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Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment

Cape Town, South Africa
Joined February 2012
Presence in: Kenya, Senegal, South Africa

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is a non-profit organization, registered in South Africa since 2007.

Our vision is the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through the self-determination of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Our mission is to facilitate the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities in the development and implementation of laws and policies that relate to the conservation and customary uses of biodiversity and the protection of associated cultural heritage.

Natural Justice work at the local, national, regional, and international levels with a wide range of partners. We strive to ensure that community rights and responsibilities are represented and respected at the broader scales and that gains made in international fora are fully upheld at lower levels.

www.naturaljustice.org

People Associated With This Organization

Allan Basajjasubi

South Africa  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined March 2018
Interests: Environmental Justice, Generalist Legal Services, Governance, Accountability & Transparency
I am an attorney practising in South Africa. I have a particular interest in achieving socio economic justice as well environmental justice for communities at grass roots level. I have a Masters specialising in Human Rights from the University of Cape Town

Amelia Heyns

South Africa  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Community Paralegals, Environmental Justice, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Indigenous Peoples' Rights, Legal Aid & Public Interest Law, Traditional / Customary Justice, Women's Rights
Amelia Heyns joined Natural Justice in June 2020 as the Programme Manager for the Standing with Communities programmatic stream. She is based in the Cape Town Hub, working across all southern African countries.

Amelia has been advocating for the empowerment of rural farming communities for many years. She holds experience as a human rights legal practitioner and in managing programmes advancing these rights.

Amelia graduated with BA Law and LLB degrees at the Stellenbosch University and holds a post graduate diploma in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies from PLAAS, University of Western Cape.

Angela Mutsotso

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined March 2017
Interests: Environmental Justice, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Right to Information
Angela is young lawyer passionate about environmental conservation and appreciative of the importance of citizen involvement and participatory rights.

In line with her passion for citizen participation, she joined the Information Center for the Extractives Industry in Kenya (ICES) currently Extractives Baraza in 2015. At ICES she was in charge of information dissemination on the platform.

At Natural Justice Angela is a Fellow within the African Fellowship Program (March 2017). She works with lawyers and community paralegals to solve environmental problems and build the capacity of communities to advocate for their rights.

Anne Njoroge

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Community Organizing, Community Paralegals, Environmental Justice, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Legal Aid & Public Interest Law, Policy Advocacy
I am a lawyer by profession and a programme officer at Natural Justice which is an organization for lawyers for communities and the environment. In doing my work, I employ legal empowerment methodologies to enable communities know, use and shape the law. I am hoping to hone my skills through joining the network.

Barbara Lassen

Benin  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined July 2017
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Traditional / Customary Justice
I work for the NGO Natural Justice, as director of the Traditional Knowledge and Benefit Sharing Programme, and the director of the francophone Africa Hub. I am a German national and live in Cotonou, Benin. My work focuses on community rights related to Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) and governance of protected areas, but increasingly also extractive industries.

Before joining Natural Justice, I worked for GIZ at the ABS Capacity Development Initiative, and before that for the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP). I have a Masters degree in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and a Degree in Landscape Ecology from the University of Münster (Germany).

Bocar KANTE

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined January 2023
Interests: Community Organizing, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Peoples' Rights, Policy Advocacy
I am a lawyer. My expertise is in public law, environmental law and cultural heritage. I am manager of the defending rights program in Senegal.

Cicilia Githaiga

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined May 2019
Interests: Environmental Justice, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Traditional / Customary Justice, Women's Rights
Cicilia Githaiga: Programme Manager Traditional Knowledge, Benefits Sharing and, Conservation and Customary Use at Natural Justice.
Cicilia is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with NJ charged with the responsibility of providing guidance on matters relating to traditional knowledge, benefits sharing, conservation and customary use. She has vast experience of matters of relating to environment and environmental justice having worked as in-house Counsel at the National Environment Management Authority for 8 years where she was also litigation counsel. Before this she was in active private practice for 5 years.
She has offered technical and legal advice on environmental matters with a particular bias for matters under the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol particularly on matters involving Access and Benefits Sharing while in her capacity as in house counsel. She has among other tasks litigated on matters environment while in her former position and given numerous advisory opinions on policies and legislation that touched on different aspects of her work.
Cicilia Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and is currently undertaking a Master of Arts Degree in Environmental Policy at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy, University of Nairobi. She was also a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Climate Protection Fellowship (2016/17) which she undertook at her host Institution in Germany, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies.
She is passionate about various aspects national and international Policy and Legal Frameworks relating to environment matters particularly those under the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocols particularly the Nagoya Protocol and matters Access and Benefits Sharing. She is also interested in Climate Change and Sustainable Development and how these areas impact issues surrounding indigenous people, local communities and conservation areas. She is also interested in engaging in public interest litigation in all these matters which she hopes will help shape future policy and legal frameworks.

Dalle Abraham

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined September 2016
Works for Natural Justice in Kenya

Fanomezanjanahary Harenasoa Fitiavana RANAIVOSON

Madagascar  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Environmental Justice
I am a young girl passionated about environnement. I am the Research Fellow in Natural Justice. Natural Justice works in supporting local communities in order to pursue climate justice. With Natural Justice Team, we do a lot af legal empowerment. By joining this network, I wish to learn from the others' experiences but also to share mine.

Fatima Diallo

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined August 2018
Interests: Environmental Justice, Generalist Legal Services, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Peace-building & Transitional Justice, Right to Information
I’m programm manager for Extractive and infrastructures at Natural Justice. Before joining Natural justice I worked as a senior researcher in field on indigenous values, costumary law and human rights. I’m a constitutional lawyer and a legal anthropologist by training and have a genuine interest for all methods and means of empowering grassroot Communities. I have worked in francophone Africa and Southern Africa. I’m look forward to learn about experiences from other regions within the Namati family.

Gino Cocchiaro

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined December 2013
Interests: Environmental Justice, Right to Information
Gino Cocchiaro is a lawyer with Natural Justice based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is Director of the organizations work in Kenya and Head of the Extractives and Infrastructure Program, which is active in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Gorgui Ka

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined March 2022
Interests: Environmental Justice
J'ai rejoint l’équipe de Natural Justice en Octobre 2020 en tant que Community Environnemental au Hub de Dakar.

Titulaire d’un Diplôme Supérieur en Administration Système et Réseaux Informatiques à l’Institut Supérieur d’Enseignement Professionnel (ISEP) de Thiés Gorgui détient aussi un MBA en Management et gestion des Projets qu’il obtient à l’Institut Supérieur de Management (ISM) de la même ville.

Monsieur Ka a travaillé pendant cinq ans au sein du Conseil National de la Maison des Eleveurs du Sénégal (CNMDE) en tant qu’assistant technique. L’occupation de ce poste l’a permis de participer à plusieurs activités liées à la promotion et à la défense des intérêts des communautés pastorales au Sénégal. Aujour'hui avec mes responsabilité au sein de Natural Justice en tant que parajuriste je demeure convaincu que les écchanges d'expériences avec votre réseau me seront d'une grande utilité pour la bonne marche de l'accompagnement des communautés.

Golota Raphaël LAMAH

Guinea  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined January 2023
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Community Organizing, Community Paralegals, Environmental Justice
Je suis project Officer de Natural Justice en Guinée. Nous développons des approches de protocole et d'audit communautaire ainsi que des programmes d'autonomisation juridique de ces communautés. Ma passion étant vraiment la vie en communauté, je suis chargé de développer les plans et programmes, le renforcement des capacités, l'organisation des rencontres entre les parties prenantes et faire le suivi des activités auprès des équipes communautaires.

Ibrahima CISSE

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Environmental Justice
Je suis Spécialiste en Suivi-Evaluation et apprentissage et j'aimerai avoir des connaissances sur l'autonomisation juridique afin de mieux appuyer l'équipe technique dans le suivi des performances des projets ou programmes entrepris.

Justus Tsofa

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined January 2018
Interests: Environmental Justice
I am a conservation biology graduate, working with Natural Justice as a Community Enviromental Legal Officer (CELO) in the infrustructure and extractive program. I have been working with local communities along the Kenyan coast affected by projects such as the sea walls, salt industry and cement manufacturing companies. mainly working towards finding remedies to alleviate the impacts of these problems through the relevant legal and institutional frameworks.
By joining this network for a platform to network and exchange ideas on how to approach some of these issues, learn from other paralegals on the various methodologies applied in their EJ cases especially in obtaining remedies, this will go long way in improving my approach in solving these critical EJ cases with my community partners.

Linda Sansico

France  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Environmental Justice, Indigenous Peoples' Rights
I am the Research and Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning head advisor, at Natural Justice

Lorraine Chiponda

Zimbabwe  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined August 2018
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Right to Information
I work with mining communities in Zimbabwe to remedy environmental injustice concerns where communities disproportionately suffer from the impacts of extractive projects. I am trying to build up a team of grass-roots rights defenders that are able to use the law to hold institutions and project proponents accountable. I have also carried out studies on various aspects of environmental law including EIA laws.

Lorraine Chiponda

Zimbabwe  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined March 2017
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Right to Information, Traditional / Customary Justice
Environmental Researcher and Community Rights Expert

Mouhamadou Moustapha Gueye

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Community Paralegals
J'ai suivie une formation en gestion des entreprises et en management. Je travaille en tant que parajuriste environnement au sein de la localité.

Rashid Karayu Kalicha

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined March 2018
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Right to Information
I am a Kenyan environmental activist based in Mandarin county in Kenya.

RASOLOJAONA FENOHAJA JAZZY JEFF

Madagascar  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined August 2019
Interests: Environmental Justice
I work as a Programme Officer Madagascar at Natural Justice (Lawyers for environment and communities). My main fields of work are : support local communities to participate effectively in Access and Benefit Sharing mechanism, give inputs to the development and implementation of farmers right, participate in the development of traditional knowledge protection system, give inputs to community and indigenous area-based conservation and support existing initiative on protection of Environmental and Human Rights defenders.

Rose Birgen

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined September 2015
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Right to Information
My name is Rose Jeptoo Birgen though most people refer to me as ‘Jep’. I come from Uasin Gishu County, Kenya, also called the home of long distance runners in the world (my emphasis). It is also a place where I have basically spent three quarters of my life. I have three siblings- one sister and two bothers- and four nephews. My academic background is law. I enjoy hiking and in my free time, you will probably find me playing cards, pool, hanging out with my nephews - Nuri and Telo - or trying out a recipe.

I currently work as a researcher with Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment. My work mostly entails analysing laws and policies in the Extractives, Infrastructure and Industry Program in Kenya, analysing EIAs and assisting communities to draft complaints on violated license conditions. I am honoured to be part of an exciting team, doing exciting work with the aim of bringing positive change in the environmental sector. I hope people will understand that we only have one earth, that our social and economic aspects are interlinked with the environment, hence we have to hold our environment in high esteem.

I am honoured to be part of an exciting team and I hope to learn about how different organisations are using this tool to achieve environmental justice.

SADOU BA

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined November 2022
Interests: Citizenship & Identification, Community / Customary Land Rights, Community Organizing, Community Paralegals, Education, Environmental Justice, Gender-based violence, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Policy Advocacy
Je un Community Environment Legal Officer dans mon organisation.Je suis chargé de la mise en exécution des programmes au niveau des communautés.Je suis également chargé d'assurer l'autonomisation juridique des communautés avec lesquelles nous travaillons. Être membre de votre réseau renforcerait mes compétences dans le cadre de l'autonomisation des communautés vue leurs expériences.

Saidi Saidi

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined July 2019
Interests: Environmental Justice
I am passionate about Environment and the reason behind the affection was cruelty of mankind against mother nature. Currently working as Senior Environment Legal Officer at Natural Justice Kenya stationed in Lamu. My roles are:-Train communities on Law/letter writing/evidence collection/monitoring, conduct research and comment on EIA/policy/law.

Sarah Ngachi

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined March 2021
Interests: Community / Customary Land Rights, Environmental Justice, Right to Information
I am an advocate of practicing in Kenya and work for an NGO which focuses on asserting community rights over their land and natural resources. This includes conducting legal empowerments to educate communities on environmental and land laws and policies, defending the rights of communities over their natural resources through public interest litigation and pushing for law reforms.

Shalom Ndiku

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined September 2015
Environmental and Community Rights Lawyer - Kenya

Sokhna KA

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined June 2022
Interests: Environmental Justice
Juriste environnementaliste active dans le domaine de la justice foncière, environnementale et environnementale

Thaddee Seck

Senegal  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for...
Joined March 2021
Interests: Environmental Justice, Policy Advocacy, Right to Information
I have a master's degree in business law and have specialised in the management of extractive activities since 2017. In this sense, I have worked at the Senegalese Committee for Human Rights as a human rights officer in the extractive sector. Thanks to this specialisation, I was able to participate in the training of many civil society actors on issues related to mining and hydrocarbons. After two years of experience in the national human rights institution, I joined Natural Justice first as a legal fellow and then as a programme officer in the extractive industries and infrastructure projects programme.
In my daily work, I accompany communities impacted by mining/petroleum activities and infrastructure projects in legal capacity building through tools such as the community audit and the community protocol. To this end, I coordinate a network of 3 paralegals recruited by Natural Justice in Senegal to accompany the communities.
This is why this network is important to me. It will allow me to strengthen my experience and knowledge of legal empowerment. I have a strong feeling that this network will allow me to meet experienced practitioners with whom I can share my experiences and concerns.

Victor Oteku

Kenya  
Natural Justice: Lawyers for... (Unverified)
Joined November 2020
Interests: Environmental Justice
Research fellow at Natural Justice

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