[STATEMENT] APNED stands in solidarity with Pala’wan environmental defenders protecting their ancestral lands in Brooke’s Point, Palawan

 

The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) stands in solidarity with the Pala’wan Indigenous communities and fellow environmental defenders in Brooke’s Point, Palawan, who continue to defend their ancestral lands, forests, watersheds, and communities from large-scale nickel mining.

Environmental defenders across Asia and the Pacific share a common struggle. Whether protecting forests, rivers, coastlines, biodiversity, or Indigenous territories, defenders are safeguarding not only their own communities but also ecosystems that are critical to addressing the global climate and biodiversity crises. The actions of the Pala’wan community in Sitio Linao reflect this shared commitment to protecting both people and the environment.

APNED supports the Pala’wan Indigenous Peoples in asserting their rights to self-determination, Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and the protection of their ancestral domains. We recognize their longstanding efforts to oppose mining activities that threaten one of the Philippines’ most ecologically significant landscapes, including areas surrounding the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that supports rich biodiversity and provides vital ecosystem services for surrounding communities.

We are deeply concerned by the dismantling of the community barricade established by Indigenous residents of Sitio Linao. For months, the barricade served as an expression of the community’s determination to prevent the entry of mining equipment into areas they identify as part of their ancestral domain. According to community leaders, the barricade was dismantled through an operation involving several government agencies including the Philippine National Police (PNP) despite their continuing objections to the mining project and concerns regarding the legitimacy of the consultation process.

The barricade was established in response to the operations of Calmia Nickel Inc., operator of MacroAsia Mining Corporation’s Infanta Nickel Project, a nickel mining project covering more than 1,100 hectares across three villages in Brooke’s Point. Indigenous communities have consistently questioned the project’s compliance with the principles of FPIC and continue to call for independent and transparent review of the processes through which mining approvals were secured.

The events in Brooke’s Point also reflect a broader challenge facing environmental defenders across the Asia-Pacific region. As demand for transition minerals such as nickel continues to grow, communities living in mineral-rich areas are increasingly placed under pressure to accommodate extraction projects intended to supply global clean energy technologies. While the transition away from fossil fuels is necessary, it must not come at the expense of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, local communities, biodiversity, or peoples rights in general.

Global Witness recently documented that critical mineral mining around the world is associated with an average of 111 violent incidents and protests every year, highlighting how competition for minerals essential to the energy transition is increasingly generating conflict between mining interests and local communities. Many of these conflicts occur in areas inhabited by Indigenous Peoples and local communities who have protected these ecosystems for generations.

Environmental defenders are often the first to raise concerns over environmental degradation, loss of livelihoods, and violations of community rights associated with extractive projects. Their work is indispensable to ensuring that climate action is genuinely just, equitable, and rights-based. The experiences of communities such as those in Brooke’s Point demonstrate why environmental defenders must be recognized not as obstacles to development, but as essential partners in achieving sustainable and inclusive solutions to the climate crisis.

The dismantling of the community barricade further demonstrates the urgent need to strengthen protections for environmental defenders at the national, regional, and international levels. Across Southeast Asia, environmental defenders continue to face significant legal, political, and security risks despite their critical role in safeguarding ecosystems and advancing climate action.

APNED therefore calls on governments across the ASEAN region to ensure that the implementation of the forthcoming Regional Plan of Action for the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment adopted last year establishes concrete, effective, and accountable mechanisms for protecting environmental defenders and Indigenous Peoples. The current declaration does not explicitly recognize either environmental defenders or Indigenous Peoples, leaving important gaps that must be addressed through implementation.

The situation in Brooke’s Point illustrates why regional commitments must go beyond broad principles. ASEAN Member States should ensure that environmental rights mechanisms, both at the domestic and regional level, provide accessible remedies for affected communities, meaningful participation in environmental decision-making, respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, protection from reprisals, and accountability when environmental defenders face threats because of their work.

APNED joins environmental defenders throughout the region in calling for respect for the rights of the Pala’wan communities of Brooke’s Point. We urge governments, regional institutions, and the international community to ensure that the transition to renewable energy is founded on human rights, environmental integrity, and the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. A truly just transition must protect both the planet and the people who have long defended it.