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The World Rainforest
Movement was established in 1986 and initially focused its activities
on the flaws in the FAO
and World Bank's "Tropical
Forestry Action Plan" and countering the excesses of the
tropical timber trade and the problems of the International
Tropical Timber Organisation.
In 1989, the WRM published
the "Penang Declaration"
which sets out the shared vision of the WRM's members. As well
as identifying the main causes of tropical deforestation
and singling out the deficiencies of the main official responses
to the deforestation crisis, the Declaration highlights an alternative
model of development in the rainforests, based on securing the
lands and livelihoods of forest peoples.
In 1998, the WRM published
the "Montevideo Declaration"
and launched its campaign
against monoculture tree plantations that are increasingly
being promoted particularly in the South. These plantations,
promoted as "planted forests", are resulting in a
number of negative social and environmental impacts on local
communities. This campaign aims at generating conscience on
and organizing opposition to this type of forestry development.
The WRM has been part
of the Global Secretariat of the Joint Initiative to Address
the Underlying Causes
of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, a process linked
to the work of the Intergovernmental
Forum on Forests. It is also the host institution for the
Global Forest Coalition, an
informal and inclusive coalition of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’
Organizations engaged in the global policy debate related to
forests.
In May 2000 the WRM
published the "Mount
Tamalpais Declaration", urging governments to not include
tree plantations as carbon sinks in the Clean Development Mechanism
of the Kyoto Protocol of
the Framework Convention on Climate Change and to address
industrial emissions separately from tree plantations.
In May 2002, a number
of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples Organizations attending the 4th
Preparatory Meeting for the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD), felt the need for the global community to
recognize community-based and
indigenous forest management as a viable tool for alleviating
poverty and to ensure forest conservation and the livelihoods
of forest-dependent peoples. The
Global Caucus on Community-Based Forest Management was thus
born. The WRM is one of its board members and South American
Focal Point.
In January 2003, during
the Third World Social Forum held in the Brazilian city of Porto
Alegre, a group of Latin American NGO representatives established
the Latin American Network against Tree Monocultures, appointing
the WRM as its Secretariat. The Network has been coordinating
efforts at the continental level to oppose the plantation model
based on tree monocultures and to promote a type of forest use
that makes conservation and the improvement of forest peoples'
livelihoods compatible.
In January 2004, during
the World Social Forum held in India, the WRM participated in
the elaboration of the "Mumbai
Forest Initiative", a draft statement of principles
aimed at being a first contribution to initiating a global process
based on solidarity links between movements, groups and peoples
working on issues relating to forests at local, national and
international level.
The WRM distributes
a monthly electronic bulletin in English,
Spanish, French
and Portuguese, to
serve as an information dissemination tool of local struggles
and on global processes which may affect local forests and peoples.
The bulletin is distributed to more than 10,000 individuals
and organizations in 131 countries around the world. The WRM
also disseminates relevant information and documentation through
its bilingual English/Spanish web site.
The WRM International
Secretariat is headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay. |
