. Development Programme’s investigation (06/04/2020) into the proposed Messok Dja National Park highlights the poor treatment of the Baka people. It covers the mistreatment of Baka and criticizes the disregard for human rights by Western countries, global organizations, and wildlife protection groups in central Africa. The team discovered Baka communities in a state of profound distress, with reports of numerous incidents including beatings, arson targeting homes, and guards coercing women into undressing. The report provides credible accounts of violence and intimidation by guards against the semi-nomadic Baka population in the Messok Dja region. According to the report, certain Baka individuals recounted being arrested, subjected to torture, and sexually assaulted. A woman disclosed that her husband suffered severe mistreatment in custody, resulting in his death shortly after being released. Notably, he was transported to the prison in a vehicle marked with the WWF emblem. Furthermore, the report highlights instances where other Baka were informed that they were prohibited from accessing sections of the forest where they historically hunted due to the establishment of a "park." The guards failed to differentiate between the Baka's traditional, subsistence-based hunting practices and unlawful wildlife poaching.^[3]

This link contains YouTube testimonials by different Ba’aka individuals alleging gross human rights violations by the eco-guards. 

The Batwa are an Indigenous people with an approximate population of about 6,000. Since the 1930s, successive governments have forcibly displaced and excluded the Batwa from their ancestral lands. The government has failed to recognize the Batwa as Indigenous Peoples, instead categorizing them as a minority and marginalized group. It erroneously views the Batwa as migrants from the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Due to fortress conservation policies surrounding Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks, the Batwa are denied access to their ancestral forest lands, which they historically used as burial grounds, places of worship, and sources of sustenance. The government contends that the Batwa were compensated for leaving the forest; however, this position is disputed by the Batwa themselves. As a result of their displacement, the Batwa are increasingly vulnerable to diseases due to a lack of access to medicinal herbs, and their language and customs face the threat of extinction. They have limited access to food and often rely on bonded labor—primarily in construction and waste disposal—from other communities for income.

In 2017, a Batwa man faced up to five years in prison for hunting a small antelope within Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. His bail was set at nearly $1,600, while most Batwa earn less than one US dollar per day for their labor. According to Survival International, one Batwa community member reported on the militarized violence associated with fortress conservation in the Bwindi and Mgahinga protected areas: “One day, we were in the forest when we saw people coming with machine guns, and they told us to get out of the forest. We were very scared, so we started to run, not knowing where to go, and some of us disappeared. They either died or went somewhere we didn’t know. As a result of the eviction, everybody is now scattered.” In 2001, it was reported that one Batwa was shot by park guards for entering Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. ^[1]

[1] https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/11567

Limited public information is available regarding the impact of Virachey National Park’s creation on Indigenous communities and traditional custodians of the land now included in this conservation area. Restrictions on hunting have significantly affected these tribes' ability to provide for their families, both through direct access to food sources and by selling surplus game for income. The tribes rely on the park’s forests for collecting nuts, roots, berries, and herbs, and on its waterways for fishing. Some groups, including the Hill Tribe People, have a long history of cultivating crops such as rice. While Indigenous hunting has been systematically restricted, little has been done to prevent poaching by outsiders. Access to the land within the park's boundaries is of vital cultural and spiritual importance, as Indigenous communities maintain deep spiritual connections and knowledge systems rooted in the life forces that inhabit the forest.

African Parks Network employs over 1,400 rangers tasked with patrolling 22 parks under its management. The rangers have foot patrols, aerial surveillance units, and specialized units that respond to specific threats.^[1]As is the issue with many of the national parks engaged with fortress conservation, park rangers, and wildlife guards at Odzala-Kokoua have an extensive history of human rights violations, dating back ten years, against Indigenous communities accessing the ancestral lands they have been systematically displaced from. In 2013, African Parks initiated the first firearm amnesty program within the Republic of the Congo offering poachers positions as park rangers in exchange for weapons and intelligence.

In August 2013, a Kola man from Olleme reported being assaulted by wildlife guards in the forest near the Lekoli River.^[2]

In July 2019, three men went camping in Ignoli village within Odzala Kokoua. During their return from gathering hut materials in the forest, eco-guards accused them of poaching alongside the son of the village chief, despite not having weapons or hunting gear. Handcuffed and subjected to severe beatings, they were pressured to confess and name accomplices, which they vehemently denied. Later, they were taken to the Lango base, allegedly confined in a container, enduring two days of torture without food or water. Authorities, including the police and judiciary, report extensive wounds and bruises on their bodies.^[3]

In January 2024, Prince Harry's affiliated conservation charity was accused of financing an armed militia responsible for brutalizing Indigenous communities in Africa. An investigation revealed disturbing accounts of violence perpetrated by guards under the auspices of African Parks, an organization Prince Harry previously presided over for six years before joining its board of directors. Despite its purported mission of wildlife preservation and community collaboration, African Parks, backed by a billionaire linked to Chelsea Football Club, has been accused of overseeing atrocities against the Ba’aka people. Witnesses alleged harrowing incidents of beatings, rapes, and torture inflicted on the Ba’aka. Survivors report horrific experiences, including being drowned, whipped, and raped by armed guards. One man died in custody without receiving medical attention for his injuries, while others, including a mother with her newborn, suffered horrific abuses. Furthermore, allegations suggest medical staff faced coercion to conceal evidence of abuse. Compounding the injustice, survivors lament the lack of compensation and accountability, with one victim still awaiting the majority of the court-ordered restitution.^[4]

Historical changes in conservation status to the lands now known as Mt. Elgon National Park have never been done with the Benet’s consultation, Free and Prior Informed Consent, or with adequate provision of compensation. Despite the substantial efforts of Benet communities to resist the encroachment of Park Management on their lands, access to the Mount Elgon region has become increasingly constricted. Benet communities were evicted and forcibly resettled from the region and by the time Mount Elgon Forest was gazetted as the Mount Elgon National Park in 1992, these communities had been broadly dispossessed of their land, now governed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

Violent abuses against the Benet have increased since the major evictions of the 1990s and 2000s. Dozens of shootings, rapes, and assaults have been committed against the Benet but no serious legal action has ever been taken against the assailants, even after incidents have been reported to the police and Soroti office of the Uganda Human Rights Commission.  

Many Benet community members have been shot by UWA employees while attempting to uphold their rights to graze and farm on their lands.  Moses Maikut Chekwaner was shot and badly injured by the UWA in March 2014 while he was farming outside of the National Park boundary. Two people were shot dead in Bukwo district while grazing their cattle under the permission that had been granted to them before the elections.

In 2018, an amended Wildlife Act passed the Ugandan Parliament, increasing the power of the UWA to restrict access to Benet communities and levy fines. Following these changes, there were additional attacks on Benet people on their lands, including that on a boy named Alfred Cheratta, who was beaten to death by rangers from the UWA in February 2019 for collecting wood in the park. In July 2019, a man named Cherop Samwas shot and killed by the UWA for scaring away wildlife with his motorcycle. In October 2023, three residents of nearby villages were shot by UWA rangers for allegedly trespassing and grazing animals inside the park. In June 2024, Markos Kipsang, a 15-year-old high school student was allegedly shot dead by UWA rangers while cutting grass for his family’s livestock. 

The health care and education system within the resettled communities of the Benet are inadequately resourced and supported by the Ugandan Government. Health centers within the Benet resettlement area, such as Terenboi and Kwosir, do not meet health and safety standards and access to medication remains highly limited. In areas where the Benet were placed in temporary resettlement, the Indigenous Benet had to travel for kilometers to access one health center. As a result, many pregnant mothers must use traditional birth attendants within the resettlement zones or give birth by the roadside as they struggle to reach the center. 

The Kaeng Krachan National Park is located in Thailand. It was declared a National Park in 1981 and listed as a World Heritage Site in July 2021 without consultation and consent of Karen Indigenous peoples who have been traditionally occupying these lands. In 2010 and 2011, Karen Indigenous people from settlements near Bang Kloi Bon and Pu Ra Kam were evicted from their lands while their houses, rice granaries, and other possessions were destroyed. Such acts were repeated in 2011 during which 98 houses and rice stores, agricultural tools, and other possessions were burnt in an operation known as ‘Tenasserim’. In addition, several Karen Indigenous people were arrested and charged, and some others fled to seek refuge outside the park. These evictions were reportedly carried out as a follow-up to the State party’s position that Indigenous peoples’ traditional farming methods were incompatible with natural conservation objectives, in contradiction of the 2007 Royal Thai Constitution which protects the right for persons to remain in national parks and forest areas they have occupied before demarcation or establishment as well as a Thai Cabinet resolution of 3 August 2010 on the restoration of the livelihoods of the Karen, which allows them to remain in their ancestral lands and to continue their traditional farming. 

Killings and disappearances: 

In September 2011, a local activist named Thatkamon Ob-om, who supported the evicted Karen, was shot and killed, intensifying the violence against the Karen people.

Activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, who was supporting the Karen, filed a lawsuit against the park chief, Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, for destroying Karen homes. On April 17, 2014, Porlajee disappeared after being arrested by Chaiwat for collecting wild honey. Over the years, investigations and trials concerning Porlajee's disappearance and the destruction of Karen homes by Chaiwat took place. In January 2016, the sub-committee on Civil Rights of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Thailand reviewed the progress in the case of Porlajee’s disappearance.^[1] They found that the testimonies of the park officers who detained Porlajee were “inconsistent.”^[2]Three park rangers, Bunthaen Butsarakham, Thanaset Chaemthet, and Kritsanaphong Chitthet, were eventually accused and acquitted in the death of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen.^[3]

The CERD under its early warning and urgent action procedure sent letters on 24 November 2020 , 29 August 2019 , 17 May 2017 , 3 October 2016, and 9 March 2012 to the government of Thailand to express concerns about evictions, harassment, and violence against Indigenous peoples in the Park. The UN Special Rapporteurs on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights Defenders, and the Environment sent a communication to the government of Thailand on 21 February 2019 and 30 June 2021 and expressed concerns about these human rights violations in a press release. 

The violations against the Bunong can be traced back to the Cambodian government’s granting of Economic Land Concessions (ELC), which are grants given to private companies allowing them to develop agricultural and other operations through mass deforestation. ELC began in 1996 and ended in 2012, but the practice has continued through various legal loopholes.^[1] 

In January 2018, a forest protection ranger, a military police officer, and a WCS staff member were fatally shot while confronting illegal loggers within the sanctuary. Cambodian security forces are recognized for their cooperation with illicit loggers who transport timber to Vietnam, a neighboring country.^[2]

In November 2018, Sarah Milne and Sango Mahanty, scholars at the Australian National University, collaborated on a paper detailing how the Keo Seima REDD+ project marginalized local communities due to the changing bureaucratic standards imposed on REDD+ initiatives. "We term this phenomenon 'bureaucratic violence'—an aspect that seems inherent to the green economy. This concept helps to explain recent instances of REDD+'s harmful impacts, such as its disregard for or facilitation of local displacement and human rights violations," Milne and Mahanty wrote, highlighting that communities were coerced into accepting various documents concerning land within the scope of the REDD+ project.^[3]

In May 2020, over 200 Bunong individuals protested following their rejection from accessing farmland in Keo Seima. Cambodia's Ministry of Environment attributed this action to the implementation of conservation laws.^[4]

In September 2021, 100 hectares of forest land inside Keo Seima were cleared illegally with no intervention or action from the provincial environment department. Andong Kraloeng community member and forest protection activist Sok Khathot reported observing bulldozers clearing the forest.^[5]

Starting in 1996, Cambodia initiated economic land concessions (ELCs) permitting land clearance for agriculture and logging, even in protected regions. Although the policy ceased in 2012, widespread corruption has led officials to turn a blind eye to the illegal harvesting and smuggling of timber, primarily to China and Vietnam.^[1]

The Cambodia Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF) alleges that Try Pheap controls the permissible land area for Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) at nearly seven times the amount allowed under Cambodian law. Since 2010, Try Pheap has displaced approximately 1,500 families from their homes, with some relocated to sites that villagers find inadequate.^[2]

On June 14, 2022, Heng Saphen, the second deputy of the local Kuy community in Sandan district, was arrested and charged with violating the Land Law by allegedly using force against a property owner accused of encroaching on company land, according to a spokesperson for the provincial court.^[3]

Outside the Kampong Thom Provincial Court on July 26, 2022, tension mounted as 12 Kuy individuals awaited the judge’s decision. They had spent around $200 on a 75-kilometer journey to support Chan Lay Phiek, daughter of the community’s second deputy chief, Heng Saphen, in a longstanding land dispute with Sambath Platinum. An hour past the scheduled hearing time, officials announced its cancellation without setting a new date, refusing to address the community's concerns. Saphen expressed frustration, labeling it a deliberate tactic by the court to waste their time and resources.^[4]

The situation involves multiple human rights violations, including the forced displacement of indigenous communities, destruction of their homes and livelihoods, lack of consultation and consent, and potential exploitation of natural resources for personal gain.^[1] Abdul Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister and Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, has spearheaded the plan to create the national park and potentially benefit from past logging activities through familial ties to Pacific Chemicals.

• From 1992-1993, Ting Pek King's company, Woodhouse, began timber operations in collaboration with Pacific Chemicals, largely owned by Abdul Taib Mahmud's family. This collaboration facilitates extensive logging activities in the Bakun area.

• In 1995, Pacific Chemicals was awarded contracts to manage and clear forest areas as part of the Bakun dam project. These activities involve significant deforestation in the region. 

• In 1998, despite the Bakun project being put on hold due to the Asian economic crisis, logging activities continued, indicating a motive beyond dam construction. These activities allegedly aim to exploit valuable timber resources in the region.

• In 2011, the announcement was made by Abdul Taib Mahmud's government to create the 'Bakun Islands National Park,' which would lead to the displacement of indigenous communities. The lack of consultation and consent from affected communities raises concerns about human rights violations.

• In August 2013, Abdul Taib Mahmud issued a notice to gazette the remaining 18 islands in the Bakun Reservoir Lake as a National Park. 

• From 2013 onwards, concerns have been raised about the lack of transparency and consultation in the process of creating the national park, with critics arguing that it violates the Indigenous peoples' right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) as per the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The creation of the national park was seen as an attempt to extinguish the remaining indigenous claims to the land, with concerns about the displacement of indigenous peoples and the loss of their livelihoods.

• In 2019, the state government issued a notice to declare the lands within the Bakun dam area the "Bakun Islands National Park," listing 18 islands to be gazetted.

Indigenous peoples living in the Bakun area have continuously expressed their dismay at the need for more awareness about the notice and the absence of consultation. They argue that the lands still belong to them based on Native Customary Rights (NCR) and plan to submit objections to the state government.^[2]