Sea Shepherd Clashes With Whaling Fleet in Australian Waters

December 26th, 2008
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin closed in on one of the vessels of the Japanese whaling fleet at 0730 Hours GMT (1930 Hours Sydney Time) on December 26th off the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory north of the Mawson Peninsula.

Steve Irwin clashes with Kaiko MaruDecember 26th, 2008
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin closed in on one of the vessels of the Japanese whaling fleet at 0730 Hours GMT (1930 Hours Sydney Time) on December 26th off the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory north of the Mawson Peninsula.

The Kaiko Maru emerged from dense fog in front of the Steve Irwin. The Sea Shepherd crew pursued and delivered 10 bottles of rotten butter and 15 bottles of a methyl cellulose and indelible dye mixture.

“That is one stinky slippery ship,” said Sea Shepherd 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden.

The Japanese ship was ordered out of the territorial waters of Australia by Australian citizen Jeff Hansen from Perth, Western Australia. The message was delivered in Japanese.

As the Steve Irwin came alongside the starboard side of the Kaiko Maru, the whaler steered hard to starboard and struck the Steve Irwin lightly crushing part of the aft port helicopter deck guard rails on the Sea Shepherd ship. There was no serious damage to either ship.

The Sea Shepherd crew’s objective was to intimidate the Japanese fleet and to keep them moving Eastward out of Australian Territorial waters. The Sea Shepherd crew have been pursuing the fleet eastward for a week. There is only 90 miles left before the fleet enters the New Zealand Zone.

“Our objective now is to chase them out of Australia’s Economic Exclusion Zone,” said Captain Paul Watson. “I have a chart here and it clearly states that these waters are Australian EEZ. There is an Australian Federal Court Order specifically prohibiting these ships from whaling in these waters. We have informed the whalers they are in contempt of this Court ruling.”

There is no doubt that Japanese whaling in Australian waters has been severely disrupted. Since Saturday, the Sea Shepherd crew have chased the Japanese fleet for 400 miles through heavy fog, dense ice and nasty weather. During that time they have not been able to kill any whales.

“We still have them on the run and we intend to keep them on the run for as long as our fuel resources allow,” said Captain Watson.

Fight Speciesism! #7 – Out Now

January issue of the latest anti-speciesist, anti-capitalist, abolitionist direct action news is out now. Antispeciesist Action is a collective of militant antispeciesists and animal rights activists committed to confronting animal abuse, suffering and exploitation of non-human beings through the use of direct action.

Fight Speciesism! #7 - Out Now January issue of the latest anti-speciesist, anti-capitalist, abolitionist direct action news is out now. Antispeciesist Action is a collective of militant antispeciesists and animal rights activists committed to confronting animal abuse, suffering and exploitation of non-human beings through the use of direct action.

We believe in the ‘No Compromise’ philosophy, veganism and actively support the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and animal rights prisoners.

We are opposed to capitalism and the state, understanding that without both entities, the universal exploitation of animals would not be possible.

Until Every Cage Is Empty!

Articles:

– In Memory of Barry Horne
– NYSE:LSR Under Attack
– Hunt Sabbing News
– Mink Released
– Insurrection in Mexico
– Letter from Sean Kirtley
– Whalers On The Run
– Global Roundup
– Telmex Campaign
– Uprising in Greece

FS! #7 – http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/416034.html

Civilian Uprising against Barrick Gold in Tanzania

Mine security shoots young man, villagers respond by destroying $7 million in equipment

December 24th, 2008

Mine security shoots young man, villagers respond by destroying $7 million in equipment

December 24th, 2008

Last week, reports surfaced in the mainstream press that thousands of villagers had raided a gold mine in Northern Tanzania, setting fire to $7 million* worth of mine equipment. Most reports blamed problems with crime in the area, calling the intruders "gold-seekers."

While the spokesman for Barrick Gold** Tanzania, Teweli Teweli, describes these villagers as "well-organized groups" who attacked the pit following the blasting of high-grade ore, others paint Barrick as the aggressor in this event, citing immediate and historic causes that have been largely ignored by the international community.

According to several witnesses, the immediate cause of the civilian uprising was the killing of a young man named Mang’weina Mwita Mang’weina. Human rights lawyer Tundu Lissu, who represents many of the villagers, explains that Mang’weina and some friends were engaged in an argument with Barrick security when one of the guards shot Mang’weina, who was unarmed at the time. This incident caused an uproar within the community, which immediately took up stones, overpowered mine security (who then fled), and attacked the mine, setting fire to millions worth of equipment.

Mang’weina himself is a part of the legacy of the North Mara mine. He was one of the thousands of unemployed locals in the area, angry over the mine’s recent history of forced displacement, loss of livelihoods, human rights abuses and ongoing repression. He is the seventh person killed at the hands of mine security since July 2005, when the killing of a local boy sparked a similar uprising that resulted in the destruction of mine equipment and the subsequent detention of over 200 villagers.***

Eyewitnesses to the 2005 killing told The Guardian (Tanzania) that "the boy who was shot dead was walking past the company premises when company security guards, suspecting him of stealing oil, stopped him. When the boy failed to heed the order, the guards called the police who, before even questioning him, shot him in the chest."

Not one year later, security guards employed by Barrick Gold allegedly shot – five times in the back – another villager who was alleged to have illegally entered the mine complex, bringing the death toll to six.

According to Lissu in a letter written in June 2006:

The killings represent a major shift in Barrick’s strategy for dealing
with the troublesome locals who have always opposed the Mine. In the
period after the forced evictions of the villagers in August 2001,
hundreds of villagers, particularly community leaders and prominent
locals were targeted for illegal arrests, criminal prosecutions and
long term imprisonment. Numerous local leaders including the area’s
[late] Member of Parliament Chacha Zakayo Wangwe and elected Member of
the Tarime District Council Augustino Nestory Sasi were harassed this
way, with the latter being sentenced to 30 year jail before we got him
out on appeal to the High Court of Tanzania in December 2004.

Calculating from media reports, Lissu estimates that over 10,000 artisanal miners, peasant farmers and their families were kicked out of the area to make way for the North Mara mine in 2001. Since that time, there has been ongoing tension between the mine and the local communities.

According to Allan Cedillo Lissner, a Toronto-based photojournalist who recently interviewed families surrounding the North Mara mine, "Ongoing conflict between the mine and local communities have created a climate of fear for those who live nearby." Since the mine opened in 2002, one family told Lissner that they live in a state of constant anxiety because they are repeatedly harassed and intimidated by the mine’s private security forces and by government police. "There have been several deadly confrontations in the area and every time there are problems at the mine, the Mwita family say their compound is the first place the police come looking. During police operations the family scatters in fear to hide in the bush, ‘like fugitives,’ for weeks at a time waiting for the situation to calm down," Lissner explains.

The Mwita family explained that they used to farm and raise livestock, telling Lissner that "now there are no pastures because the mine has almost taken the whole land … we have no sources of income and we are living only through God’s wishes. … We had never experienced poverty before the mine came here." They also told Lissner that they would like to be relocated, but the application process has been complicated, and they feel the amount of compensation offered was merely "candy."

According to Tanzanian journalist and community advocate Evans Rubara, this latest uprising "is a sign to both the government of Tanzania and the International community (especially Canada) that poor and marginalized people also get tired of oppression." He hopes that the recent conflict will inspire Barrick "to start another strategy that will bring a good and constructive relationship with the local communities by implementing programs that do not enhance more looting and belittle Tanzania, leaving thousands in destitution."

Since this most recent uprising, dozens of villagers have been arrested. According to Lissu, who plans to represent those arrested, "They have arrested dozens of people; [Barrick is] on a war path; these people have been denied bail, they are targeting the youth and repression is on."

Lissu also spoke about reports of weapons making their way into the North Mara area. "Two days ago, we got information that [Barrick is] importing weapons: a ton and a half of tear gas, and hand grenades were transported to the mine on Thursday. The hand grenades were seized by customs on the way to the North Mara Gold Mine, but have since been let through," he told ProtestBarrick.net on the phone from Tanzania.

Sakura Saunders is an editor for protestbarrick.net, an all-volunteer news site that networks organizations and community groups organized against Barrick Gold around the world.

* On December 17, 2008 Barrick Gold said it had revised down the damage to its North Mara Mine in Tanzania during an attack last week to about $7 million from an earlier estimate of $15 million.

** In January 2006, Barrick Gold merged with Placer Dome, who previously owned the North Mara mine.

*** By mid 2006 all of the villagers detained after the 2005 uprising had been released by the courts after the authorities failed to prosecute them.

Actions in India and the Philippines

I’m not sure whether the following reports are ‘ideologically acceptable’ but over the last year there has been a rash of direct action attacks against corporations and in defence of the environment and the indigenous peoples that live there, undertaken by Maoist forces in both India and the Philippines.

I’m not sure whether the following reports are ‘ideologically acceptable’ but over the last year there has been a rash of direct action attacks against corporations and in defence of the environment and the indigenous peoples that live there, undertaken by Maoist forces in both India and the Philippines. The following reports and communiques are taken from a variety of web-sites (supportive and hostile).

India

1. Naxals attack in Gadchiroli [December 2007]

CHANDRAPUR: Naxalites set ablaze three vehicles – two tippers and a truck – of a contractor on Wednesday evening. The incident took place near Haldwahi Tola village in Chamorshi tehsil of Gadchiroli district, said the police.

According to sources, the Naxals came to the village and after identifying the vehicles of the construction company – Sainath Constructions – set those ablaze. The Naxalites then disappeared into the jungle.

Sanjay Latkar, SDPO of Chamorshi division, said, “The Naxals have burnt the three vehicles owned by Raju Biyani, director of Sainath Constructions on Wednesday evening.”

(http://maoistresistance.blogspot.com/2007/12/naxals-attack-in-gadchiroli.html)

2. Maoists attack Essar Steel plant in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Apr 25 [2008]: About 300 heavily armed Maoists on Friday attacked an iron ore beneficiation plant of Essar Steel in Chhattisgarh, and set 53 trucks and three heavy machines on fire, a senior police officer said.
The attack was carried out near Kirandul in the state’s Dantewada District where the insurgents have been running a de-facto administration for years.
“Armed rebels attacked Essar Steel’s iron ore facility and created havoc for hours, by setting at least 53 trucks and three heavy machines on fire, in a raid that ended in the early hours of Friday,” R. K. Vij, Inspector General of Police of Bastar range, told media.
The plant supplies high quality iron ore from its 8 million tonne per annum (MTPA) unit to the pellet plant at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
According to police, rebels overpowered a few employees working in the plant during night shift and then sprayed diesel on vehicles and set them on fire.
The rebels later slipped into the nearby forest. The rebels left pamphlets at the attack site saying their act was to protest transportation of local rare natural resource iron ore to outside the state and the country.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is on a four-day visit to tribal pockets in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

(http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/maoists-attack-essar-steel-plant-in-chhattisgarh-2_10042081.html)

3. In September 2008 a photo essay about the anti-Maoist militia the Salwa Judum appeared on the Internet. Part of the essay read as follows:

The conflict sits on top of one of the most valuable iron mines in Asia [in Bacheli, Chhattisgarh]….. Some people allege that Salwa Judum only exists to free up land for mining contracts, and is not really a fight against communism.

[A] massive steam shovel was attacked by Naxals a month before I arrived. Naxals target mining infrastructure because they say local people don’t reap any benefit from the multi-billion dollar industry. (Unfortunately the damage was temporary and the machine has been repaired)

Christopher Kindo is the Deputy Director of Mining in Chhattisgarh. he says that he doesn’t understand why Naxals keep attacking his equipment. (Aaahhh …. the innocence dripping from his face could melt anyone’s heart)

The mining machinery in Chhattisgarh comes from an American company and sells for half a million dollars per truck. [A] massive load puller can hold several tons of top grade iron which eventually ends up in building projects across India and Japan. The mines are a central target of Naxal militants.

(http://naxalrevolution.blogspot.com/2008/09/salwa-judum-photo-essay.html)

4. Naxalites set eight vehicles on fire

Sunday November 30 2008

Raipur (PTI): Eight vehicles were set on fire in two separate incidents by suspected Naxalites in Dantewada and Bijapur district, police said today.

Naxalites stopped the road construction work between Kamalur and Kundeli in Dantewada district and set three tippers, two dozers, a pokelene machine and a trailer on fire late last night, police said.

In another incident, about three dozen Naxalites led by Ursa Bodhra, a hardcore Naxalite, set a vehicle on fire for allegedly carrying supplies meant for security forces at Gangalur region of Bijapur last night….

http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2008/11/naxalites-set-eight-vehicles-on-fire.html
Philippines

5. communique published by the New Peoples Army, republished on the website of the Negros Chronicle

….September 15, 2008
The NPA Mt. Talinis Front Command based in southeast Negros island implemented last September 9 a directive from the Provisional Revolutionary Government to punish the Tamlang Valley Agricultural Development Corporation (TVADC) for promoting and planting jathropa and cassava in the said area.
According to Ka Dom Pantaleon, spokesperson of the NPA Mt. Talinis Front Command, Red fighters seized and immediately burned three tractors owned by the TVADC late Tuesday night in Sitio Cuadra, Barangay Mantikil, Siaton town in Oriental Negros.
The punitive action was implemented after it was proven that the year-old TVADC project has gravely dislocated the planting of the traditional corn, rice and other food crops in Tamlang Valley, he said.
Lands previously used by farmers for own-consumption food production were now forcibly used for bio-fuel purposes, and a succession of Army battalions were employed to actively harass and dupe farmers to plant jathropa and cassava, he added……

(http://www.negroschronicle.com/?p=379)

6. Red Army’s anti-biofuels campaign continues
October 28, 2008

The NPA will implement more preventive measure against private agri-business corporations like the Tamlang Valley Agricultural Development Corporation (TVADC) for worsening the food supply problem and causing numerous military abuses in southeast Negros.
Thus said Ka Dom Pantaleon, spokesperson of the NPA Pulang Mt. Talinis Front Command, as he announced yet another punitive action against the TVADC biofuels company mainly based in barangay Casalaan, Siaton, Oriental Negros.
In a press release, Pantaleon said the countryside-based people’s democratic government ordered an NPA team last October 3 to confiscate and burn two TVADC-owned tractors in sityo Tamlang, barangay Talalak, in Sta. Catalina town. No one was harmed in the incident, he added.
It was the second such operation in as many months by the Red army to protect upland peasants from the intrusive and harmful biofuels company co-owned by the family of ex-Congressman Herminio Teves and their Korean business partners….
Pantaleon revealed that the NPA will continue implementing similar orders for punitive actions from the countryside-based people’s democratic government that are meant to block the widespread growing of jathropa and cassava in and around the vast Sta. Catalina-Siaton-Valencia-Pamplona border barangays of Oriental Negros known as Tamlang Valley.
More importantly, it will impose armed punitive actions against the 302nd Brigade for providing protection and even colluding with TVADC in forcing ordinary farmers to plant jatrhopa and cassava, instead of their traditional food crops like upland rice and corn, he added.
The NPA spokesperson said the mercenary AFP has become the biofuels campaign’s most visible “errand boys” for the agri-business company and the Teves family in southeast Negros.
This has resulted to numerous human rights abuses, including the enforced disappearances of ordinary farmers Flaviano Arante and Reynold Yanoc – both residents of barangay Talalak, Sta. Catalina town – who have been missing and feared salvaged since early this year, he added…..

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/cgi-bin/statements/statements.pl?author=npasn;date=081028;language=eng

7. December 23, 2008

[extract]…..The NPA also burned six (6) multi-million heavy equipments of SRMI as punishment for their considerable transgressions against the environment, indigenous Filipinos, workers and people affected by their mining operations.
SRMI is owned by the Amante political family and has wrought environmental destruction to the municipality of Tubay, paid low wages and unjustly treats its workers, disrespects the rights of the indigenous Filipinos to their ancestral lands and deprives them of their ”royalty share”. SMRI’s unquenchable greed is forcibly put over and above the interests of the indigenous Filipinos, small miners and the masses through the hiring of Ret. Col De Lara and establishing a big security force whose members include abusive criminals.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/cgi-bin/statements/statements.pl?author=ndfnm;date=081223;language=eng

Radley Lakes saved

Following years of campaigning through legal channels, and the squatting of a building by the side of Thrupp Lake at the beginning of 2007, the Save Radley Lakes campaign is victorious – hoorah! Use the search above for old stories and photos from the campaign – stories about the recent victory and future plans are below.

Thrupp Lake at sunsetFollowing years of campaigning through legal channels, and the squatting of a building by the side of Thrupp Lake at the beginning of 2007, the Save Radley Lakes campaign is victorious – hoorah! Use the search above for old stories and photos from the campaign – stories about the recent victory and future plans are below.

End of an Era

Yesterday’s (17.12.08) announcement by RWE Npower brought to an end a 41 month campaign to save the last remaining Radley Lakes, Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes, from destruction by being filled with waste pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from the Didcot A Power Station.

It also brings to an end 23 years of filling of old gravel pits in Radley with power station ash, which began in 1985, when the Power Station was run by the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board and when the environment figured less highly in popular concerns. The choice back then was between landfill with general waste, commercial exploitation, or ash. Local people voted for the ash, which is probably what they would have got anyway.

The ash had been pumped into the gravel pits as a slurry via an underground pipeline. Many gravel pits were filled in this way over the intervening years and people did not seem to mind, though eyebrows were being increasingly raised, and there were objections to the filling of Lakes H and I, which had become a spectacular haven for wildfowl. In 2005, RWE npower sought permission to fill the the two remaining gravel pits. These were the oldest excavations, which had, over the half century or so of their existence, become restored into beautiful lakes and had been given names by local people.

How the Lakes Were Saved (in a nutshell)

The smaller Bullfield Lake was rescued from this fate following protests back in 2005, but the much larger and more important Thrupp Lake has remained under threat ever since, as planning, legal and other battles raged around it. As a last resort, local people even applied to have the area turned into a Town Green. This too failed, but it remains the subject of a Judicial Review, which was due to be heard in the High Court in February 2009. In February 2007, having got all necessary planning permissions and removed the protestors who’d occupied the lakeside building, npower went ahead with clearance work on the site, and many trees were destroyed. Work then had to stop until the Autumn, because of nesting birds. After carrying out some preliminary work in October 2007, npower suddenly ceased their activities on the site.

Then, in February 2008, events took an unexpected turn: npower announced an interim reprieve for Thrupp Lake. A little later, Waste Recycling Group (WRG) openly came forward with a proposal that would save Thrupp Lake for ever. It has taken until now to bring this to fruition. Planning permission was needed, technical problems had to be resolved, a commercial agreement had to be reached; then there was the question of what to do with Thrupp Lake. Many delicate negotiations, it seemed, were going on in the background, culminating in yesterday’s momentous announcement.

Triumph at Last!

To mark the occasion, the Power Station operators invited press and public into the grounds of Sandles, the house on the shore Thrupp Lake. There, Mr John Rainford, the Power Station manager, announced that, because the power station had found better and more sustainable ways of disposing of its ash, there would be no need to destroy Thrupp Lake, not now, not ever. He made it clear that RWE npower was offering The Lake to the local community as a nature conservation area and that discussions were underway with the Northmoor Trust to provide for its management. It was hoped that the house could be converted into an educational centre.

Representatives of the community, Jenny Standen, chairman of Radley Parish Council, and Basil Crowley, chairman of Save Radley Lakes, expressed their satisfaction and delight, thanking npower for their magnanimity and looking forward to working with them in restoring the area to create something to be really proud of. Both expressed gratitude to all the people who had supported the campaign and whose support and tireless efforts had helped bring this about.

With the late December afternoon sunshine casting long shadows across the vestiges of Sandles’ lawn, a jubilant party atmosphere prevailed. Champagne flowed, hands were shaken, cameras clicked and, in a touch of surreality, a man in a frog suit played a solo trombone fanfare at the lakeside to herald the lake’s salvation.Radley Lakes saved trombone fanfare

Where the Ash Will Go

The ash that was to have gone into Thrupp Lake will now go to Waste Recycling Group’s Sutton Courtenay landfill site next to the power station where it will be used for engineering, capping and landscaping of the landfill operations. Surplus ash will be stockpiled in a planned new storage facility, which received planning permission back in July, and will maintain WRG’s essential supply of ash after 2015 when the power station will have closed. Because the power station and the waste site are immediately adjacent, the ash can be transported directly across the fence and put into the stockpile, which is not far from the power station boundary. At no time will this ash be transported on public roads, which means there will be no adverse impact on the residents of Sutton Courtenay. Indeed, it will remove the need to import over half a million tonnes of substitute materials after 2015, which would have had an impact!

http://www.saveradleylakes.org.uk/
http://www.radleyvillage.org.uk/news/News0009.htm

Japanese Whaling Fleet Is On the Run

Friday, December 19, 2008
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin now has the entire Japanese whaling fleet on the run.

At 2345 G.M.T. the Steve Irwin intercepted the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 inside the Australian Antarctic Economic Exclusion Zone at 64°26 South and 132° 40′ East.

Sea Shepherd give chaseFriday, December 19, 2008
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin now has the entire Japanese whaling fleet on the run.

At 2345 G.M.T. the Steve Irwin intercepted the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 inside the Australian Antarctic Economic Exclusion Zone at 64°26 South and 132° 40′ East.

The encounter took place in dense fog and in dangerous ice conditions. The Steve Irwin launched a Delta boat with a crew to attack the Yushin Maru #2 with rotten butter bombs. Unfortunately the wind increased to fifty knots with blizzard conditions. Captain Paul Watson called the small boat crew back for safety reasons when they were halfway to their target some three miles away.

The Yushin Maru #2 then headed due North to lead the Steve Irwin away from the whaling fleet. The decoy did not work. The Steve Irwin is now in pursuit of the whaling fleet.

They have ceased whaling operations and they are now running from the Sea Shepherd crew.

The Yushin Maru #2 was the same vessel that the Steve Irwin crew boarded in January 2007. This year the crew observed that the Yushin Maru #2 has set up large netting to be run along the side of the ship to prevent boarding parties from going over the side. When the whalers realized that the Steve Irwin was onto them, they immediately ran on deck to deploy the netting.

“It looks like Whale Wars, season #2 is officially underway,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We’ve got them on the run. They are not in the Ross Sea where they said they would be. They are in Australian waters. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is officially calling on Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith to order the Japanese fleet to comply with the orders of the Australian Federal Court and to cease and desist from killing to whales in Australian waters.”

Forest and climate activists shut down Gunns’ Triabunna mill woodchip mill, Tasmania

2008-12-16
Seven activists were charged with trespass today after shutting down Gunns’ Triabunna mill for over seven hours this morning. Fifteen people occupied the woodchip mill at 4:45am, with seven activists attaching themselves to a conveyor belt and other machinery.

FIFTEEN FOREST AND CLIMATE ACTIVISTS SHUT DOWN TRIABUNNA WOODCHIP MILL, TASMANIA2008-12-16
Seven activists were charged with trespass today after shutting down Gunns’ Triabunna mill for over seven hours this morning. Fifteen people occupied the woodchip mill at 4:45am, with seven activists attaching themselves to a conveyor belt and other machinery.

“The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme White Paper makes it plain that the Federal ALP is not committed to ‘serious and credible’ emissions reductions. There is a failure by policy makers to grasp that we are facing a climate emergency – the policies proposed by the White Paper will result in the disappearance of Tasmania’s unique alpine ecosystems, the collapse of the Barrier Reef, and the salination of Kakadu,” Huon Valley Environment Centre spokesperson said.

“Targets of a 5% reduction by 2020 are pitiful and internationally humiliating. The Australian Government’s increased assistance to large emitters provides a clear demonstration that their priorities lie with heavily polluting big business, and not with Australia’s people and natural environment,” Warrick Jordan said.

“In Tasmania, the logging, burning and woodchipping of old growth forest releases massive quantities of carbon. Gunns Limited is the driver of this grossly irresponsible and morally reprehensible situation,” Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson said.

“Gunns hides this immense climate crime behind official carbon accounting figures which exclude the logging of native forest. Tasmania’s old growth forests are globally significant as unique ecosystems and carbon stores, and their protection can play a significant role in Australia taking real climate action,” SWST

“The Tasmanian Government has publicly expressed a will to address climate change. If the Bartlett government is serious about addressing climate change then it will legislate an end to old growth logging” concluded SWST.

Kelsterbach protest against airport extension, camp news & upcoming events, frankfurt / germany

On Sunday, 14.12. about 150 people demonstrated in the forest of Kelsterbach (near Frankfurt / Main) against the construction of the new runway north of the current airport site.

No Night Flights (German)On Sunday, 14.12. about 150 people demonstrated in the forest of Kelsterbach (near Frankfurt / Main) against the construction of the new runway north of the current airport site.

To familiarize with the surrounding of the forest, which fraport (the company which runs the airport) wants to destroy and in view of the area which probably will be cleared first, the demonstration moved trough the forest towards the airport grounds, along the current path to where the road Okrifteler crossed the motorway 3 and the fast-train tracks. Throughout the Kelsterbacher forest are the preparatory measures (removal of munitions, sub-wood and animals) largely completed. Among the preparatory measures include marking work on the trees. These were from the demonstrators numerous and varied with paint and spray cans supplemented, so that the orientation for forestry workers in the forest in the future will be more difficult.

At the bridge on the ICE route had already posted the cops and blocked the transition towards soundproofing wall of the airport. Under the observation of a police helicopter there was a short rally, while on the road Okrifteler many new slogans against the expansion were painted.

The forest walk was a good step from the activist lethargy of the past few months!

Upcoming events:

4th January 2009: The first colourful walk in the forests in the new year will again explore the area and make the extent of forest destruction clear. Meeting: 14 clock Forest Camp

From the 12th January 2009: possible grubbing beginning, Day X
Day X is the day on which the site is fenced and / or with the clearing work is begun. Get on the alarm lists (soon under www.waldbesetzung.blogsport.de or in the forest camp)!

14th January 2009: demonstration together with pupils, students and others against the Hessian conditions in Frankfurt. Check: www.14januar.de

Even between the years, there will be activities around the camp and against the expansion type. Keep you updated on www.waldbesetzung.blogsport.de or www.flughafen-bi.de

Previous stories about the camp: 1 | 2

Stop the new Leeds Opencast

Join us on Saturday 10th January 2009 to march around the proposed open cast coal mine site at Newton Lane, near Fairburn Ings nature reserve and Castleford.

YANC SAYS:

NO CO2AL HOLE

It’s time to say NO!

We don’t want a dirty opencast coal site adding to climate change

Join us on Saturday 10th January 2009 to march around the proposed open cast coal mine site at Newton Lane, near Fairburn Ings nature reserve and Castleford.

YANC SAYS:

NO CO2AL HOLE

It’s time to say NO!

We don’t want a dirty opencast coal site adding to climate change

Join us on Saturday 10th January 2009 to march around the proposed open cast coal mine site at Newton Lane, near Fairburn Ings nature reserve and Castleford. Meet at the White Horse in Ledston at 12 noon for a 12:30 start. We will take a route on public rights of way around and through the proposed open cast site. The walk should take no more than an hour.

This protest event will be a joint venture between YANC (Yorkshire Against New Coal) and RAGE (Residents Against Greenbelt Expansion).

For a map of the area including location of Ledston, see the RAGE website at: www.savefairburnings.org.uk

White Horse pub postcode is WF10 2AB. Add this postcode to multimap for directions.

Multimap link: http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=WF10+2AB&countryCode=GB

We will have some banners and placards but please feel free to make and bring your own.

Media will be invited.

If we are to tackle climate change, coal must be left in the ground. We need clean, green renewable technology, energy efficiency and decentralised energy.

Your New Years Resolution? To stop climate change!

For further information see the YANC website: www.yanc.org.uk or find us on Facebook.

Yorkshire Against New Coal
events@yanc.org.uk

Titnore Woods battle goes on! Upcoming events & update

DETERMINED eco-protesters in Worthing are facing up to the hardest challenge yet in their two and a half year occupation of threatened woodland.

Trees drawingDETERMINED eco-protesters in Worthing are facing up to the hardest challenge yet in their two and a half year occupation of threatened woodland.

The freezing temperatures and stormy conditions mean life is currently no picnic for the hardy protesters camped out in Titnore Woods, West Durrington, in a last-ditch bid to try and stop a new housing estate and Tesco megastore from being built over green fields and ancient woodland.

And grateful local supporters are organising a pre-Christmas stall in the town centre to bring festive cheer to the tree-house dwellers, who moved onto the site back in May 2006.

They will be collecting provisions for the protesters under the title “A Hamper for a Camper” at Holder’s Corner, Montague Street, Worthing, on Saturday December 20, from 11am.

It wasn’t an easy option when the team of eco-heroes sneaked onto the threatened ancient woodland off Titnore Lane at the crack of dawn on a May bank holiday and started building their tree homes before anyone knew what was happening.

Most people assumed they’d be kicked off again straight away, but the days turned to weeks turned to months turned to years and they’re still there!

The final planning application isn’t even through yet – they had to rethink part of it – and you can still object, writing to the Worthing Borough Council planning department at Portland House, Richmond Road, Worthing and quoting WB/04/00040/OUT.

But, sadly, Worthing campaigners against the development have already discovered through years of campaigning, letter-writing, petition-raising and large, peaceful, demonstrations that money and power don’t listen to the little people who know the difference between right and wrong.

We live in a world where even if police commit murder or theft they can get completely off the hook.

We live in a world where politicians can lie through their teeth, start wars that kill hundreds of thousands of people, and get away with it. We live in a world that is being choked to death by the blind greed of capitalism and yet we are told there is no other option.

The Titnore campers are part of that bigger picture – they have the guts to physically put themselves on the line and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Please support them in any way you can – food, supplies, a friendly visit.

There are tough times ahead and we all need to be there for each other.

* 1990s road protester Jim Hindle will be giving a talk at 8pm on Thursday January 29 upstairs at The Rest in Bath Place, Worthing. All welcome.