Germany

Chiefs and leaders of indigenous peoples in Acre published a letter addressed to the governments of Germany and California, reporting that millionaire funds are coming to the state of Acre for REDD and PES payments, without transparency and benefiting few indigenous people.

Nine communities from the DR Congo took a historic step this week by filing a complaint with the complaints mechanism of the German development bank (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft – DEG)

(Available only in Portuguese and German)

A recently released documentary exposing the world's largest iron ore mining project shows the life of the communities impacted by the “Programa Grande Carajás” (Great Carajás Programme), located in the Brazilian states of Maranhão and Pará. In this region, people affected by mining projects are supported by the Justice on Rails Network, a coalition of impacted communities, organizations, pastoral groups, social movements and academic research groups seeking environmental justice in northern Brazil.

By FPP. While focusing in particular on the German financing of rainforest protection in Cameroon, this report also covers the broader issue of how Cameroon’s forest policies are shaped by the REDD process. It takes a case study approach, examining the way such forest protection policies impact on local communities by focusing in on the specific example of those communities whose land has been overlaid by the Takamanda National Park

Eight activists of Robin Wood, a grassroots group in Germany, were sued in October 2013 for taking part in a peaceful demonstration to protect Indonesian rain-forests. In September, the activists hung a banner at Wilmar‘s palm oil refinery plant in Germany saying "Wilmar's refined destruction - No palm oil from deforestation". They were convicted for "assault".

  Millions of hectares of industrial oil palm plantations have been expanding in many countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America with a well documented history of tropical deforestation –including enormous fires- and a sad toll of human rights violations. However, the powerful interests behind this business continue actively promoting this crop, against a background of growing opposition at the local level.

About 40 farmers of a La Via Campesina member organization (Serikat Petani Indonesia) from Jambi province protested in front of the Germany Embassy on October 16 against the negative impacts of a Debt Nature Swap (DNS), signed in 2007 between the German Government and Indonesian authorities. The objective of the agreement to protect tropical forests in Sumatra led in practice to the eviction, burning of houses and arresting of farmers who have lived long in the area.   Source: http://www.metrojambi.com/v1/metro/11013-puluhan-petani-merangin-demo-kedutaan-jerman.html

Rainforest Rescue has started a campaign to demand Deutsche Bank to dissociate itself from the Malaysian palm oil giant FELDA Global Ventures Holding, which wants to raise three billion dollars on the stock market to establish new oil palm plantations in Indonesia and Africa. Rainforest areas are going to be bought, destroyed and turned into huge monocultures. The Deutsche Bank, one of Germany's largest banks, which pretends to be ecologically and socially harmless, is helping FELDA to search for investors.

 WRM information sheets on GE tree research First posted: 1 August 2008 Updated: 21 August 2008 Updated: 23 January 2009 Last Update: 2014 Tree species being manipulated: