Defending communities from mining
CAFOD supports two partner organisations working to protect communities and the environment from foreign mining interests.
DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues (DCMI) was formed to campaign on the issue of large-scale mining in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, and to protect the ancestral lands of the indigenous Subanen people against foreign mining interests.
The mining industry has a poor record of environmental and human rights abuses. Indigenous people – particularly the Subanen – have lost much land to foreign-owned mining interests, losing fishing and hunting grounds and areas where herbal medicines were grown. They have also suffered violence and intimidation by the mining companies.
Philippines Indigenous Links (PIPLinks) researches and monitors international mining company initiatives and plans for the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Philippines, and supplies this information to the affected communities, DCMI and other interested groups.

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![Fatna (right) brings home wood that she and some neighbours have harvested from outside the camp in Kubum, south Darfur [Paul Jeffery/ACT/Caritas]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/sudan/images/fatna-right-brings-home-wood/247664-2-eng-GB/fatna-right-brings-home-wood_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
![Monk Emm Oeun, 28, leads a ‘Happy Happy’ session for children who are affected by HIV and AIDS. The aim of the session is to bring the children together to have fun and forget about their worries [Annie Bungeroth]](/var/storage/images/opinion/salvation-centre-cambodia-scc-/966374-1-eng-GB/salvation-centre-cambodia-scc-_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
![Jade, 9yrs old, marking out 'Our Future' in coral on the beach at Pujada Bay [Simon Rawles]](/var/storage/images/watch-and-listen/our-future/966390-1-eng-GB/our-future_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
![CAFOD cakes – specially decorated and sold to raise money for CAFOD [CAFOD]](/var/storage/images/images/uk_diocesan_images/nottingham_diocese/cafod_cakes/10785-2-eng-GB/cafod_cakes_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)


![Community leader Onsino Mato who is campaigning to stop large-scale mining on his people’s land [PIPLinks]](/var/storage/images/media/cafod/images/asia/philippines/portrait_of_communit_leader/3023-1-eng-GB/portrait_of_communit_leader_medium.jpg)

![The CAFOD-funded National Federation of Fishworkers organises fishermen to defend their rights [Nithila Mariampillai/HUDEC]](/var/storage/images/media_folder/cafod/images/international_images/asia/sri_lanka/fisherman_throwing_net/2862-2-eng-GB/fisherman_throwing_net_1column00_08space_landscape.jpg)


