Global – Page 81 – Earth First!

29 arrested after six hour Climate Protest at Australian power station

1st November 2008
29 people have been arrested after a climate change protest at Bayswater power station today. Four people attached themselves to machinery, stopping the conveyor belts that carry coal to Bayswater’s furnaces while about 25 others occupied the coal piles in protest against the Federal Government’s failure to stop Australia’s greenhouse pollution rising.

Spokesperson, Georgina Woods, said, “Australia’s greenhouse pollution is still increasing and our addiction to coal-fired power is the main cause. We are here because every day we hesitate, we are killing the Great Barrier Reef.”

In 2006/07, Bayswater Power Station created approximately 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution, making it equal greatest single source of greenhouse pollution in the country and among the top 100 polluting power stations in the world.

The Federal Government is expected to announce medium term greenhouse emission reduction targets at the end of the month, but protestors say that 2020 is too late, and want a commitment that 2010 will be Australia’s “peak emissions” year.

The Bayswater power station near Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter and the adjacent Liddell power station together supply around 40% of NSW’s electricity.

Details of People’s Blockade of the World’s Biggest Coal Port – 14 March 2009 Ma href=”http://www.risingtide.org.au/node/794″>here
The protestors say power stations like Bayswater will need to be shut down over the next few years: “Where is the plan to phase out facilities like these? Why are we twiddling our thumbs?”

“The nation and the world are watching and we will not get another chance. The people that are here today are parents and grandparents, professionals and tradespeople. We are demanding a commitment from the Government today: Australia’s greenhouse emissions must start dropping from 2010, we must do whatever it takes to save the Barrier Reef from wipe-out and the world from devastating runaway climate change.”

The fight for the climate is far from over; the need for people to protest our failure to reverse greenhouse pollution is greater than ever.

NPA rebels to continue anti-biofuels campaign

The communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros vowed Saturday to sustain its campaign against biofuels and to raid plantations dedicated to jathropa, a source of biofuel.

NPA Southeastern Negros spokesman Dom Pantaleon said the NPA will implement more “preventive measures” against private agri-business corporations for aggravating food supply problem by planting non-food crops.

The communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros vowed Saturday to sustain its campaign against biofuels and to raid plantations dedicated to jathropa, a source of biofuel.

In an article on the Communist Party of the Philippines website, he cited the Tamlang Valley Agricultural Development Corporation (TVADC) as causing worsening food supply problem and heightening military abuses in southeast Negros.

He said the NPA recently conducted another “punitive action” against the TVADC biofuels company mainly based in the village of Casalaan, Siaton, Oriental Negros.

Pantaleon said an NPA team last Oct. 3 was ordered to confiscate and burn two TVADC-owned tractors in Sitio Tamlang, Talalak village 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. Last September 9, a separate NPA team seized and burned three tractors owned by the same company in sityo Cuadra, barangay Mantikil, in Sta. Catalina town,” the NPA said.

Pantaleon added the NPA will continue implementing similar orders for punitive actions to block the widespread growing of jathropa and cassava in and around the vast Sta. Catalina-Siaton-Valencia-Pamplona border villages of Oriental Negros.

He said the NPA will also impose armed punitive actions against the Army’s 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.”

Pantaleon 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.

============

For previous NPA protest against biofuels in the Philippines, see http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/21752

Fighting Climate Crime – Activists Lock Down Logging for Dairy Operation in New Zealand

29 October 2008
Early this morning Greenpeace activists took action to stop corporate dairy’s assault on New Zealand forests and the climate.

In the central North Island huge swathes of forest are being cleared to make way for industrial dairy mega farms.

29 October 2008
Early this morning Greenpeace activists took action to stop corporate dairy’s assault on New Zealand forests and the climate.

In the central North Island huge swathes of forest are being cleared to make way for industrial dairy mega farms.

Well before dawn this morning, in the forest near Tokoroa, several activists halted the sharp end of the logging operation by locking themselves to heavy equipment.

Meanwhile, on nearby land recently converted from forest to dairy pasture, another team have used rotary hoes to write CLIMATE CRIME in 5m-high letters into the fresh pasture.

We are calling for the main political parties to commit to an immediate halt to forest conversion for intensive dairy in the face of the worsening global climate crisis.

New Zealand’s agriculture sector already emits 50 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions – more than double the emissions of all transport combined. Deforestation releases huge amounts of greenhouse gas. We estimate that annual emissions from the two largest corporate conversion projects in the Central North Island alone equate to the annual emissions from the Huntly coal fired power station.

Forests trap carbon beneath the soil and in trees. Like a sponge, they soak up carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere – the main greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

Dairy conversion of forestry land functions as a ‘double whammy’ on the climate destroying forests and replacing them with one of the most greenhouse gas intensive forms of land use.

This chainsaw massacre and the ongoing expansion of corporate, intensive dairy farming in New Zealand has got to stop.

The press release and related documents are here

UPDATE: The, the following day as the sun rose over sleepy Helensville, we unfurled a truckload of Ready-Lawn around the outside of National Party leader John Key’s electorate office. Then came some pine trees, some two-dimensional cows and a smattering of stumps. Finally a billboard went up saying: “Would John solve this climate crime?” See the video and blog.

48hrs of Action against E.ON and New Coal

Friday 28th and Saturday 29th November 2008

The UK Government is calling for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, we are calling for 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal NOW.

Friday 28th and Saturday 29th November 2008

The UK Government is calling for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, we are calling for 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal NOW.

It’s easy enough to set a target that’s 42 years away, but we don’t stand a rapidly melting snowball’s chance of achieving it if the government give the green light to new coal fired power stations (7 are in the planning stages, with E.ON’s new Kingsnorth being first up) and keep dishing out subsidies to new coal mines. Coal is the dirtiest fuel there is, so while the government continues with business-as-usual through the last 100 months we have to make a difference on climate change, we call for 48 hours of action against new coal – now!

Join us in saying ‘No to New Coal’: get your friends together and plan an action for your area. Go stickering, blockading, serving direct action warning notices at supply chain premises, organise an awareness raising talk, hang a banner, get creative on the streets, the options are endless. Get together, get creative, and plan an action!

On Friday you could visit the Coal Authority, E.ON offices, UK Coal offices or Global Coal Management offices, to name but a few. Or take aim at their investors or parts of their supply chain. On the Saturday you could take action at 2nd round FA Cup matches sponsored by E.ON. Together, we’ll raise awareness about killer coal, and we’ll say loud and clear that we won’t stand for new coal – at Kingsnorth or anywhere else.

For more information visit – http://www.e-onf-off.org.uk/ – where a list of potential targets, action ideas and plenty of resources will follow shortly.

This day of action is supported by The Camp for Climate Action, Rising Tide, Plane Stupid and Campaign against Climate Change.

Paraguan resistance to GM soya plantings – evictions & violence

28 October 2008
Peasant organisations are resisting against the beginning of the GM soya season all over the country of Paraguay. They demand access to land, land reform and the stop of the pesticide spraying which impacts on their communities. Despite the new government, many camps have been evicted and violence has taken place: 2 leaders have been murdered and hundreds of peasants have been arrested. Please sign the letter below to put pressure on the government and put a stop to violence!

San Marco eviction & videoclip showing what happened when a large group of campesinos halted fumigation tractors of Brazilian soy producers. Paraguay, community of Yvypé all at http://www.lasojamata.org/en/node/230

In Paraguay, GM soya monocultures are today the main cause of deforestation, the destruction and pollution of other ecosystems, of violence and the eviction of small farmers and indigenous peoples. Paraguay has nearly 2,6 million hectares of soy plantations for animal feed exports and, more recently, for agrofuel. A journalist who visited the country in 2007 described the impact of soya monocultures as follows:
“Rural eastern Paraguay used to be full of jungle, small farms, schools and wildlife. Now it is a green sea of soybeans. The families, trees and birds are gone. The schools are empty. The air is filled with the toxic stench of the pesticides like paraquat and 2,4-D used to protect the soy crops” [http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3093].

The remnants of Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest and of the Alto Parana forest, as well as wetlands, grasslands and rivers are being destroyed and polluted by the expansion of immense RR soya fields. Deforestation is worsening global warming and also causing severe regional warming and droughts. It has contributed to the worst fire season ever recorded in Paraguay last year, and probably to the severe drought which is currently affecting the south of the country. More than 100,000 small peasant families have been evicted for soya plantations and over 100 peasant leaders have been murdered since the late 1990s in conflicts over access to land. Agro-chemical (glyphosate, 2,4D, and others) spraying of soya plantations severely affects the health of people living in soy region, in some cases leading even to deaths, and also destroys people´s food crops. Hunger and malnutrition are increasing as less and less land is available to farmers for growing food.

In August this year, a new government took office and the new president, Fernando Lugo, promised to support small farmers against pesticide poisoning and soya expansion. However, the government has given conflicting signals by also supporting increased soya exports at the same time. Also, the police and juridical forces have been supporting soya businesses in suppressing the peasant movement in their fight against pesticide spraying and the expansion of soy monocultures.

This month, at the start of the new soya planting season, small farmers’ organisations have mobilised to stop pesticide spraying and to protect peasant agriculture and the environment against further destruction. They have set up around 130 lawful camps at the margins of soya ‘latifundios’ (large estates). In recent weeks, they have been increasingly subjected to violence, with two murders of peasant leaders, unlawful arrests and detentions. Also, various camps have been violently evicted, with use of increasing numbers of paramilitaries. Many peasant leaders are receiving death threats. The civil security guards that former government organised ‘Comision Garrote’ are the main actors behind this threats.

The tendency seems to be that the violence and repression against the peasant movement will intensify. For many in the movement, this year is their last chance to stop soya expansion and to protect what remains of Paraguays’ forests and wetlands, sustainable peasant agriculture, and small farmers and indigenous people?s future.

Please write to the authorities in Paraguay and urge them to fully support small farmers and their demands for protection from pesticide spraying, from evictions, environmental destruction and pollution, for food sovereignty and land reform.

See last action report – farms occupied – at http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/21753/

See also:
Video about the 2 evictions in Alto Parana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYEBsk0jtG4
Video about the camp against the pesticide spraying in Caaguazú
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4xnXaZGjS8
Peasant community in San Pedro against the pesticide spraying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfLEXvipkJw

Articles about the current situation in Paraguay:
http://www.lasojamata.org/

LETTER (send the Spanish version that is below)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Please protect Paraguay’s communities and environment against soya
monocultures

I was very pleased to hear about President’s Lugo’s stated commitment to
protect small farmers against soya plantations, including against
pesticide spraying and to stop deforestation. However, I am deeply
concerned to hear about the increasing violence against peasant
organisations that are mobilising against pesticide spraying in the soya
monocultures, while arguing for a new agricultural policy that protects
small farmers and food sovereignty as well as the environment.

Two peasant leaders ? SindulfoMartínez member of the organisation MCP and
Bienvenido Melgarejo of the organisation ASAGRAPA have recently been
murdered. There are reports of a ‘hit list’ with the names of fifty
peasant leaders who fear that they could be murdered next. In the past
weeks, the courts and the police have been involved in the eviction of
peasant camps which have been lawfully set up on the margins of, not on,
soya plantations, resorting to laws which exist to prevent criminal
offences. People have been unlawfully evicted, detained, criminalised and
tortured.

With this letter, I want to show my strong support to the main demands of
peasant movements and civil society organisations in Paraguay: that
pesticide spraying of soy monocultures must be banned and effectively
stopped. The lands illegally sold to agribusiness companies must be
returned to the landless Paraguayan peasants.

I urge you to stop the eviction orders and repression against peasant
mobilisation. The two recent murders and all reports of police violence
and torture must be fully investigated and those responsible must be held
to account. The families of those who have been murdered must receive
financial compensation.

The government must take immediate action and investigate the death
threats against peasant leaders. The first step for this is to dissolve
the so called ?Citizen Security Commissions?, commonly called ?Garrote
Commissions?. These groups are the main actors of the para-police violence
against social organisations in the rural areas.

In front of the urgent situation of poverty and environmental devastation
in Paraguay, the government must initiate a programme to support peasant
farming and food sovereignty, rather than further sacrificing Paraguay’s
communities and environment to produce animal feed and agrofuels for
export.

Please let me know what your plans are for addressing this urgent
situation, in order to avoid more violence and human rights violations,
including more killings of peasants, and to protect communities and the
environment from soya monocultures.

Thank you,

Yours faithfully,
Asunto: Por favor, proteja a las comunidades paraguayas y al medio
ambiente de los monocultivos de soja

Estimada Sra., Estimado Sr.,

Ha sido muy satisfactorio para mí, saber acerca del compromiso del
Presidente Lugo para proteger a los pequeños campesinos en contra de las
plantaciones de soja, así como de las fumigaciones con pesticidas y la
deforestación. Sin embargo, me preocupa seriamente cuando escucho acerca
de la escalada de violencia dirigida hacia las organizaciones campesinas
que se movilizan en contra de las fumigaciones de pesticidas sobre las
poblaciones y a favor de una nueva política agraria que proteja a los
pequeños campesinos, la soberanía alimentaria y el medio ambiente.

Dos líderes campesinos -SindulfoMartínez de la organización, Movimiento
Campesino Paraguayo- MCP (Vía Campesina-PY) y Bienvenido Melgarejo de la
organización Asociación de Agricultores de Alto Paraná- ASAGRAPA han
sido recientemente asesinados. Hemos tenido noticias acerca de una ?lista
negra? con nombres de unos cincuenta líderes campesinos que temen ser los
próximos asesinados. Jueces y la policía han estado en estas últimas
semanas implicados en el desmantelamiento de campamentos campesinos
establecidos legalmente en las márgenes, y no dentro, de las plantaciones
de soja, amparándose en leyes de prevención del crimen. Los campesinos han
sido ilegalmente expulsados, detenidos, criminalizados y torturados.

Con esta carta quiero demostrar mi enérgico apoyo a las dos principales
demandas de los campesinos y las organizaciones de la sociedad civil de
Paraguay: Las fumigaciones con agrotóxicos de los monocultivos de soja
deben ser prohibidas y detenidas de manera efectiva. Las tierras vendidas
irregularmente a los agroempresarios deben ser devueltas a los campesinos
sintierras paraguayos.

Exijo frenar la actual ola de desalojos y represión a las movilizaciones
campesinas. El desalojo por recursos de amparo preventivo es una medida
jurídica irregular. Los dos recientes asesinatos y todos los reportes de
violencia policial y tortura deben ser investigados a fondo, y sus
responsables deben ser penalizados. Las familias de los asesinados deben
ser compensadas económicamente.

Así también el gobierno debe actuar de forma inmediata y frenar las
amenazas de muerte que penden sobre los dirigentes campesinos. El primer
paso para ello es atender a las demandas de las organizaciones de
desarticulación de las ?Comisiones de Seguridad Ciudadana?, comúnmente
denominadas ?Comisión garrote?. Estos grupos son los principales
protagonistas de violencia parapolicial contra las organizaciones sociales
en el campo.

Frente la urgente situación de pobreza y devastación ambiental del campo
paraguayo, el gobierno debe iniciar inmediatamente un programa de apoyo a
la agricultura campesina y la soberanía alimentaria. Basta ya del
sacrificio de las comunidades campesinas e indígenas del Paraguay y del
medio ambiente para mantener un modelo agroexportador sojero que sólo
produce alimento para animales y agrocombustibles.

Por favor, deme a conocer sus planes para contener esta urgente situación
y para evitar más violencia y violaciones de derechos humanos, incluyendo
más asesinatos de campesinos en su país, y para proteger a las comunidades
y al medio ambiente de los monocultivos de la soja.

Muchas gracias por adelantado y un atento saludo.

ADDRESSES / DIRECCIONES

1. Presidencia de la República del Paraguay
Excelentísimo Don Fernando Lugo Méndez, Presidente de la República del
Paraguay
Palacio de Gobierno
El Paraguayo Independiente e/Ayolas y O´leary
Central telefónica 4140000 (RA)
website: www.presidencia.gov.py
e-mail: presidente@presidencia.gov.py
webmaster@presidencia.gov.py

Secretaria General
S. E. Miguel Angel López Perito
Ministro, Secretario General y Jefe del Gabinete Civil de la Presidencia
de la República
Tel 4140288, fax 4140310

2. Secretaria del Ambiente (SEAM)
S. E. José Luís Casaccia , Ministro, Secretario Ejecutivo
Avda. Madan Lynch 3500 y Reservista de la Guerra del Chaco.
Tel + 595 21 615803/4, fax + 595 21 615807
casaccia jcasaccia@hotmail.com

3. SENAVE, Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Sanidad Vegetal y de Semillas
Ing. Agr. Luis Llano Imas , presidente
Oficina central del SENAVE: Edif. PLANETA I. Humaitá Nº 145 c/ Ntra. Sra.
de la Asunción. Telefax: + 595 21 445 769 /+ 595 21 441 549, Asunción –
Paraguay
presidencia@senave.gov.py
secretaria_general@senave.gov.py

S. E. Rafael Filizzola, Ministro
Chile y Manduvirá
Tel + 595 21 493 661, fax: + 595 21 450.027
ministro@mdi.gov.py
vmseguridad@mdi.gov.py
sgeneral@mdi.gov.py
5. Ministerio de Justicia y Trabajo
S. E. Blas Llano, Ministro
Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Estados Unidos
Tel + 595 21 447010, + 595 21 493209, fax + 595 21 208469
mjt@mjt.gov.py

6. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia
S. E. Candido Vera Bejarano, Ministro
Presidente Franco 479
Tel + 595 21 441036, central + 595 21 451316/ 447304
Viceministerio de Agricultura: vagricultura@mag.gov.py
Secretaría General: secretariagral@mag.gov.py

7. Fiscalía Gral. del Estado
Dr. Rubén Candia Amarilla
fiscaliageneral@ministeriopublico.gov.py

Tasmanian Forest Activists Twice Violently Attacked by Loggers – solution to whole conflict proposed by activists

Forest activists attacked in the Upper Florentine Valley, Tassie
22 October 2008
On Monday morning a forest activist was repeatedly kicked in the head by violent, out of control loggers in the Florentine Valley, the site of a protest against old-growth logging.

A peaceful action by conservationists in the Upper Florentine was targeted by violent logging contractors, with one activist kicked in the head and blockade infrastructure attacked with a sledgehammer, seriously endangering two activists. This occurred while a Forestry Tasmania employee watched on.

The group blocked the road for three hours until about 9.30am (AEDT) when a contractor attacked the vehicle with a sledgehammer, she said.

“The contractor set upon the car with a sledgehammer and then dragged the activist out from the car and kicked him in the head while he was lying on the ground,” Ms Majewski said.

She said the victim, who escaped serious injury, was a 22-year-old male activist who unlocked his arm from the road during the sledgehammer attack.

“Members of the Tasmanian community engaged in legitimate peaceful protest in defence of ancient forests should not be subjected to this kind of violence, nor should it be condoned by Forestry Tasmania employees” said Still Wild Still Threatened spokeperson Ula Majewski.

“Due to the carbon-storage value of this forest, the contentious nature of this logging operation and today’s violence, Still Wild Still Threatened requests an immediate cessation of logging in coupe FO042E” Ula Majewski said.

“Violence of this kind is perpetrated by a small minority of logging contractors. Contractors such as Howell’s Logging should focus their anger on those who are endangering their livelihoods, such as Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited, who continue to damage Tasmanian communities and forests with an unsustainable, woodchip based industry” Ula Majewski said.

“Activists will be pursuing this matter with the police” said Miss Majewski.

On Saturday the camp will celebrate their second year trying to halt logging of old-growth forests in the Upper Florentine valley, about 120 kilometres west of Hobart.

The rainforest valley is surrounded on three sides by the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has identified the Upper Florentine as having potential World Heritage value.

Ula Majewski, a spokeswoman for the group Still Wild, Still Threatened, said attempts to save the forest were reaching a critical point, with plans to drive a 10-kilometre logging road into the valley this summer.

“That would open the entire area up for logging,” Ms Majewski said.

Video (same video also here)

—
Campsite firebombed by loggers

24 October 2008
Three car loads of men arrived at the group’s campsite late last night, Still Wild Still Threatened member Ula Majewski said. “A number of unknown individuals arrived at Camp Florentine around 11.30pm and used jerry cans of petrol to set the two vehicles on fire,” Ms Majewski said today. “A forest activist who was sleeping in the vicinity of the vehicles was woken by shouting and loud smashing.

“A forest information booth provided for tourists was also set on fire and a gas cooker inside exploded,” she said.

The incident was reported to police after some of the activists had to walk out of the forest because their cars had been destroyed in the attack. Still Wild Still Threatened spokeswoman Ula Majewski said her group had used a “dragon” to block a road used by log truck drivers and forestry workers. With a “dragon” a car is driven over a device dug into the road and an activist, using a hole in the floor of the vehicle, locks an arm onto the device, she said.

The attack in the Florentine Valley, 120km west of Hobart, follows a violent clash between forestry workers and activists at a road block in the same area on Tuesday. Activists had disrupted logging in the area for a day last week using a tree-sitter, allegedly costing contractors an estimated $10,000 in lost revenue.

The camp has swelled with supporters to the Strathgordon Rd site in solidarity the protesters. The campsite, where five people were sleeping, blocks a forest road to an area marked for logging.

http://www.myspace.com/stillwildstillthreatened

———–

Tasmanian forest activists propose a solution

Still Wild Still Threatened and the Huon Valley Environment Centre are proposing a solution to the protracted debate over contentious forestry operations in old growth and high conservation value areas of the Southern Forests.

“Still Wild Still Threatened and the Huon Valley Environment Centre are proposing a Tasmanian and Australian Government driven solution to contentious logging and roading operations in the Southern Forests. We are calling on all stakeholders to adopt a considered and rational approach to bringing this prolonged forest debate to a fair and environmentally responsible conclusion,” said Still Wild Still Threatened Spokesperson Ula Majewski.

“Our organisations are prepared to cease all in-forest peaceful direct action that restricts logging and roading operations, contingent on a moratorium on all forestry operations in old growth and high conservation value areas of the Southern Forests, and the creation of an independently mediated dialogue that aims to resolve the forest issue,” said Huon Valley Environment Centre Spokesperson Adam Burling.

The conditions of this proposed solution are:

1. SWST and the HVEC will commit to a cessation of all in-forest peaceful direct action that restricts

logging and roading operations in the Southern Forests

2. The Tasmanian and Australian Governments will commit to a moratorium on all forestry, logging and roading operations in old growth and high conservation value areas of the Southern Forests;^1

3. An independently mediated dialogue will be undertaken, driven by representatives of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Office of the Prime Minister, and attended by representatives of the relevant ministries, including climate change, and relevant conservation groups and industry stakeholders. This dialogue will aim to resolve the long running forest debate in Tasmania in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner;

4. That the above commitments remain in force for a period of six months, with extensions granted if dialogue is ongoing;

5. That community events continue unhindered in the Southern Forests, and forest activists are able to maintain a presence in areas such as the site of Camp Florentine.

“The Tasmanian community deserves better than to see the continued logging of our precious remaining carbon dense ancient forests, such as the Styx, Weld, and Upper Florentine. And it deserves better than to see a forest industry that exists on government handouts and marginalises local operators. We urge policy makers to consider this unique proposal,” Adam Burling said.

“We will be formally contacting Premier Bartlett and Prime Minister Rudd about this today and are seeking a response by Tuesday 11^th November,” said Ula Majewski.

UNITED ENVIRONMENT GROUPS TAKE TASMANIAN FOREST SOLUTION TO THE FEDERAL CABINET

Environment groups working towards an end to the conflict over forest management in Tasmania took a united position to meetings with four Federal Cabinet ministers last night in Launceston.
Meetings were positive and environmental campaigners are confident this will mark the start of a constructive working relationship that could see the long-overdue delivery of environmental, social and economic viability to the struggling Tasmanian timber industry.
“We are hopeful requests to the Federal Cabinet and Tasmanian Premier Bartlett to engage in meaningful dialogue and participate in the solution to this long-running dispute will bear fruit” said Dr Phill Pullinger, Director of Environment Tasmania.
“Collectively, we call on Tasmanian Minister David Llewellyn to take a more open and constructive approach than that so far displayed, and help bring the Premier to the table and start talking about a positive way forward,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for The Wilderness Society.

Recent revelations that forest contractors want assistance to exit the industry, and that sawlogs are in over-supply, show that now is the time for a resolution to this conflict.
The Australian (4/11/08) reports, “In Tasmania, hard-hit forest contractors are seeking a federally funded exit package to allow them to leave the industry “with dignity”.

“Forestry Tasmania is not the appropriate body to negotiate this conflict. Only Premier Bartlett can, by joining with federal leaders and helping to steer forest conflict to an amicable closure” said Jenny Weber, spokesperson for the Huon Valley Environment Centre.

“Environment groups support a responsible forest industry in Tasmania and are united in the belief that there can be a resolution to the debate that could deliver win-win outcomes for our forests and forest-dependent communities,” said Ula Majewski, spokesperson for Still Wild Still Threatened.

Dongria Kohnd mass protest – Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Councils Revealed as Vedanta Investors

Tribe dances in mass protest against British mining company
21 October 2008

Hundreds of members of the Dongria Kondh tribe danced and sang through the capital of the Indian state of Orissa on Monday, armed with traditional weapons, to mark their opposition to British company Vedanta’s plans to mine their sacred mountain.

Tribe dances in mass protest against British mining company
21 October 2008

A huge procession of the tribe and their supporters snaked through the Orissan capital, Bhubaneswar.

The FTSE 100 British company Vedanta, majority owned by London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal, has received the go-ahead from India’s Supreme Court to mine aluminium ore on the Dongria’s land. The mine would destroy the forests and streams the Dongria depend on, and would turn their sacred mountain into an industrial wasteland.

Dongria man Jitu Jakesika said at the demonstration, ‘We will carry on our struggle to save Niyamgiri at any cost.’

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘If further proof were needed that the Dongria Kondh are determined to stop Vedanta, this would be it. The Dongria know that the mine would destroy them. Vedanta must heed their voices and pull out of this project.’

Last week Survival submitted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues, saying, ‘Mining will devastate what the Dongria Kondh hold sacred and the natural resources from which they draw their specific identity as a people.’

Many British banks and pension funds invest in Vedanta, including the Universities pension fund (USS), F&C, Standard Life, Barclays Bank, Abbey National and HSBC, as well as Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Councils. Survival is campaigning for investors to pull out of Vedanta.

For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

The latest EF! Action Update is out, bringing you reports of eco-resistance for the darkening days…

Bringing light & inspiration to the darker evenings are the action stories in the latest Earth First! Action Update.

Blockades of nuclear power, roads & rivers around the world were joined “with this Shell-blockading D-lock I thee wed”.

Bringing light & inspiration to the darker evenings are the action stories in the latest Earth First! Action Update.

Blockades of nuclear power, roads & rivers around the world were joined “with this Shell-blockading D-lock I thee wed”.

And if anti-fascist action, quarry sabotage, squats, tree platforms, wrekin’ opencasts, scaling luxury hotels & the latest protest camp news wasn’t enough for you, chuck in some glue, arm tubes, a pool of oil, stink bombs, airborne rape alarms and a Lego-sized occupation, then there’s full reports from this summer’s antics at the Camp for Climate Action, Rossport solidarity camp, EF! summer gathering and Saving Iceland camp, plus a crop of global climate camps & news of protest & resistance from all 5 continents.

“No nukes, no coal, no kidding” – with people dying (both literally & symbolically) from the activities of the Earth-destroyers, people have been shouting to just “Leave it in the Ground”, dragon boats have clashed with navy gunboats in Ireland, an oil war was declared in Nigeria, and ‘moles’ spent a week underground digging further and further away from the forces of darkness at an open-cast coal site.

Details of the new Coal Action Network, upcoming dates & a full contact list should help launch (or boost) you into the orbit of eco-resistance.

Subscribe and get it sent direct to a letterbox near you – you’d also be supporting the EF!AU to get printed and sent out to prisoners & protest camps. If you want some to distribute, contact us at: actionupdate (AT) earthfirst.org.uk

Download the latest issue or past issues here.

The EF!AU is there to inspire people to take ecological direct action, to provide info to help you just get out and do it. Don’t feel shy, put your best foot forward.

The EF!AU is the quarterly newsletter of people taking ecological direct action – send us news of your action or campaigns, and come along to the Winter Moot if you want to get involved in any of the campaigns you’ve read about.

What is Earth First!?

Dongria Kondh Road Block – Tribe vows to fight mine with axes and arrows

Tribe vows to fight mine with axes and arrows

One of India’s most isolated tribes, the Dongria Kondh, is preparing to stop British FTSE 100 company Vedanta from mining aluminium ore on their sacred mountain, after police and hired thugs forced protestors to dismantle a barricade over the weekend.

Tribe vows to fight mine with axes and arrows

About 150 people had blocked the road in Orissa state on Wednesday after hearing that Vedanta intended to start survey work for a planned aluminium mine which would destroy an ecologically vital hill, and the Dongria Kondh’s most sacred site. Vedanta employees visited the blockade repeatedly, threatening the protestors. On Friday the villagers gave in and took down the barricade, but about 100 are still at the side of the road, blocking traffic when Vedanta vehicles approach.

Vedanta is majority owned by London-based Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal.

Today, Dongria Kondh from all over Niyamgiri, the hill range that would be decimated by Vedanta’s mine, are making arrows and preparing their axes to stop Vedanta reaching their sacred mountain. One Dongria man said today ‘Now our people are very angry. We have to show the Dongria Kondh power to Vedanta.’

When India’s Supreme Court gave Vedanta the green light in August to mine on Dongria land, around 40 Dongrias used tree trunks to block a road leading into their hills, and held banners reading, ‘We are Dongria Kondh. Vedanta can not take our mountain.’ [photos available]

The mountain that Vedanta wants to mine is not only the Dongria Kondh’s most sacred site, it is also integral to the entire ecosystem of the hills, enabling the numerous streams and lush forests which sustain the Dongrias to continue to thrive.

Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said today ‘The Dongria Kondh are protecting their land from invaders, who are only interested in plundering the mountain for their own gain. The Dongrias will get nothing from the mine, except destitution and ruin, and Survival will continue to support their resistance to Vedanta.’

For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

Protest halts logging in upper Florentine Valley-Monday 13 October 2008 & campaign update newsletter

MEDIA RELEASE
Monday, 13th October 2008
Tasmanian forest defenders take a stand against climate crimes in the Upper Florentine Valley

This morning, forest activists from Still Wild Still Threatened conducted a peaceful action in the Upper Florentine Valley, halting logging operations in coupe FO42E. A forest defender is perched high on a tree-sit to protest against the continued decimation of Tasmania’s carbon dense old growth forests.

“We are speaking out against the climate crimes which continue to be perpetuated by Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited, and are calling on Kevin Rudd to take immediate action and put a stop to the rampant wood-chipping of some of our most significant carbon sinks” said Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson Christo Mills.

“A recent ANU study has clearly shown that Tasmania’s ancient forests can play a key role in combating dangerous climate change. [1]However, these globally renowned forests continue to be subjected to destructive roading, logging and burning operations” said Mr Mills.

“The carbon rich forests of the Upper Florentine Valley are being systematically destroyed to feed the rapacious appetite of an environmentally unsustainable wood-chipping industry.The devastation of these carbon rich forests is an international disgrace and forest defenders will continue to take peaceful action against these reprehensible climate crimes” said Mr Mills.

“Protecting Tasmania’s ancient forests is a simple and highly effective climate change solution” said Mr Mills.

For comment, contact: Christo Mills 0447 631 735

—–

The latest campaign update newsletter, Spring 2008 – upcoming dates (Note: Southern hemisphere spring is our Northern autumn) – not that you’d think of flying there in any case, boys & girls 😉