This is a first-hand account from a woman who faced the most recent forest fire that devastated south-central Chile. She does not lose sight of the real cause of the tragedy: a model promoted by the state, in which pine and eucalyptus companies continuously profit whilst threatening the survival of communities.
Bulletin articles
The largest industrial pulp and paper complex in Brazil, the ‘Vale da Celulose’ (Cellulose Valley), located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, underscores that the true legacy of the industry centered around eucalyptus monoculture is small, disorganized towns, environmental impacts, and the struggle of farming families to survive amidst the green wasteland.
March 14th is the International Day of Struggles Against Dams, For Rivers, For Water, and For Life. In solidarity with this struggle, we recommend the article "The impact of dams and resettlement on women's lives," which provides very concrete examples of how hydroelectric projects in Malaysia impact the lives of Indigenous peoples, especially women.
One of the main causes of the recent fires that have devastated thousands of hectares of the Andean Patagonian Forest are pine tree plantations – which have been promoted by logging companies and the government. In the midst of this disaster, residents relate their experiences and demonstrate how collective organizing sustains life.
The government of the Brazilian state of Pará – host of the COP30 climate conference – introduced an annual “Week of Awareness on the Importance of Carbon Credits”, the Indonesian government sets up a “Seller meets buyer” sales booth for carbon credits at the COP. These are the more visible signs of climate talks that are more concerned about creating business opportunities than halting the climate crisis.
The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) is hailed as big new idea to finance forest protection. Launch during the UN climate conference in the Amazon city Belém, hundreds of organizations across the Global South have rejected it as another idea that reinforces capitalist-colonialist oppression and exploits the debt burden of the Global South.
“We know these projects are not truly green. When turbines come, birds will vanish. When mines come, dust will cover schools and homes. When forests are seized in the name of the government’s ‘forest reclamation policy’, the poor lose everything”, explains a Kham Pa Lai community grassroots organization that is resisting extractive industry projects. (Available in Thai).
Costa Rica presents itself as a global pioneer in implementing Jurisdictional REDD+, and it advertises this as a success. However, indigenous communities denounce coercion on the part of the state, which makes acceptance of this initiative a condition for it to invest in health or education. In this article, a member of the Bribri people talks about their struggle.
Tired of living surrounded by eucalyptus trees, communities from the provinces of Zambézia, Manica and Nampula are raising their voices against the occupation of land by companies such as Portucel Mozambique – which has prevented these communities from farming, accessing water, and living a dignified life. They are now demanding the return of their land and respect for their rights.
More than 50 organizations, movements and communities from around the world have come together to endorse the Declaration of Women Against REDD and Carbon Markets.
The annual UN climate conference “has in fact become a negotiation more concerned with how much money each country thinks it might save or grab in the short term than about finding true solutions to a real problem”. The observation from the WRM bulletin editorial “Our Expectations for the Climate Change Convention's COP6” feels strikingly relevant 25 years on.
A recent report on the transnational corporation SOCFIN – owned by the French group Bollore and the Hubert Fabri family of Luxembourg – exposes the sexual violence, expulsions of local populations, and the contamination suffered by communities living around rubber and oil palm plantations. Socfin is an agri-food company with operations in 10 countries in the Global South. It controls approximately 380,000 hectares of land where it grows oil palm and rubber trees on an industrial scale.