On 21 March 2017, Malaysian NGOs The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) joined worldwide action against the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) forest definition. About 200 groups have renewed the call for the FAO to amend its misleading definition of forests which has allowed industrial tree plantations to expand.
Other information
"Water is life. If we don't protect the Tanintharyi River, the lives and livelihood of local villagers who depend on the river will be destroyed", a local villager from the Tanintharyi River basin says in the introduction to the film. "We must prevent the destruction of the river for the sake of future generations. We gather here to show our disagreement with gold mining in the Tanintharyi River", he explains.
From 21-25 November 2016, about 50 people, involved in struggles to defend the territories, forests and livelihoods of forest-dependent communities, came together in Thailand for a field visit to the Northeast of the country, followed by a 3-day meeting in Bangkok. Besides a delegation from Thailand, other participants came from Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. The aims of the gathering, which focused on the central question of ´What´s happening to our forests?
In Indonesia, resistance against the cement production complex of the Indonesian company Semen Indonesia which willl destroy the Kendeng karst forest area in uphill Java, has been growing. Patmi, a woman from one of the villages in the district of Tambakromo traveled to the capital Jakarta to join protests against the forest destruction for the cement production. She died on March 21st, possibly of a heart attack, after days of sit-in protest in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.
An obituary.
By Hendro Sangkoyo (1)
We have created this animated gif showing why the FAO must change its forest definition, to be shared on the social networks. Please feel free to do so!
Only available in Spanish.
Convocatoria del COPINH (Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras):
Only available in Spanish
América Latina, 02 de marzo de 2017
A un año del asesinato de Berta Cáceres
A un año del intento de asesinato de nuestro compañero Gustavo Castro
At the end of the climate summit in Marrakesh in December 2016, 20 activists from the Field Liberation Movement in Belgium planted a “permit to cut” in a field of GMO poplar trees belonging to the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology. The permit was given symbolically to the Flemish Minister responsible for climate policy. The Minister became infamous for her statement regarding forest management that “Trees have always had the function to be cut.” With this in mind, activists encouraged her to cut the field of GMO trees.
Marrakech declaration against the summit of false solutions and for a fair and sustainable future for all peoples. For real alternatives to preserve environmental balances and recognise climate justice, For a fair and sustainable future for all peoples.
