At the end of the climate summit in Marrakesh in December 2016, 20 activists from the Field Liberation Movement in Belgium planted a “permit to cut” in a field of GMO poplar trees belonging to the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology. The permit was given symbolically to the Flemish Minister responsible for climate policy. The Minister became infamous for her statement regarding forest management that “Trees have always had the function to be cut.” With this in mind, activists encouraged her to cut the field of GMO trees.
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Marrakech declaration against the summit of false solutions and for a fair and sustainable future for all peoples. For real alternatives to preserve environmental balances and recognise climate justice, For a fair and sustainable future for all peoples.
When communities denounce the water shortages they experience as a result of tree monocultures, the empirical evidence they present is often discredited and ridiculed in public by proponents of monoculture tree plantations who claim that there is no scientific evidence to back up the communities' demands. The Briefing combines empirical evidence based on community experience with evidence derived from Western science that reinforces what communities already know and have long been saying about the impacts large-scale monoculture tree plantations have on water resources.
In the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, the Landless Peasant Movement MST is occupying some 400 hectares of land appropriated by pulp and paper company Fibria (formerly Aracruz Celulose). 190 families have already established a camp and are preparing the land for the cultivation of food free of pesticides.
Organizations in Chile demand an end to the national policy and instruments that have been created to favor the development of tree plantations. The large-scale pine and eucalyptus monoculture forestry model has caused, in addition to other impacts, the fire crisis that is being experienced in the south-central area of the country.
For more information see: http://olca.cl/articulo/nota.php?id=106668
We share below the letter sent by Acción Ecológica thanking all the support received from the international level. We emphasize that, even though Acción Ecológica is still open, the legislation that allowed two Ministries to ask for its closure it is still valid.
América Latina, 26 de diciembre de 2016
La Red Latinoamericana contra los Monocultivos de Árboles (RECOMA) expresa su apoyo y solidaridad con nuestra organización hermana Acción Ecológica (AE) ante la amenaza de clausura que recibiera el pasado 20 de diciembre de 2016 por parte del Ministerio del Ambiente y el Ministerio del Interior.