December 6, 2012 was the deadline for removal of illegal invaders in the Xavante Indigenous territory of Marãiwatsede in Mato Grosso state. The invaders remain and the situation continues to be very tense in the region. Xavante’s allies, among them the 84 year old Bishop Pere Casaldàliga, continue to receive death threats.
The federal government of Mexico has proposed the creation of a Biosphere Reserve in the area of Wirikuta, sacred site to the Wixarika (Huichol) people and the battle ground for a silver mine first proposed by Canadian company First Majestic Silver, and others. The biosphere reserve would cover 191,000 hectares, according to Mexico’s National Commission on Natural Protected Areas.
In a new documentary, the people of Phulbari, Bangladesh explain why, since 2005, they have opposed an open pit coal mine that would displace them from their homes, and will continue to oppose the project in the future at any cost. "We are united," explains one community member. "Any any cost, we will stay united. We will stay alive in our own place, and if the time comes to die, we shall die in our own place."
A panel of experts appointed by the government have concluded after a year of study that the construction of an open-pit mine in the Phulbari region of northern Bangladesh is a “practical approach”. The 17 member committee, headed by the former chairman of the national oil company of Bangladesh, was formed a year ago to give opinions on the appropriate coal mining and its implications on social and environmental factors.