September 21 is the International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations. It is a day for organizations, networks and movements to celebrate resistance and raise their voices to demand: “STOP the Expansion of Monoculture Tree Plantations!” These plantations invade territories and affect the life of peoples and communities. The Day was launched in 2004 at a meeting of a community network struggling against industrial tree plantations in Brazil; September 21 was chosen because it is the Day of the Tree in Brazil. Plantations are not forests!
Gearing up for the day of struggle, today (September 20, 2024) the World Rainforest Movement held a 1h-30min webinar on “Tree Plantations, Carbon Markets and Resistance” on September 20, 2024 which can be viewed on this youtube link.
Dedication
Dedication to Wally Mennu
Global Justice Ecology Project is dedicating this day to South African friend and activist Wally Menne who passed away on 26 October 2017. We are grateful for all his work against monoculture timber plantations. He was one of the founders of this movement. A day after Wally’s passing, Anne Petermann, GJEP’s Executive Directory wrote Wally Menne: A Lion Among Men.
Resources
Short documentary: Brazil’s Eucalyptus Invasion
On September 4ith 2024 Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) released a short documentary which sheds light on the ongoing struggles of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities in Brazil against the harmful effects of monoculture tree plantations through their own stories and voices.
The film, based on an international delegation of the STOP GE Tree Campaign to Brazil in May of 2023, features interviews with members of the Quilombola communities, the Ofaye people, and members of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), providing a comprehensive view of the fight for land sovereignty and against the ecological and social impacts of eucalyptus plantations.
The documentary, with a runtime of just under 34 minutes, can be viewed at https://globaljusticeecology.
A story syndicated by Independent Media Institute also details the delegation’s trip to Brazil.
Activists in Portugal are taking action against the catastrophic fires caused by the biomass and pulp industries.
In Portugal devastating wildfires have taken place in September 2024, leaving seven dead and 80,000ha burned in the northern and central regions of the country. On Sunday, September 22nd 2024 a nation–wide protest is happening and the call-out for the protest specifically links the pulp and paper and biomass energy industries to the fires, declaring that “the new climate reality, combined with the devastation of the pulp and paper, biomass and bioenergy industries, drags us down like an anchor” and that Portugal‘s rural areas must be “pulled out of the hands of the eucalyptus and biomass industries.”
The recent Publico article “Forest protest demands ‘end to the cycle of fire and death‘” has additional information on what is happening, as does Paulo Castro opinion piece “The eucalyptus tree burns violently“.
International solidarity is key so please look out for @emergenciaflorestal and #florestadofuturo online.
Podcast: Portugal’s wildfires
A Breaking Green Podcast episode reviews The Battle Against Eucalyptus in Galicia, located on the northern border of Portugal.
Mongabay Article: Eucalyptus expansion worsens droughts and fires in Brazil’s Cerrado, conservationists say
A new report by Environmental Paper Network states that Brazilian paper pulp producer Suzano’s eucalyptus plantations are worsening drought conditions in the Brazilian Cerrado, causing water scarcity and biodiversity loss, which are impacting local communities.
An August 2024 Mongabay article“Eucalyptus expansion worsens droughts and fires in Brazil’s Cerrado, conservationists say“discusses the report, Suzano’s response, and the current sitaution in the Brazalian Cerrado.
World Rainforest Movement Report: What you need to know about Suzano Papel e Celulose
On August 21, 2023, The World Rainforest Movement released a 20 page report entitled “What you need to know about Suzano Papel e Celulose”
The report can be found on the World Rainforest Movement’s website in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
