http://www.canadianrainforests.org/


Informant: Deane

Regenwald

Wie Europas Fleischhunger die Umwelt zerstört
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/abo/ticker/775189


FOTO-DOKUMENTATION

Der Regenwald Südamerikas ist eines der letzten Wildnisgebiete des Planeten und berühmt für seine riesige Artenvielfalt.
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591/Arara-23.jpg
©Werner Paczian, Rettet den Regenwald

Wie ein Krebsgeschwür frisst sich die Brandrodung tiefer und tiefer in den südamerikanischen Regenwald hinein. Der Wald muss den expandierenden Viehweiden und Sojaplantagen weichen.
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591/Brandrodung2_af.jpg
©Antje Findeklee

Vor dem Feuer kommen meist noch die Holzfäller, die dem Wald die wertvollen Mahagoni-Stämme entreißen - ein auch in Deutschland immer noch beliebtes Holz. Bevor die Axt im Walde hausen kann, müssen die betroffenen Gebiete durch Straßen erschlossen werden. Sie bieten dann das Einfallstor für Siedler, Viehbarone und Großgrundbesitzer. Selbst auf Indianerreservate wird keine Rücksicht genommen.
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591/Kahlschlag.jpg
©Werner Paczian, Rettet den Regenwald

Wo sich einst artenreiche Savannen und Regenwälder erstreckten, herrscht heute meist nur noch öde Monotonie. Aus dem vormals riesigen Cerrado Brasiliens wurde so ein Hotspot der Biodiversität, der in seinem Bestand existenziell bedroht ist. Die Ausweitung der Sojaflächen ist auch Ergebnis europäischer Agrarpolitik und europäischen Konsums, der auf billiges Fleisch setzt und die Einfuhr von Sojaschrot fördert.
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591/cerrado_.jpg
©Werner Paczian, Rettet den Regenwald

Rund zwanzig Produzent der Produktionskosten von Soja entfallen auf den Gebrauch von Pestiziden. Im tropischen Klima werden gerade Monokulturen von zahlreichen Insekten und Pilzen heimgesucht, die man mit Gift bekämpfen muss - wiederum ohne Rücksicht auf Landarbeiter und die Umwelt.
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591/tck_cr.jpg
©Werner Paczian, Rettet den Regenwald

Nach wenigen Jahren der Nutzung sind die ohnehin unfruchtbaren tropischen Böden der Regenwaldgebiete vollends ausgelaugt und müssen aufgegeben werden. Zurück bleibt artenarmes Ödland, dass Jahrhunderte benötigen wird, um sich zu regenerieren.
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591/2soja.jpg
©Werner Paczian, Rettet den Regenwald


Aus: Attac-eu-info

05/05/05

The last 58.5 million acres of untouched national forests, which President Clinton had set aside for protection, were opened to possible logging, mining and other commercial uses by the Bush administration on Thursday. New rules from the U.S. Forest Service cover some of the most pristine federal land in 38 states and Puerto Rico. Ninety-seven percent of it is in 12 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming...

http://tinyurl.com/cbdgs

from Cincinnati Enquirer


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

On Saturday, February 12, Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73 year-old American nun who had lived for more than 30 years in the Amazon rainforest, was assassinated. Dorothy had dedicated nearly half of her life to giving a voice to rural communities working for land rights and sustainable development in the Amazon rainforests.

Because of her advocacy, she often received death threats from unruly landgrabbers throughout the state of Para, an area plagued with violence resulting from ongoing land disputes and illegal logging.

Amidst international outcry over this tragedy, Brazil's President Lula da Silva recently ordered the creation of two massive new rainforest reserves http://www.ran.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1336&area=home totaling more than 9 million acres in the state of Para.

Click here
http://action.ran.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=24499&ms=Feb05 to send a letter to the Sisters of Notre Dame Namur in Brazil acknowledging Sister Dorothy Stang's dedication and life's work advocating for sustainable development and protection of Brazil's tropical rainforests and their inhabitants.

Take Action Today

Tell Wild Oats to drop Weyerhaeuser

Wild Oats, an environmentally-minded grocery store with nearly 100 locations throughout North America, uses paper bags from Weyerhaeuser, the number one destroyer of endangered forests in North America. Wild Oats should not be affiliated with a corporation that is notorious for logging national and old growth forests, destroying the habitat of endangered species such as the northern spotted owl and woodland caribou, and converting native forests into tree plantations.

Click here to send a message to the Wild Oats CEO Perry Odak, asking him to cancel the company's business with Weyerhaeuser.
http://action.ran.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=23311&ms=Feb05

Seattle Photo Exhibit Showcases Weyerhaeuser Wastelands

Seattle residents this month can visit "Wastelands"
http://www.ran.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1317&area=newsroom a month-long photo exhibit sponsored by Rainforest Action Network featuring larger-than-life images of forest destruction caused by Weyerhaeuser, the number one destroyer of endangered forests in North America. Renowned photographers Francis Eatherington http://www.umpqua-watersheds.org/index.html,
Scott Harding http://www.scotthardingphoto.com/index.html and Garth Lenz http://www.garthlenz.com, known best for their awe-inspiring images of natural beauty, turned their lenses to capture the unimaginable wastelands left in the wake of Weyerhaeuser clearcuts. Click here for to view the online Weyerhaeuser hall of shame http://www.ran.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=12 .

Investigation Finds "IMD" In Indonesia

JP Morgan Chase and BlueLinx linked to illegal logging of endangered forests and resulting humanitarian crisis.

http://www.ran.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1345&area=home

Ongoing investigations by Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace confirmed that BlueLinx, America's largest building products distributor, is smuggling legally disputed, undocumented timber out of Indonesia's critically endangered rainforests and flooding the U.S. marketplace with artificially cheap lauan plywood. Bluelinx is funded by JP Morgan Chase, a US-based bank that has built its financial empire on making Investments of Mass Destruction.

An "IMD of the Month" case study published on DirtyMoney.org http://www.dirtymoney.org/studies/jpmc-bluelinx.php details the trafficking of undocumented wood by current BlueLinx suppliers throughout Indonesia.

Illegal logging throughout Indonesia continues to cause widespread devastation to the region's tropical rainforests and neighboring communities. Indonesian Ministry of Forestry reports that 43 million hectares of the country's forests have been damaged or destroyed over the last several decades due to illegal logging, with the average annual deforestation rate estimated at more than 2.8 million hectares (7 million acres) since 1998. These forests are some of the most biodiverse on Earth, and are home to a variety of threatened and endangered species, including the rare Indonesian orangutan. In addition, illegal logging has been blamed for massive flooding and landslides throughout Indonesia.

The ongoing devastation has been well-documented by the Indonesian Ministry of Forests, Yale School of forestry, Environmental investigation Agency, and Business Week Magazine.

RAN is calling on JP Morgan Chase and BlueLinx to immediately comply with a voluntary corporate embargo of Indonesian forest products already in place by Centex Corporation, International Paper and Lanoga Corporation.

Take Action Today

Click here to visit our online action center and send an email to JP Morgan Chase CEO William Harrison and Bluelinx CEO Charles McElrea telling them to stop fueling illegal logging in Indonesia.

http://action.ran.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=24472&ms=Feb05
_

(excerpt)

OLD GROWTH CAMPAIGN UPDATE

http://www.wakeupweyco.com
http://www.ran.org
http://www.buygoodwood.com


CONTENTS

· Support the Haida
· Weyerhaeuser AGM
· Donate to RAN
· New website



SUPPORT THE HAIDA

After a month of blockades that have effectively halted Weyerhaeuser's logging operations on the island of Haida Gwaii, the Haida Nation is in lengthy negotiatiations with the Government of British Columbia to protect their livelihood and the island of Haida Gwaii from corporate logging.

Send a message to Weyerhaeuser, telling them to support Haida Title and stop logging endangered forests on Haida Gwaii. Go to: http://action.ran.org/ctt.asp?u=2844473&l=90977


SUCCESS AT WEYERHAEUSER'S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

REPORT ON PROCEEDINGS AT WEYERHAEUSER'S AGM

Thank you for working with us to pull off a great Annual General Meeting demonstration.

We hung 8 large banners on overhangs along Seattle's main highway, Interstate 5. We also had 60 to 70 people demonstrating on Weyerhaeuser's corporate headquarters. Solidarity demonstrations were organized in Vancouver, Winnipeg, New York and Toronto.

Over 100 people rallied against Weyerhaeuser at the Toronto Stock Exchange, demonstrating their support for the Haida Nation blockades. Speakers representing Native communities, environmental NGO's and human rights groups expressed their support for Indigenous struggles to protect the land and gain self-determination. Throngs of business people in the heart of the financial district were confronted by the sound of Native drummers, raging grannies, colorful banners, and pamphlets exposing Weyerhaeuser as an unethical and unsafe investment.

Back in Seattle, over 20 allies attended Weyerhaeuser's 1 and a 1/2 hour Annual General Meeting. This is the only time that allies gain a chance to speak directly to the very decision makers that control vast amounts of our resources, and people wanted to make the most of this opportunity. Leaders from various groups, including Amnesty International, the Steelworkers Union, leaders of the green building industry, Haida First Nations representatives, the Native Forest Council, the Boreal Songbird Initiative, the Sierra Club, Jobs with Justice, socially responsible investors and members of RAN all expressed their concerns to Weyerhaeuser's Chief Executive Officer, Steve Rogel, during the meeting.

Their concerns ranged from Weyerhaeuser's destructive logging practices in British Columbia and the Boreal, Weyerhaeuser's decision to buy wood from national forests, Weyerhaeuser's refusal to accommodate and consult with the Haida First Nation, Weyerhaeuser's poor record with labor, and Weyerhaeuser's treatment of indigenous first nations tribes.

Unfortunately, Weyerhaeuser made the decision to change the format of their question and answer session so that concerned shareholders couldn't ask questions directly to Steve Rogel.

Regardless, our concerns were heard - some allies expressed their concerns during the meeting; others voiced their concerns to the media. We generated press across Canada and the United States, including in the Seattle Post Intelligencer, CBC Radio and the New York Times.

One interesting point - the world's largest mutual fund, CalPERS, the Californian Public Employees Retirement System, put Weyerhaeuser on their "watch" list because of Weyerhaeuser's poor corporate governance record. Weyerhaeuser's share price has since dropped about 5 percent. We hope that other investors and shareholders will investigate Weyerhaeuser and choose to stop owning a portion of this environmentally destructive company.

The Old Growth Team extends their thanks to everyone who worked with us. I sincerely hope we can continue to work together and build and strengthen our coalition in the future.

Thank you.