This report, released on January 29th 2019, was made by human rights defenders in Sierra Leone, concerned for the detention of activists and the death of two people who sustained gunshots from allegedly the state security personnel acting to protect SOCFIN on January 21th 2019
Other information
Proponents of land rights in Sierra Leone note with grave concern the grave human rights violations against members of the Malen Affected Landowners and users Association (MALOA) who were dispossessed of their land by the agro–based multinational SOCFIN investment company.
Civil Society working on land governance and human rights in Sierra Leone and internationally are concerned over the excessive use of force by state security personnel since Monday 21st, January, 2019 in Malen chiefdom, Pujehun district during which two people were allegedly killed by gun shots.
The declaration is open for sign-on in solidarity until 31 January 2019.
Peasants’ movements and civil society organizations from Mozambique, Brazil and Japan met in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2018, for the fourth Triangular Peoples’ Conference against ProSAVANA.
After two years of struggle against logging in their forest, the Penan village of Long Tevenga in Northern Sarawak gained a major victory. The Penan tried to prevent the logging company from entering the forest with a barricade on the logging road and last August they built a house across the road. The company had no way to get through.
In May 2017, the Estonian government launched a procedure for a national designated spatial plan to determine the most suitable location for a planned 1 billion euros pulp mill in Viljandi and Tartu Counties, as well as a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure.
California’s Air Resources Board held a public meeting to consider the endorsement of the California Tropical Forest Standard, which details a discussion about trading forest carbon against continued emissions from burning fossil fuels. The Board finally decided to postpone making a decision until April 2019.
In June 2017, the WRM carried out an interview with Dercy Teles, the first female president of a Brazilian Rural Workers’ Union, in the town of Xapuri, Acre in 1981. Xapuri became known nationally and internationally because of the union leader who succeeded Dercy: Chico Mendes. She reflects on the rich history of the rubber tappers’ popular movement, including its difficulties, lessons learned and challenges.
A team of journalists from five Latin American countries investigated how groups of timber traffickers manage to steal and process timber from the Amazon. An article from the newsportal Mongabay exposes how illegally-sourced timber from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia are incorporated into the international market with falsified official documents that are almost never verified.
A recent report by the NGO GRAIN highlights how the number of pension funds involved in farmland investment and the amount of money they are deploying into it is increasing, under the radar. This unprecedented take-over of farmland by financial companies has major implications for rural communities and food systems. Leaving it to the companies to police themselves with their own voluntary guidelines is a recipe for disaster.
(Only available in Portuguese) Os povos das florestas convidam a Marcha em Xapuri: Com Chico Mendes no empate contra o capitalismo verde. 14 de dezembro, 17 h, Xapuri, Acre, Brasil.