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Today, September 21st, is a big day for action as we celebrate the International Day of Struggle against Tree Monocultures and the People’s Climate March.
Ten years ago, at a meeting of 250 members of communities affected by large-scale eucalyptus plantations in Brazil, September 21st was established as the National Day Against Tree Monocultures. The aim was to increase the visibility of the many peoples and communities struggling against tree monocultures, as a way of breaking the circle of silence around the numerous violations faced by the communities whose territories were surrounded by these monocultures. Year after year, organizations and social movements carry out a number of activities during this month to give visibility to their struggles and to denounce the negative impacts plantations have on their livelihoods and territories. This year, September 21st is also a day of mass mobilizations for climate justice. Thousands of people will join the People’s Climate March, while political leaders – and increasingly also corporate representatives – are meeting at the United Nations in New York City for the Climate Summit 2014, convened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The UN and other international agencies will launch the “Climate Smart Agriculture” initiated at the summit. This initiative is a new smokescreen being used to greenwash the worst practices of industrial agriculture: chemical fertilizers, industrial meat production and genetically modified crops, such as tree plantations and other monocultures, which are being disguised as ‘climate smart’.
As we continue in the fight to protect our Southern Forests from the destructive biomass industry, stopping the conversion of natural forests to monoculture pine plantations is a top priority. If we’re going to create lasting protection for our standing forests, our best defense against climate change, we need everyone taking action and raising their voices against unsustainable forest destruction. Dogwood Alliance and the Our Forests Aren’t Fuel campaign are excited to join and support these actions that are carried out in several countries in all continents and urge everyone to do the same.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/17QxF61PVC4″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
