In June 2017, the WRM carried out an interview with Dercy Teles, the first female president of a Brazilian Rural Workers’ Union, in the town of Xapuri, Acre in 1981. Xapuri became known nationally and internationally because of the union leader who succeeded Dercy: Chico Mendes. She reflects on the rich history of the rubber tappers’ popular movement, including its difficulties, lessons learned and challenges.
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A team of journalists from five Latin American countries investigated how groups of timber traffickers manage to steal and process timber from the Amazon. An article from the newsportal Mongabay exposes how illegally-sourced timber from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia are incorporated into the international market with falsified official documents that are almost never verified.
A recent report by the NGO GRAIN highlights how the number of pension funds involved in farmland investment and the amount of money they are deploying into it is increasing, under the radar. This unprecedented take-over of farmland by financial companies has major implications for rural communities and food systems. Leaving it to the companies to police themselves with their own voluntary guidelines is a recipe for disaster.
(Only available in Portuguese) Os povos das florestas convidam a Marcha em Xapuri: Com Chico Mendes no empate contra o capitalismo verde. 14 de dezembro, 17 h, Xapuri, Acre, Brasil.
We share here the Declaration of the Global Campaign for the closing of this 4th session of the Working Group, which highlights some key elements for the elaboration of a meaningful instrument that allows those affected to have access to effective justice
On September 28, the Chilean courts ruled in favor of the Ignacio Huilipán community, located in the Contulmo Commune, Bío Bío region.
Women affected by OLAM’s oil palm plantations, during a meeting in the village of Fera, in Gabon, decided to send a letter to FAO denouncing the impacts they are suffering.
Friends of the Earth International and the World Rainforest Movement have launched an international sign-on statement denouncing the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
A new documentary shows how the FSC certification of forests and industrial tree plantations looks like on the ground and whether it protects the forests and the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Peasants and other people working in rural areas are one step away from achieving a United Nations Declaration that could defend and protect their rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, local markets and much more.
On November 12, with the endorsement of organizations from five continents, Friends of the Earth International and World Rainforest Movement publish an open statement denouncing the failure of the RSPO to eliminate the violence and destruction that oil palm plantations.
Within the framework of September 21, International day of Struggle against Monoculture Tree Plantations, women affected by OLAM’s oil palm plantations, during a meeting in the village of Fera, in Gabon, decided to send a letter to FAO denouncing the impacts they are suffering.