Hello ,
­Greetings for the New Year!
 
As the bells ring in 2024, we at Land Conflict Watch (LCW) take a moment to share the culmination of our last year’s efforts in the form of quarterly reports, sneak peaks, interactive sessions and policy briefs. All this was in addition to what we have been doing for years, writing stories of land and resource conflicts and the lives affected by them.  

Fulfilling Promises & Expanding Horizons:

 
At the start of 2023, we had launched our LCW Community membership plan offering exclusive access to those who champion our work and research. 
 
These in-depth reports allowed us to dive into pressing issues of land conflicts in protected areas, conflicts arising out of evictions and demolition drives, reinterpretation of land laws in court cases, state-specific schemes on forest rights, forest valuation methods and rights of fishing communities, among others.

A key initiative, started in conjunction with these policy briefs, were our LCW Policy Talks that saw informative interactive sessions to pull a diverse audience to our work. You can find all our reports at our member portal by signing up.

Expanding our canvas

 
It feels great when you can deliver on your new year resolutions. Last year, we intended to expand our coverage to newer regions and increase the diversity of the writers we work with.
 
Throughout the year, you might also have observed our efforts to adapt our research to different narrative approaches. Our team of researchers published 30 in-depth stories and investigations.
 
A report by our researchers Mukta Joshi and Prudhviraj Ruvapath on the impact of Evictions before the G20 Summit in Delhi made it to the list of top 10 Indian investigative stories by Global Investigative Journalism Network. An investigation by our research fellows Sukriti Vats and Priyansha Chouhan highlighted how the Haryana government disregarded court orders, and demolished over 50 establishments despite documented proof of ownership.

Meanwhile, our research contributor Rayan Naqash’s long read from Kashmir, went behind the scrapping of the Roshni Act, a decision meant to strike against the land mafia in Jammu and Kashmir but ended up rendering the landless population vulnerable. In Assam, our research contributor Mahmodul Hassan revisited the aftermath of a violent eviction drive in Darrang district, infamous for the brutal eviction of farmers in 2021, revealing the struggles of hundreds of families amid unfulfilled promises of rehabilitation.
 
Our former researcher Jeff Joseph explored the narrative of the purse-seine net fishing ban in Tamil Nadu’s coastal areas, drawing comparisons with neighbouring states. Supported by the Pulitzer Centre, Jeff’s investigation was published in Himal and accompanied by a short documentary. Lastly, Mrinali Karthick, our Climate Change Research Lead, travelled to Dubai to cover the annual climate summit COP28 and conducted an analysis of the allocation of the Loss and Damage Fund, followed by a piece on COP28’s historic agreement on fossil fuels. You can read all our stories produced last year here.  

Building an ever-evolving database:

 
All the research at LCW stem from a dynamic database of land conflicts from across the country. In 2023, we've documented over 100 new conflicts and updated over 33 ongoing disputes. Our researchers, scattered across 24 states, report such conflicts after thorough research based on on-site visits, news coverage, incorporating voices of all stakeholders including local and government officials.