Seeds of Hope
“What are the solutions to forest destruction?” “What are the alternatives?” Questions like these are often raised to squash possible debate that could lead to real solutions to deforestation and climate chaos. The way forward starts with ending the assault on forest peoples and their ways of life, and learning about their relationships with their territories. For generations, forest-dependent communities have lived in and with forests, and have protected them.
Bulletin articles
23 April 2025
Across the global South, communities that oppose corporate control of their territories face not only corporate violence but also tear gas, batons and state repression. Challenging the expedient misinterpretation of “all land belongs to the State” that governments use to protect corporate interests, communities stand strong in the struggle to reclaim their ancestral lands “because it is a sacred place; it is a place that gives meaning to our existence.”
Bulletin articles
23 April 2025
In South Africa's Western Cape province, rural communities affected by historical land dispossession in many places also face the manifold impacts of living surrounded by industrial tree plantations. Seeking to strengthen their access to land, these communities have mobilised in a forum supported by civil society organizations, demanding participation in decision-making and other community rights.
Bulletin articles
23 April 2025
A new wave of expansion in hydroelectric power plant projects is advancing throughout the Global South under the pretext of producing 'clean energy', speed up the 'energy transition' and promote a 'low carbon economy'. On March 14, a group of communities issued a joint declaration denouncing the trail of destruction that major dams have left in their wake worldwide, rejecting further dam construction and shouting out, loud and clear: big hydroelectric power plants are not clean energy!
Bulletin articles
23 April 2025
The "Deklarasi Solidaritas Merauke" (Merauke Solidarity Declaration, see below) has been collectively written by participants of the "Konsolidasi Solidaritas Merauke" (Merauke Solidarity Consolidation Meeting), a people's gathering that took place in the town of Merauke, South Papua Province in March, 2025. The declaration calls for an immediate halt of the National Strategic Project (PSN) Merauke.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
In this editorial, at a time in which elites and oil companies continue to cling to the power and profit derived from fossil fuels, we would like to acknowledge the contribution that the Ecuadorian people have made to the world in the fight for territories free of oil exploitation.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
Exchanges between activists put the voices of those who fight to defend their territories at the center of the conversation. In September, members of communities from Brazil and Mozambique united their struggles and connected their histories once again, helping to strengthen solidarity in the fight against industrial tree plantations.
Bulletin articles
30 March 2023
In the month of International Women’s Day, this editorial reflects on a central issue for WRM: Why is feminism important in struggles for forests? Feminist struggles place life at the center and show that in order to defend lands and forests, we must transform power relationships.
Other information
11 October 2022
Documentary film produced by NUPOMAR, Núcleo de Pesquisa, Mídias e Arte, with the purpose of recording and valuing the social memory of the Pataxó Indigenous Peoples of Aldeia Barra Velha (in the municipality of Porto Seguro-Bahia), Brazil.
Bulletin articles
12 September 2022
The quilombola communities of Sapê do Norte, Brazil, are living a violent process with the expansion of large-scale eucalyptus monoculture. After many hardships, they started a process to take back their water and land. And the struggle to take back what is theirs continues. WRM talked to two quilombola activists to reflect on this difficult but fertile process of resistance.
Bulletin articles
16 June 2022
The Independent Producers of Piray (PIP) in Misiones, Argentina was formed in 2005 to stop the advance of multinational Arauco’s pine tree monocultures and reclaim the land. WRM spoke with Miriam Samudio, a key member of the PIP family, to reflect on the process of the struggle and the lessons learned.
Bulletin articles
16 June 2022
Communities resisting the impunity and impacts of oil palm growers in Ecuador: Cases from Esmeraldas
There are currently 270,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in Ecuador. The resistance processes of the communities of La Chiquita, Guadualito and Barranquilla de San Javier in the region of Esmeraldas continue to generate outrage and solidarity among other communities, and internationally.
Bulletin articles
16 June 2022
Quilombola Communities’ Resistance Against Suzano Company in the Southernmost part of Bahia, Brazil
A conversation with the president of the Volta Miúda Quilombola Association and of the Southernmost part of Bahia Quilombola Cooperative revealed how Suzano, the world’s largest paper and cellulose corporation, continues to operate with serious violations and illegalities. Communities keep fighting to reclaim their lands back.