The message is getting louder and clearer: another world IS possible
The World Social Forum is not a space for dreaming, but a place for sharing ideas on how to make a common aspiration come true. The message is clear: another (Read More)
Bulletin Issue 91 – February 2005
THE FOCUS OF THIS ISSUE: THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM
Some 155,000 participants from 135 countries gathered in the World Social Forum (WSF) on January 26-31 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Under a burning sun, thousands of people moved in and out of hundreds of diverse tents spread along a lengthy coast belt by the Guaiba River. As diverse as the tents were the topics covered in the WSF.
Within that context, the World Rainforest Movement, working in collaboration with other social movements and organizations, organized a number of events -and participated in other relevant activities that took place in Porto Alegre.
Some of those events and activities are reflected in this bulletin, which is divided into two main sections. The first section is focused on activities carried out for moving towards a new world in relation to WRM’s main areas of concern: forests, forest peoples, plantations and climate. The second section is centred on monoculture tree plantations and large-scale pulp mills as symbols of a world which is no longer possible.
OUR VIEWPOINT
BUILDING ANOTHER POSSIBLE WORLD
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The Mumbai Porto-Alegre Forest Initiative
A number of participants at the World Social Forum 2004 met in Mumbai and believing that forest issues are in essence social and political and that forest communities are increasingly (Read More)
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Forests and plantations: An essentially social issue
In an increasingly fragmented and specialized world, very often social and resistance responses are inevitably fragmented and specialized. Many social organizations are devoted to an issue, very often removing themselves (Read More)
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Taking climate back to people’s hands
The Durban Group is a coalition of NGOs, social and environment activists, communities, academics, scientists and economists from around the world concerned about climate change, who call for a global (Read More)
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Another forestry profession is possible
Forestry science first appeared in Germany towards the end of the eighteenth century and provides the clearest example of the way forests were removed from local rural economies and redesigned (Read More)
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Monoculture tree plantations targeted by a Latin American network
The Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations (Red Latinoamericana contra los Monocultivos de Árboles – RECOMA) is a decentralized network of organizations from all the countries in the region, (Read More)
SYMBOLS OF A WORLD WHICH IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE
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Monocultures: The symbol of an outdated model
If there is one thing that the other possible world we are appealing for must contain, it is biological diversity. Life shouts this out at us at each step we (Read More)
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Brazil: The “development” brought by a pulp mill
In 1972 the Norwegian group Borregaard set up a pulp mill in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, a few kilometres away from the City of Porto Alegre, (municipality (Read More)
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Uruguay: To continue celebrating without pulp mills
Consumerism and poverty are the two extremes of the current world paper market. Manipulation of markets, cartel agreements, establishment of prices and other similar practices give a group of companies (Read More)