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Throughout the world, pristine forests are under threat. Sometimes a signature is enough to stoop the destruction. Sometime a mouse click is enough!
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Ongoing petitions:
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Europe cannot lose its last primeval temperate forest. |
 Situated on the Polish/Belarussian border, the Bialowieza Forest is a priceless relic of lowland European forests, a place where the last fragments of primeval temperate old-growth forest on the Central European lowland have survived [more photos on facebook]. It is home to many species extinct elsewhere including the European Bison, the largest terrestrial mammal of Europe; and also contains lynx, wolves and other threatened wildlife and plants. Yet approximately 83% of the forest remains unprotected.
This ancient forest cathedral is an unparalleled living museum, offering Europe and the world a window into the past. In Bialowieza, we can still observe how European temperate forest ecosystems functioned without human interference. The forest's huge old trees -- with spruce as tall as 55 meters, and oaks 40 meters tall -- inspire all generations. Yet, 80 years of exploitative timber extraction have had a dramatic effect on the unprotected forests, as the share of old-growth stands has dropped to less than 20%. The future of Bialowieza Forest lies in the hands of the Polish government which has the legal and financial means to arrest the devastation and to preserve the forest for the future. Greenpeace, WWF and Rainforest Information Centre drafted an alert histed by Climate Ark Climate Change and Global Warming Portal, the to save the natural character and ecosystems of Bialowieza Forest.
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 Lake Baikal, a unique UNESCO world heritage site, is under threat from the Russian Government, after permits have been given to open a toxic pulp and paper mill on its shore. Petition General Director of UNESCO Irina Bokova to step up and defend this unique world heritage!
Petition to the Director General of UNESCO
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Dear Ms Bokova,
We hereby want to express our deepest concern regarding the Russian Government’s Decree No.1 of 13 January 2010 “On introduction of amendments into the List of activities prohibited in the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Area”. This Decree has officially permitted the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill and other industrial enterprises to dump toxic waste waters into Lake Baikal with no legally enforced restrictions, as well as store, process, dispose of and incinerate all kinds of waste including hazardous.
Lake Baikal is a truly unique natural phenomenon on our planet and the world’s biggest stock of freshwater. Click to see the rest...
In 1996 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee gave Lake Baikal the status of World Heritage property based on all four natural uniqueness criteria applied to such nominations.
The decision to re-start the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill is a serious threat and may cause irreversible damage to the largest fresh water lake of the world. It has sparked broad public protests both within Russia and outside the country.
We are writing this to appeal to you as a head of a very respected international organisation to intervene to save this site.
We are convinced that there are possibilities to cancel the above mentioned Decree of the Russian Government, as well as opportunities to create favorable conditions for development of environmentally safe alternative industries and tourism in the Baikalsk area.
In the past, only thanks to a proactive position of UNESCO, such unique cultural sites as the Giza Pyramids and Archeological Site of Delphi were saved for future generations. Today Lake Baikal urgently needs UNESCO to take a similar proactive position. Natural heritage is no less valuable for humankind than cultural and if today we fail to stop this ecologically, socially and strategically unreasonable process, tomorrow we shall lose one of the pearls of World Nature.
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Support ukrainian environmentalists |
 It is not the novel by Martin Cruz Smith, and indeed is not set in Petroburgo but in Kharkiv in Ukraine. Gere the men in black stormed against the forest defenders, beating them, chopping down trees on their heads, to log illegally.
Approximately 50 men dressed in black demolished an encampment of about 100 civic activists protesting plans to cut down trees in Kharkiv’s Gorky Park.
The attack took place on June 1, according to the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, which said police watched the disorder instead of intervening. Workmen turned on their chainsaws and followed the men in black into the encampment and cut down all the trees.
The police were there and watched in silence, not taking any measures. They later detained around 10 people, with the detentions being arbitrary. Kharkiv Human Rights Group said that a dozen or so arrested protesters were not being allowed to see lawyers.
Among the tree defenders was a Deputy of the Regional Council, Ihor Poddubny, who had a deputy badge – he was shoved, abused and showered with foul language. The workmen, together with the men in black, walked straight at people with their saws turned on.
Former Kharkiv Governor Arsen Avakov arrived at the camp, to support protesters, but by then there was nothing left to defend.
Support ukrainian environmentalists
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Appeal to the World
Stop Kharkov Deforestation!
We, the citizens of Kharkov, call the attention of the global community to the barbaric and cynical actions of Kharkov city authorities directed both on extermination of the city green belt and on violation of basic human rights.
Starting from May 20th, 2010 Kharkov municipal authorities proceed with the scandal deforestation of our city. Under different pretexts, they ceded vast areas in Kharkov Forest called Lesopark, Gorky park, Artem park and the whole area of Zustrich park to business corporations and individuals. Moreover, this squandering process is constantly gathering pace.
First, the city authorities made a decision to cut down a substantial part of the central Shevchenko Garden under a ridiculous pretext of building the Kushnarev Library without providing any books for it and with protests on the part of the Kushnarev family. It should be stressed that Kharkov has the Korolenko Region Scholarly Library that still remains in the emergency state. The real aim of the project is to build another business-center in the city heart on the money of the Donetsk businessman Kolesnikov.
Second, officials began a brutal devastation of the vast Kharkov Forest territories under the pretext of building a road from Sumskaya street to Novgorodskaya street. To begin with, Novgorodskaya street already suffers from traffic jams. Besides, this road will create an extremely dangerous triple intersection with Dinamoskaya street and a hazardous intersection in Susmkaya street. Moreover, the construction project envisages building of a ‘tunnel’ under the Children’s Railway. In this case, the Children’s Railway will ‘temporary suspend’ its operations. With notice to the city authorities, Kharkov will simply lose its Children’s Railway. The aim of this project is apparent: to allocate the great territory of Gorky park and then of the Children’s Railway area for building of ‘elite’ houses and various malls for the same ‘elite’.
Hundreds of trees were fallen in the course of the cutting without any approval from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. In view of this fact, these activities are illegal and constitute a crime.
Still, the worst thing about the situation is the authorities’ unwillingness to listen to common citizens. Instead of organizing public debates on the question and even without showing any documents on the construction, the municipal authorities chose to force the forest defenders from their campsite in the city park. Fighters hired by the municipal bodies began beating unarmed people. In the course of the fight many people were injured and some of them were hospitalized.
Kharkov dwellers desperately need recreational zones and fresh air. On the contrary, Kharkov authorities need a chance to steal several dozens of millions allocated for the road construction; they need new lots for cottages, VIP-clubs and private entertainment centers in place of cutdown age-old trees.
Contrary to the officials’ doublespeak, this construction bears no relation to Euro-2012. European countries have distinctly different standards and attitudes to green belts, especially to city parks, while Kharkov green belts, even Gorky Recreation and Entertainment Park, do not even have approved boundaries.
Kharkov community demands the City Council and Kharkov Executive Committee to:
1. Cancel the shameful decisions on devastation of a part of Gorky Central Park, Shevchenko Garden and Kharkov Forest.
2. Define the boundaries of all green zones in Kharkov.
3. Impose an absolute and permanent moratorium on any cession of Kharkov green zones and on their destruction under any pretext.
However, our demands are vain without assistance of the global community. In view of this fact we ask you to examine the situation in Kharkov and to help us in our struggle for the future of our city.
Please send a letter of protest to:
the Kharkiv Major Gennady Kernes
Konstitutsiya Square 7, Kharkov 61000, Ukraine
and to:
the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich
Bankovaya Str. 11, Kiev 01220, Ukraine
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Stop the dam in Pataginia! Send a letter to ENEL |
 Help the environmentalists of Patagonia to stop the giant hydroelectric dam project known as HidroAysén. It is promoted by ENDESA Chile (Enel Group) and Colbún S.A.The HidroAysén project threatens 12 protected forest reserves, with 15,645 hectars devastated by the plants, and further 4.6 million hectares of degraded natural landscapes. A high voltage power lines will cross the Patagonia to the capital, with 2,200 kilometers of high voltage lines, impacting on eight regions and 64 municipalities, threatening the promising tourist potential of the region. The dams will be build in seismic area, and they could turn into real time bombs.
Il faraonico progetto dell'ENDESA Cile (del gruppo Enel) e della Colbún S.A. minaccia 12 riserve forestali protette, con 15.645 devastati dagli impianti, e altri 4.6 milioni di ettari di paesaggi naturali degradati. Un elettrodotto ad alta tensione attraverserà la Patagonia, fino alla capitale, con 2.200 chilometri di linee ad alta tensione, toccando otto regioni e 64 comuni
Le dighe, costruite in zona sismica, rischiano di trasformarsi in autentiche bombe a tempo, mentre la distruzione dell'ambiente annulla il potenziale turistico dell'intera regione.
Send a letter to Enel!
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Sr. Piero Gnudi
Presidente de Enel
Me dirijo a usted para manifestarle mi más profundo rechazo al emprendimiento "Centrales Hidroeléctricas Aysén" (HidroAysén) que Enel (a través de la sociedad compuesta por Endesa, que Enel controla, y Colbún) hoy tiene en su portafolio de proyectos, cuya propuesta de construir cinco mega represas en los ríos Baker y Pascua de la Patagonia chilena, necesitarían una línea de transmisión de 2.300 kilómetros de largo, obra de por sí riesgosa al igual que innecesaria. Esta carta tiene por finalidad solicitar a Enel el retiro del proyecto en Chile.
Chile es un país en vías de desarrollo, desde hace pocos meses parte del grupo OCDE, el cual tiene condiciones geográficas muy favorables para desarrollar energías amigables con el medio ambiente y con las comundidades locales, lo que obliga irrestrictamente a considerar que represas no son lo que el país necesita, y menos en un territorio ambientalmente invaluable como lo es la Patagonia. Un estudio técnico realizado por importantes universidades del país ha demostrado que con el desarrollo de energía limpia y eficiencia en su uso, HidroAysén simplemente no es necesario para Chile.(1)
La construcción de HidroAysén en el sur de Chile atentaría gravemente contra el progreso nacional, considerando que las mega represas son una tecnología energética obsoleta, y un sistema centralizado de generación de hidroelectricidad masiva implicaría cerrar de golpe la puerta a la generación de energía limpia.
La ejecución de las obras provocaría también un monopolio comercial que frenaría las aspiraciones nacionales de contar con una matriz energética diversificada y adaptada a las posibilidades del milenio.
Insistimos en que HidroAysén no representaría beneficios para el desarrollo de Chile, por el contrario, lo obstaculizaría, afectando las posibilidades de crecimiento, la naturaleza y a las personas que habitan estos territorios. Impondría alteraciones irreversibles y serias a la geografía nacional: El tendido de más de dos mil kilómetros generaría un impacto que no se condice con las líneas de naturaleza que luce el turismo al sur de Chile. La alteración de los ríos afectaría la calidad de las aguas, dañando gravemente el ecosistema de especies animales y vegetales, algunas en peligro de extinción. Las obras proyectadas significarían un cambio en el estilo de vida que por generaciones ha determinado la cultura y riqueza de la gente que habita en la región de Aysén, en la Patagonia chilena
Enel es una empresa que hace tiempo viene desarrollando tecnología sustentable y coherente con el medio ambiente. HidroAysén tampoco se condice con los nuevos aires que busca Enel en el mundo.
Mi invitación es a que usted, Presidente de Enel, de un paso atrás ante la posible destrucción de este vasto y valioso territorio chileno de la Patagonia a manos de HidroAysén, haciendo los esfuerzos para ingresar a Chile con tecnologías nuevas orientadas al desarrollo energético en base a las fuentes de energía renovables no convencionales que este país posee en forma extraordinaria.
Atentamente, _________
(1) Hall, Stephen; Román, Roberto, Cuevas, Felipe; "¿Se Necesitan Represas en la Patagonia?" Un análisis del futuro energético chileno; Ocho Libros, Junio, 2009; p. 34-5.
Atentamente,
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Stop Chevron in the Amazon |
Oil giant Chevron faces losing a historic lawsuit on its dumping of toxic waste in the Amazon -- let’s help the people of the rainforest win in the court of public opinion and before the law, by pressing Chevron’s new CEO to clean up this mess and stop Chevron’s dirty lobbying-
From 1964 to 1990, Chevron-owned Texaco deliberately dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste from their oil fields in Ecuador's Amazon -- then pulled out without properly cleaning up the pollution they caused. Facing imminent defeat in the courts, Chevron has turned to legal machinations, powerful public relations firms and lobbyists to intimidate its critics into silence and avoid responsibility for the massive environmental and human disaster it has triggered.
The final judgment is imminent after a long legal battle between oil giant Chevron and brave indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who are seeking redress for the multinational’s dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste in the rainforest.
Chevron has repeatedly vowed to refuse to pay for a clean up even if ordered to by the court, saying "We will fight this until hell freezes over. And then we’ll fight it out on the ice." Its latest strategy: pushing the US government to bully Ecuador into burying the case.
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Protect Brazilian Guarani! |
Brazilian Indian has been murdered in the latest in a string of killings related to the theft of his tribe’s land.
The man, Osmair Martins Ximenes, is a Guarani Indian from southern Brazil. Two other members of his community, Kuretê Lopez and Ortiz Lopez, were killed in 2007 by gunmen hired by ranchers, as they attempted to reoccupy their ancestral land.
In 2007 the Attorney General’s office ordered the government to survey and demarcate all traditional Guarani territories, but the project is bitterly opposed by farmers and cattle ranchers who are supported by the state government, and it has effectively ground to a halt.
Write to the Brazilian government in Survival web site!
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Help the Penan to protect Sarawak rainforests! |
Since the 1970s, the Penan have had their forest destroyed by logging and oil palm plantations. The government has told the Penan that they have no rights to their land at all until they ‘settle down’ or start farming. The Malaysian government claims that Sarawak is being logged sustainably, but in fact its forests are being destroyed at one of the fastest rates in the world. As the forests are logged, the rivers are silted up, killing the fish.
The game is being scared deeper into the few remaining forests. The Penan have been fighting back by erecting blockades across the logging roads. Many Penan have been arrested for these peaceful protests.
How you can help Please write raising your concerns about the situation of the Penan, sending a letter from Survival web site.
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