This week, the first-ever Forest Defenders Conference, organized by environmental activist support group Not1More, takes place (21st-22nd June) at St. Hugh's College in Oxford, UK. The aim of the conference is to highlight the growing risks and help develop safety strategies for frontline environmentalists who face increasing violence for their work.
OLESIA PLOKHII reports
Since the illegal arrest and imprisonment of lawyer and environmental activist John Moreno (and his client Joella Corado) on May 19th, numerous protests and vigils have been held, both in the town of Todos Santos and in the state capital of La Paz. Many consider Moreno a political prisoner of the Mexican Government, and see Corado as collateral damage in a political campaign to clamp down on community resistance to development. VIVIANE MAHIEUX tells their story to date...
The months-old protest at Preston New Road, Lancashire, is no longer just about fracking, writes Mat Hope. This dispute is now about London versus the North. It is about the government failing 'the people' from which it has become detached. It is about people sensing hopelessness and helplessness and trying to find a means to resist. And it is about holding on, steadfast, in spite of it all, knowing this is the forgotten frontline of a far greater struggle.
From child-soldier to Netflix star, the Congolese park ranger has won his award for stopping oil exploration in the Virunga National Park. He talks to SOPHIE MORLIN-YRON
The Drax power station in Yorkshire is the UK's biggest CO2 emitter, burns more wood each year than the entire UK timber harvest, and is a major importer of coal from strife-stricken regions of Colombia, writes Frances Howe. This Thursday campaigners will target the company's AGM to highlight its impacts on forests, biodiversity, climate and communities, in the face of Drax's PR offensive to make biomass appear 'sustainable'.
The Indigenous Peoples of Standing Rock are by no means alone in their struggle for the recognition and preservation of their native lands: a very similar story of resistance against oil extraction is taking place further south, and has been going on for almost half a century, namely the fight of the Indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon against oil pollution and oppression, writes biologist ARTHUR WYNS
As UK Prime Minister triggers Article 50 and the negotiations for Britain's exit from Europe today (29th March, 2017) serious activists should take a step back, reflect on the hydra-like nature of capitalism and how their own lives have become ensnared by it, and then begin to organize for the long game, writes WILLIAM HAWES
Campaigners up and down the country are trying to stop public access land from going under the hammer as UK councils seek ways to plug the Government funding gap. JAN GOODEY reports
Post Brexit, get ready for a massive attack on our liberty, especially on the right to protest, writes Paul Mobbs. With the UK likely to secede from the European Convention on Human Rights, prepare for a new empowerment of police to act with impunity against peaceful activists. We must be ready to stand up, with honour and dignity, for our ancient British right to dissent.
Today - International Women's Day of Struggle - we share the voices and experiences of Friends of the Earth women and transgender environmental activists. The national and regional contexts described by these activists are diverse. But the challenges they face are a common expression of the linked oppressions based on class, gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, disability and other power relations.
Communities across Papua New Guinea oppose the theft of their land for logging and palm oil operations made possible by the corrupt practices of local officials and foreign companies.
FRÉDÉRIC MOUSSEAU reports
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A direct action protest by Rising Up! today blocked access to three Heathrow terminals to press their demand for no third runway at the UK's biggest airport. The activists included both climate campaigners and local people fearful of increased pollution, loss of homes and green space and entire villages destroyed.
Indigenous elders from the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people have put mining company Adani - and Australia's governments - on notice to quit the Carmichael mine project over native title claims. MAXINE NEWLANDS reports
