Tag Archive for 'environment'Page 2 of 9

06
May

Viewpoint from World Rainforest Movement Bulletin #129

The following is an opinion piece from the the World Rainforest Movement’s Bulletin for the month of April (links added by me).

If you would like to read or download the entire Bulletin, please visit www.wrm.org.uy.

A Tale of Two Conventions

Once upon a time … the governments of the world got together and agreed that the Earth was facing severe environmental problems and that something needed to be done about it. The historic event was named the Earth Summit and it took place in 1992 in the tropical scenario of Rio de Janeiro.

Everyone was feeling very enthusiastic because governments had committed themselves to a new type of development -which they defined as “sustainable”- which would prevent the negative environmental impacts of the until then prevailing development model.

People became even more hopeful about the future when they were told that from then on governments …

Published on
May 6, 2008
  1 Comment 672 views

21
Apr

Puerto Rico Denies Taino Effort to Clean River

On April 11 Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) informed the General Council of Tainos Borincanos that they would NOT be allowed to clean the Bucana river in Jacanas.

As part of an effort to promote conservation and respect for the environment, the Council proposed the clean-up more than two months ago, to “mend the damage caused to the sacred site of Jacanas, Ponce, PR and to renew its integrity,” writes UCTP Taino News.

At that point they decided to contact the DNR, among other governmental agencies, to learn the proper procedures for the clean up. They sent faxes and letters, made phone calls, and even went to their offices in person — but their request was always ignored; that is, until just recently.

The DNR finally wrote back. But to the Tainos dismay, the letter was confusing and contained “no …

Published on
April 21, 2008
  0 Comments 691 views

12
Apr

Presentation to Support ‘the Heart of the World’

On March 18, 2008, three Indigenous Elders and Spiritual Leaders from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta took part in a presentation at the Poder forum in Miami, Florida, to discuss their land reclamation and restoration efforts.

Home to some 50,000 indigenous people from four different ethnic groups – the Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kakuamo, all descendants of the Tayronas - the Sierra Nevada is the the world’s tallest coastal mountain range and one of the world’s most unique ecosystems.

The People say it is “the heart of the world,” a sacred place that forms and unites the origin of life with the present day, a place that is vital for the planet and which must protected. It is tradition for them to act as guardians, carefully monitoring and responding to everything that happens there.

Over the past century, however, their traditional …

Published on
April 12, 2008
  0 Comments 782 views

13
Mar

Stop the Ilisu Dam Project in Southeast Turkey

Around 100 villagers gathered in front of the German, Austrian and Swiss embassies on Tuesday to protest against the construction of the Ilisu Dam on the River Tigris. Once completed, the controversial project would submerge the ancient town of Hasankeyf (it’s 12,000 years old) along with 200 nearby villages, displacing up to 78,000 people.

The government started to move ahead with the dam in the late 90s, but it was soon met with massive protests which led several companies to withdraw from the project. Nevertheless, the Turkish government remained eager to complete the dam.

Tuesdays protest was a relatively calm event, Holding signs and shouting slogans, the group delivered a letter signed by 1,500 people from the threatened villages which demanded the three governments to withdraw their funding from the dam.They also warned that they will be forced to seek asylum …

Published on
March 13, 2008
  1 Comment 1,047 views

12
Mar

Amazay Lake is Safe, For Now

The Canadian Government along with the Province of British Columbia announced on Friday that they will accept the recommendations made by the Kemess North Mine Joint Review Panel.

Last September, the Panel rejected Northgate Minerals’ mine expansion proposal because they felt ‘the benefits of the project outweigh the risks of significant adverse environmental, social and cultural effects.’ If Northgate was allowed to proceed, they would have turned Amazay Lake, held Sacred by the Tse Keh Nay Peoples, into a toxic waste dump.

In a Press Release dated March 7, Leaders from the Union of B.C.Indian Chiefs, the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, and the First Nation Summit expressed relief over the Government’s decision:

“It should have been an easy decision for both governments. No government should as a matter of public policy authorize the destruction of lakes,” Grand Chief Edward John …

Published on
March 12, 2008
  0 Comments 569 views

13
Feb

Indigenous people vow to stop Inco pipeline

The Mining Advocacy Network reports that indigenous people in Kanaky, more commonly known as New Caledonia, began mobilizing over the weekend to stop a waste pipe that Inco is hurriedly laying for its Goro nickel mine.

A little over a week ago, the company won an appeal case filed by the indigenous concern group Rheebu Nuu in November 2006. The groups says the waste pipe is an imminent threat to the environment.

Kanaky is one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots. The majority of species are endemic, which means they are not found anywhere else in the world.

An exceptional geological discovery was also made beneath the path of the waste pipe. The details have yet to be made public, but a formation of this kind is thought to be the origin of life on Earth. Inco …

Published on
February 13, 2008
  1 Comment 747 views

05
Feb

Alaska Natives, ecologists oppose oil drilling in Chukchi Sea

chuckchi-sea.jpg

Last week, a coalition of indigenous people and environmental groups filed a lawsuit aimed at halting the massive oil drilling project in the Chukchi Sea.

Consisting of the Native Village of Point Hope, the City of Point Hope, the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS), Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), as well as The Wilderness Society and the Center for Biological Diversity, among several others - the coalition argues that the U.S. Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) should not have gone ahead with it’s recent decision to open up bidding to oil and gas companies because they failed to address a number of key issues.

It is a failure that seems to have been deliberate. A recent news release by part of the coalition explains that the Interior department,

[...] has apparently ignored warnings by …

Published on
February 5, 2008
  0 Comments 1,707 views

Video activism and the Chiapas Media Project

In the following presentation, Claudia Magallanes-Blanco from the University of Western Sydney talks about the role of video activism as a world-wide tool for empowerment and the Chiapas Media Project, a collaborative effort based in Mexico that provides indigenous Zapatistas in Chiapas and peasants in Guerrero with training and equipment to produce their own videos.

Since forming in 1998, CMP has distributed over 6000 videos, including: Zapata’s Garden, a film that looks at the society the Zapatista’s are building; …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


Underreported Struggles #19, October 2008

In this month’s Underreported Struggles: 400,000 Guatemalans Reject Development Model, Philippines Indigenous People Unite for the Land, Riot Police Target Algonquin Blockade, Chagos Islanders Denied the Right of Return, and 17 other stories …


Top
Hosted by May First / People Link