Forests have made life on Earth possible. They sustain biodiversity, regulate climate and water, and provide food, medicine, and livelihoods for millions. Yet forests—and the communities who depend on them—face unprecedented threats from climate change, corporate exploitation, and destructive technologies like genetic engineering.
Forests are far more than trees. They are living systems that stabilize weather, enrich soils, prevent erosion, and store immense amounts of carbon. They also shelter and sustain diverse cultures worldwide. Despite their central role in planetary health, forests are under greater threat today than ever before.
From Vermont to Chile and beyond, Global Justice Ecology Project has stood on the front lines to defend forests, biodiversity, and the communities who depend on them. We have helped secure precedent-setting victories at the United Nations, organized community seminars and international strategy meetings, mobilized protests against corporate destruction, and leveraged media to shine a global spotlight to confront and stop illegal logging, industrial plantations, and genetically engineered (GE) trees.
GJEP leads the global fight to stop genetically engineered trees—mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people since 2000 and preventing their commercial release worldwide, with the sole exception of one GE tree in China.
At the same time, we support Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities in reclaiming and protecting their lands—territories that hold 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Keeping forests in the hands of their traditional caretakers is key to ensuring they remain standing.
