Rheinsches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany

On Friday evening, 23 May 2008, women from the Orange Bloc surprised the ‘German Forestry Council Forest and Wood For a Future With Life of Quality Get Together’ at their side event in the museum.  One by one, during a cocktail and appetizer party on the museum’s roof, women stood on a chair and spoke out against monoculture timber plantations, genetically engineered trees and cellulosic ethanol.

Although a few of the timber industry walked out, many others applauded and stayed on to talk with the women and other members of the Orange Bloc.

Besides the Orange Bloc attendance at the gathering, the leading representatives of the national and international forest and timber industries and conference delegates attended the affair.

The unofficial Orange Bloc presentations came after classical music in the museum’s first floor and the very strange presentation by Prof. Dr. Gerd Wegener, full professor at Holzforschung of the TU Munich.  Dr. Wegner, as described in the CBD side event announcement spoke on:

“What ecological, social and cultural dimensions the sustainable production and usage of wood will have in the future. Thereby, nature and technique will undergo a unique symbiosis: By means of modern technology, high performance building materials and wood based products, natural fibers for the paper and textile industry as well as sustainable energy sources, for example, will develop from materialized solar energy from the forest.” [translation: use genetic engineering and other synthetic biology technologies to transform wood into agrofuels, plastics, chemicals and other products.]

Where will the Orange Bloc show up next?