Plantations are not Forests
“Plantations of Eucalyptus are not Forests” proclaims the sign at the entrance of the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – Landless Workers Movement) encampment. The MST here took over portion of a plantation owned by timber company Aracruz Cellulose, removed the non-native trees and erected their camp, complete with a well, community space and an elaborate system on non-hierarchical decision making. The camp was named Galdino dos Santos, for an indigenous chief who was murdered two years earlier in a racist attack. (Brazil 2005) Photo by Orin Langelle
Buffalo, NY – Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project , will speak Monday 22 April (Earth Day), 7 p.m., at the Latin America Solidarity Committee Winter / Spring 2019 Coffeehouse. The LASC Coffeehouse is located in the Canisius College – Science Hall, 1901 Main St, Buffalo, NY.
This month’s topic is Destructive Agriculture and Indigenous/Campesino Rights.
Petermann just returned from meetings in Porto Alegre, Brazil with anti-plantation Indigenous and community groups from Brazil, Argentina and Chile along with the World Rainforest Movement and Friends of the Earth Brazil / Amigos da Terra Brasil. Petermann will speak about impacts of and actions to resist industrial tree plantations including rural indigenous and Quilombola (Afro-Brazilian) efforts to take back their lands from these industrial plantations.
Petermann is also the international coordinator for The Campaign to STOP Genetically Engineered Trees and will talk about how the use of GE trees in these timber plantations would worsen their social and ecological impacts. World Rainforest Movement, based in Uruguay, is the Southern Contact for the Campaign and has materials in English, Spanish and Portuguese on their website at https://wrm.org.uy.
Following Petermann’s presentation, Kelley Maracle, Guardians of Water, will reflect on representing local water issues at the First International EcoCultural Gathering of Sowers and Guardians of Water held in Cochabamba, Plurinational State of Bolivia.
The Latin America Solidarity Committee is a Task Force of the Western New York Peace Center.
The event is free and open to the public.
