Rainforest Foundation UK News
RFUK Condemns Massacre of Indigenous People in Peru
RFUK has joined the list of many organisations condemning the massacre of indigenous people in Peru that has already resulted in at least 30 deaths, with a statement issued just this weekend calling on Peru and the international community at large to respect human rights.
The full statements are available to read and download (English & Spanish).
Papua New Guinea and Irregular Carbon Trading
Feature stories have just this weekend emerged from sources including Reuters and The Economist about irregular and somewhat scandalous carbon trading involving the government and rainforests of Papua New Guinea.
A damning feature article published online for The Economist can be read in full here:
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13724646
RFUK Director Simon Counsell commented in a feature for Reuters published on Friday which can be read in full here:
BBC Thanks
Everyone at the Rainforest Foundation UK would like to send a very big thank you to the many people from all over the UK who supported our BBC Radio 4 Appeal, presented by the dashing and brilliant Stephen Fry earlier this year. From the four figure donations, the hundreds of £10 cheques (as suggested by Stephen), to the absolutely heartfelt anonymous one pound coin that was stuck with some sticky tape to a piece of recycled paper wrapped in card and posted, we managed to raise £13, 241.08 which is a fantastic amount for this our 20th year and is greatly appreciated by all.
RFUK THANKS YOU!
Avoidable Deforestation - Forest Sector Reforms and REDD in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The report analyses the evolution of several key developments in forest policy and governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and sets out proposals for concrete actions that must be taken to address significant shortcomings in policies and ongoing legal reforms, in order for the DRC to progress in its 'readiness' for REDD
Rainforest Foundation UK congratulates Marc Ona Essangui
Rainforest Foundation UK congratulates Marc Ona Essangui, the president of their Gabonese partner Brainforest, with the Goldman Environmental Prize he has been awarded.
Over the last 5 years Rainforest Foundation UK and Brainforest have developed a solid partnership for the preservation of Gabon's rainforests and the recognition of the rights of local and indigenous communities...
Listen to Stephen Fry Present Our BBC Radio 4 Appeal!
On Sunday, March 22 many supporters tuned in to BBC Radio 4 at both 7.55am and 9:26pm to hear the brilliant and dashing friend of the Rainforest Foundation UK Stephen Fry present our Radio 4 Appeal! But if you missed these two broadcasts, it will be repeated this Thursday at 3:27pm, or you can to click here for some more information and to listen at your leisure (for just one week).
Your support of would be greatly appreciated. Click through to read more about how you can donate to this appeal.
Trouble in Belinga
Gabon in west-central Africa has been endowed with a vast wealth in minerals, including oil, magnesium, uranium, gold and iron. Sadly, their exploitation, along with large-scale commercial timber extraction has led to the destruction of much forest, and the marginalization and impoverishment of forest based communities including an estimated 20,000 "Pygmy" peoples.
Estimated at one billion tonnes, Belinga (near the Ivindo National Park in central Gabon) is one of the richest remaining iron-ore deposits in the world. Exploitation of this mine which begin as early as 2011, and the government's plans envisage the construction of a 560km railway line linking the mine with the coast, a deep sea port and two hydro-electric dams to power the project. The $3 billion dollar joint venture between China state owned CMEC Corporation and the Gabonese government has been the subject of growing controversy, particularly around its social and environmental impacts, and a lack of transparency about the terms of the deal. Local activists - such as Marc Ona, president of RFUK partner organisation, Brainforest - who have questioned the likely benefits of the project to Gabon's population, have faced serious intimidation and harassment, including travel bans, freezing of bank accounts, ransacking of offices and recently their temporary imprisonment on charges of attempting to ‘destabilize the state'.
Millions of acres of rainforest threatened as Congolese government moves to reverse plan to stop illegal logging.
The results of a World Bank-backed legal review of logging operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, published in January, appear likely to be overruled by the Congolese government. In recent public statements, the DRC government has suggested that some logging companies which were found to be in violation of national laws may be allowed to continue or even expand their logging activities in the DRC, in spite of recommendations from a government and civil society commission that those companies' titles be cancelled.
› Press release from local environmental and human rights NGO network/RRN (en francais)
Joint Statement by international NGOs on follow-up to the Legal Review of Logging Operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
On the opening of a government workshop in Kinshasa on the post-conversion process concerning DRC forest titles, international non-governmental organisations Global Witness, Greenpeace and the Rainforest Foundation UK and Norway urge international donors to prevent the reversal of forest sector reforms that aim to increase transparency and legality and ensure that the conclusions of the Inter-Ministerial Commission (IMC), responsible for the review and conversion of eligible logging titles, be enforced. At the very moment when the Congolese government and international partners should be strengthening forest policies and law enforcement, and resolving outstanding conflicts related to logging, Congolese government authorities are instead signalling their intent to back-track on decisions and expand industrial logging activities in the DRC. Such a move would jeopardize progress made through the conversion process, demonstrate a disregard for the rights of local communities, undermine efforts to reduce deforestation and degradation and thwart opportunities for the DRC to benefit from climate-related payments.
BRAINFOREST HITS IHT FRONT PAGE HEADLINES
RFUK's Gabonese partner organisation Brainforest have made the front page of The International Herald Tribune with a story on their campaign against the planned construction of a hydro-electric dam at the Kongou Falls, described as the most beautiful in Central Africa.
Click below to read the full article.
