TAKE ACTION: Tell the World Bank, WWF and Greenpeace to stop aiding and abetting failed "sustainable" and "certified" forest management for the Congo Basin, and instead commit to End Ancient Rainforest Logging

Africa's Congo Basin [search] contains the world's second largest rainforest; a haven for vital global biodiversity and ecosystem services, and a safeguard against runaway global warming. This locally, regionally and globally critical ecological system is being devastated by illegal logging. Sadly, many organizations trusted by their members and funders to protect ancient rainforests continue to emphasize "improved forest governance", "sustainable forest management" and "forest certification" after decades of failure to reform industrial logging. Requirements for global ecological sustainability and socially just, equitable sustainable development dictate that the Earth's entire remaining large, contiguous rainforests are protected from any further industrial development. Sadly, this will require confronting the global ancient forest logging apologist industry. The ultimate aim of Ecological Internet's "End Ancient Forest Logging" campaign is to get the World Bank, other donors and mainstream conservation bureaucracies completely out of the business of supporting industrial ancient forest logging. Let Congo rainforest stakeholders know you demand a future for the Congo that is free of industrial rainforest clearance. And put the World Bank, WWF and Greenpeace on notice that their forest conservation policies are opposed and will be exposed and stopped.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

The fact that all biofuels are not created equal in terms of environmental benefits is starting to get more press coverage and policy-makers are being forced to face the issue of "deforestation biofuels" [search] -- those like palm and soya oils that destroy rainforests releasing much more carbon than they prevent. The European Commission (EC) now admits that "Europe's dash for biofuels could accelerate the destruction of tropical rainforests". This is particularly gratifying because Ecological Internet was the first to raise the issue of deforestation biofuels internationally through several protests over recent years -- including campaigning against EC arbitrary biofuel goals which did not differentiate between environmental desirability of biofuels produced locally and those sourced from cleared rainforests. Here is our most recent alert. There is now an entire movement spawned by our actions. Building awareness is one thing, but actually stopping the rush to deforestation biofuels is another. It is unconscionable that rather than reducing their energy use, both Europe and the U.S. are pushing biofuels as a means to continue their conspicuous consumption of energy. And Indonesia wants to be paid to protect their rainforests even as they ramp up rainforest destruction for oil palm plantations to produce biofuel, not appreciating that these plantations on peatlands that burn frequently is extremely poor tropical land managment. We must resist the expansion of rainforest biofuels -- as the Dutch are trying to do -- or we will lose both our rainforests and our climate system.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

TAKE ACTION! Destroyer of ancient rainforests and indigenous livelihoods from Malaysia to Guyana now a publicly listed company that along with its financiers is facing renewed international protest

Indigenous people living in tropical rainforests in Malaysia and Guyana are stepping up the global campaign against the Samling group [search], one of Malaysia's leading timber companies, and gravest threat to rainforests and their inhabitants worldwide. The Samling Group holds 1.6 million hectares of tropical rainforest concessions in Guyana and 1.4 million hectares in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. On the recent occasion of its public listing at the Hong Kong stock exchange, 37 organizations from 18 countries asked investors and banks to shun the company for its failure to comply with basic environmental and social standards. Please send a protest email targeting the banks funding Samling, asking them for a public statement to withdraw their support to Samling and refund of IPO profits. TAKE ACTION!

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Ugandan police have opened fire at hundreds of Mabira rainforest protection campaigners in Uganda protesting against government plans to allocate forest land to a sugar company. Ecological Internet is sad to report that two local rainforest conservationists, protesting to save the Mabira protected rainforest from being 1/3 cleared for sugar cane have, were shot dead when protesting according to BBC. Stopping the "Great Mabira Rainforest Give-Away" has been something the Ecological Internet Earth Action Network has been deeply involved with internationally. This in support of one of Africa's first grassroots modern ecological protest campaigns - with local peoples organizing boycotts against the sugar company involved, setting up cyber-petitions and text messaging via cell phones to organize protests. Efforts to save Mabira rainforest [search] is a spontaneous, home-grown rainforest conservation protest that deserves our continued support. Please take action now.

Ecological Internet's 25,000 strong global campaign community must let the Ugandan government know that shooting protestors is unacceptable, that the authoritarian efforts to give away Mabira's rainforests are undemocratic and corrupt, and once again emphasize that Uganda needs more protected ancient primary and old-growth forests and restored buffer zones and corridors to ensure national ecological sustainability including water, climate, soils and local development options.

Though indications are the President is going to ram this rainforest give-away through Parliament, let's not give up. And let's not abandon those dying in the streets for the principle that logging ancient rainforests is archaic and must be banned. The message being sent has been completely altered so please send again if you did already. We have other campaigns coming but this is important. Please take action now.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

The hour is late as the world's last great forests are fed into the Chinese Foundry to supply America amongst others with ill-gotten timbers. The Washington Post has written an excellent front-page expose on Chinese timber market, corruption, illegal logging and more. "Some of the largest swaths of natural forest left on the planet are being dismantled at an alarming pace to feed a global wood-processing industry centered in coastal China… They land in homes and offices in the United States and Europe, bought by shoppers with little inkling of the wood's origins or the environmental costs of chopping it down."

Ecological Internet has long been fighting the Chinese growth machine over rapacious illegal rainforest timber logging by Malaysian timber mafia and consumption by the rich over-developed nations at the expense of the world's life-giving forest ecosystems. EI wants this industrial logging industry in ancient old-growth and primary forests shutdown forever.

Another conversation I have been having with more mainstream environmental organizations is how they can think this timber industry could ever be redeemable and their activities called "certified" or "sustainable" I do not know. The do not operate anywhere approaching environmentally sustainable forest management - sustained yield for while - but not sustaining forest complexity, structure, composition, function and dynamics of a randomly evolved ancient holy rainforest wilderness.

The world and forest activists in particular need to ask themselves when there has been enough forest loss and diminishment to industrial logging and take all required measures to end it for good. That governments and companies still derive revenue from the barbarous mowing of ancient rainforest shrines in this day and age of ecological awareness and social want is sacrilege and immoral.

Rise up, end forest loss and diminishment. Rise up - dramatically reduce emissions. We must rise up everybody. It is really not that much to ask for an end to ancient forest logging now and shutter the carbon economy before it is way past too late for the Earth and her humanity to survive well.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)