A Tale of Two Conventions
Once upon a time … the governments of the world got together and agreed that the Earth was facing severe environmental problems and that something needed to be done about (Read More)
OUR VIEWPOINT
FOCUS ON BIODIVERSITY
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An appeal to COP 9: Biodiversity with and for people
Today the world – the people’s world – is helplessly witnessing a global crisis due to a steep rise in the price of foodstuffs which, as all disasters, affects the (Read More)
COMMUNITIES AND FORESTS
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Ecuador: Amnesty Exposes Unjust Criminalization of Environmental Activists
The Constituent Assembly formed to discuss and draft a new Ecuadorian Constitution resolved on 14 March 2008 to grant an amnesty to 357 human rights activists who had been “criminalized (Read More)
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Ghana: Norwegian biofuel company destroyed local forest to establish a large jatropha (1) plantation
Agriculture in Northern Ghana accounts for more than 90% of household incomes and employs more that 70% of the population in the region. Most of the agricultural production is by (Read More)
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Indonesia: Destruction of forests by pulpwood and oil palm plantations drives climate change
A recent study published by WWF (1) analyzes deforestation and forest degradation in Riau Province between 1982 and 2007 and identifies their main drivers: pulpwood and oil palm industrial plantations. (Read More)
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Peru: Government intent on privatizing the Amazon for implementing tree plantations
Alan Garcia’s government is promoting a bill (draft law 840) also known as the “Forest Law.” It is a law concerning the promotion of private investment in reforestation and agro-forestry, (Read More)
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Second generation agrofuels will destroy ecosystems and worsen the food crisis
The world is undergoing an acute food crisis with soaring prices for basic food and desperate food-related riots that threaten political stability in many Third World countries. By the end (Read More)
COMMUNITIES AND TREE MONOCULTURES
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The Brazil of Stora Enso: Violence against women and made-to-measure legislation
In Brazil there are two conflicting models: that of the large monoculture plantations (ranging from eucalyptus, soy-beans and rice to sugar-cane), on lands held by a few large companies; and (Read More)
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Colombia: Oil palm plantation workers in Puerto Wilches on strike
The municipality of Puerto Wilches, located in the Central Zone defined by the Agricultural Plan for the Implementation of the Biodiesel Programme, is home to much of the agricultural activity (Read More)
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Ecuador: Social and environmental impacts of oil palm
The Palmeras del Ecuador Company was established in the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the Province of Sucumbios, Shushufindi Canton, at the end of the seventies. The former Institute for Agrarian Reform (Read More)
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Malaysia: Severe health effects of pesticides on workers in oil palm plantations
Pesticides negatively impact the health and lives of millions of agricultural pesticide users, their communities and consumers worldwide –they also cause great damage to biodiversity and the environment. The pesticides (Read More)
CARBON TRADE
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Offsetting Democracy
Carbon trading and offsets distract attention from the wider, systemic changes and collective political action that needs to be taken in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Promoting more effective (Read More)