Protest against fire-bombing of Indonesian village linked to plantation company

On 18th December, a village in Riau Province, Sumatra was attacked by hundreds of armed police and paramilitaries with fire-arms and teargas and fire-bombed from a helicopter. Hundreds of houses have been burned down, two toddlers were killed, hundreds have fled, others were detained, and refugees later had stones dropped on them from a helicopter. Please sign a protest letter to the Indonesian authorities. (Start: 24.12.2008)

Biofuel land grabbing in Northern Ghana

This is the story of how a Norwegian biofuel company took advantage of Africa’s traditional system of communal land ownership and current climate and economic pressure to claim and deforest large tracts of land in Kusawgu, Northern Ghana with the intention of creating “the largest jatropha plantation in the world”.

Hundreds of Brazil's eco-warriors at risk of assassination

Groups challenge the definition of forests under UNFCCC/REDD

Poznan, Poland (UN Climate Conference)—Global Forest Coalition, The Wilderness Society, World Rainforest Movement, Global Justice Ecology Project, Via Campesina, the International Youth Delegation and the STOP GE Trees Campaign united today to challenge the UN/REDD definition of forests.

Currently the UN considers industrial tree plantations as forests. This is, simply put, an egregious error. Plantations are not forests.

Indonesia: Dayak tribes in danger of extinction

According to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), at least 236 plant species and 51 animal species are in danger of extinction in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island. Indonesia is the second country with most biodiversity in the world. It has the highest number of species, most of them endemic, and in danger of extinction. Indonesia is also well known for its continuous destruction of primary forests. The main cause of this ecological disaster is the intensive cultivation of oil palm, that continues it world expansion to produce the so-called biofuels.

Seized: The 2008 landgrab for food and financial security

“Today‘s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production. On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue. As a result, fertile agricultural land is becoming increasingly privatised and concentrated. If left unchecked, this global land grab could spell the end of small-scale farming, and rural livelihoods, in numerous places around the world.”

Food versus Jatropha

Defined as areas that receive low rainfall and are problematic sites in terms of soil erosion because the little rainfall they receive comes in heavy down pour. These regions have very fragile ecosystems. Since they are fragile, these areas are subject to environment stress of deforestation, prolonged draughts, decreasing soil and ground water.

However the term marginal does not mean that these lands are uninhabited or waste. They support very large human and animal population.

Palm Oil Industry will never be sustainable

Palm oil plantations already have caused deforestation of primary
forests that in reality are part of ancestral and community land. As
consequences, water sources, food, medicine, spiritality and culture are
depleted. Furthermore, deforestation in the world is the second largest
source contributing to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

On November 18-20, 2008, palm oil companies met again (at the Round
Table on Sustainable Palm Oil) in Bali, Indonesia, to continue their
large scale expansion plannings.

Urgent Action Colombia: Death and threats in the Curvaradó river basin

Rettet den Regenwald regrets to inform you that another community leader has been murdered in Curvaradó, Colombia. On 14th October, Walberto Hoyos Rivas was shot by paramilitaries linked to the 'Black Eagles'. The murder was another attack against the Afro-Colombian communities of Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó who are defending their territories, which used to be highly biodiverse forest reserves, and their right to use their land free from the commercial interests of the oil palm companies.

Amnesty Internacional has launched an urgent campaign because of serious concerns about the safety of other members of the community, of the Interfaith Commission for Justice and Peace and other organisations represented in the region of Curvaradó and Jiguiamandó.

You can participate in this AI urgent action by signing the letter below.
(Start: 12.11.2008)

Certified unsustainable?

Observations on the first three Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificates.

Three palm oil companies have now had plantations certified under the RSPO. Biofuelwatch has prepared the quite detailed report “Certified unsustainable. Observations on the first three RSPO certificates”

Over 250 organisations condemn Greenwashing of Palm Oil

An International Declaration Against the Greenwashing of Palm Oil by the RSPO condemns the large-scale expansion of palm oil in tropical countries “not only because of their impacts of food sovereignty and the right to food amongst the population in Colombia, but also because of the large number of human rights abuses, land conflicts, the threat to millions of indigenous people, the destruction of tropical forests, and acceleration of climate change and of enviornmental pollution.”

Paraguay on the crossroads

The social process in Paraguay which has propelled president Lugo into the presidency is characterised by his weaknesses and improvisation. It cannot in any way be compared to the process in Bolivia, where the social movements were the engine of change, at least until Evo became president. Due to this weakness, solidarity and support from outside is extremely necessary as are other political links which could strengthen the process. And this in the context of the soja expansion, with its social and environmental impacts and the struggle for land.

NEW REPORT: Agrofuels & the Myth of the Marginal Lands

A critical look at proposals for agrofuel crops to be planted on lands that are considered “idle” or “wastelands”. In most cases, these “marginal lands’” are vital for the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, pastoralists, women
and indigenous peoples.

Friends of the Earth publicly acknowledge the serious problems with the FSC:

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/faqs/sustainable_timber_fsc.html

http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2008/09/22/Friends_of_the_Earth