World Rainforest Movement

Last updated

The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) is an international initiative created to strengthen the global movement in defense of forests, in order to fight deforestation and forest degradation. It was founded in 1986 by activists from around the world.

Contents

Along the Amazon river, Brazil Amazon river, Brazil.jpg
Along the Amazon river, Brazil

WRM believes that this goal can only be achieved by fighting for social and ecological justice, by respecting the collective rights of traditional communities and the right to self-determination of peoples who depend on the forests for their livelihoods.

For this reason, WRM's actions are oriented to support the struggles of indigenous peoples and peasant communities in defense of their territories.

WRM's International Secretariat is composed of a small team with members from different countries. The head office is in Uruguay. [1]

Main areas of work

Activities

Mutual learning and support for community struggles

Production and dissemination of information and analyses

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reforestation</span> Land regeneration method (replacement of trees)

Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation but also after clearcutting. Two important purposes of reforestation programs are for harvesting of wood or for climate change mitigation purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logging</span> Process of cutting, processing, and moving trees

Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used narrowly to describe the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage, however, the term may cover a range of forestry or silviculture activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Peoples Programme</span>

Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) advocates an alternative vision of how forests should be managed and controlled, based on respect for the rights of the people who know them best. FPP works with forest peoples in South America, Africa, and Asia, to help them secure their rights, build up their own organisations and negotiate with governments and companies as to how economic development and conservation are the best achieved on their lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forestation</span>

Forestation is a vital ecological process where forests are established and grown through afforestation and reforestation efforts. Afforestation involves planting trees on previously non-forested lands, while reforestation focuses on replanting trees in areas that were once deforested. This process plays an important role in restoring degraded forests, enhancing ecosystems, promoting carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) is an indigenous grassroots organization in Kenya that empowers women through the planting of trees. It is one of the most effective and well-known grassroots organisations addressing the problem of global deforestation. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK). GBM's successes in forest conservation, education, and women's economic empowerment have gained the organisation worldwide acclaim. It is also noted for its advocacy of human rights, democratisation of access to public lands, and environmental justice issues such as the role of women's traditional ecological knowledge in addressing environmental degradation and desertification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penan people</span> Indigenous people of Borneo

The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such peoples remaining as hunters and gatherers. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmentalism</span> Philosophy about Earth protection

Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. Ecologism is more commonly used in continental European languages, while environmentalism is more commonly used in English but the words have slightly different connotations.

Size of Wales is a climate change charity founded with the aim of conserving an area of tropical rainforest the size of Wales. The project currently supports seven forest protection projects and one tree planting project across Africa and South America. The charity focuses upon furthering the promotion of rainforest conservation as a national response to the global issue of climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FERN</span>

Fern is a Dutch foundation created in 1995. It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) set up to keep track of the European Union's (EU) involvement in forests and coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Fern works to protect forests and the rights of people who depend on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Nigeria</span>

Deforestation in Nigeria refers to the extensive and rapid clearing of forests within the borders of Nigeria. This environmental issue has significant impacts on both local and global scales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest</span>

The Amazon rainforest, spanning an area of 3,000,000 km2, is the world's largest rainforest. It encompasses the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest on the planet, representing over half of all rainforests. The Amazon region includes the territories of nine nations, with Brazil containing the majority (60%), followed by Peru (13%), Colombia (10%), and smaller portions in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cool Earth</span> NGO that protects endangered rainforest

Cool Earth is a UK-based international NGO that funds Indigenous communities to protect endangered rainforests in order to combat the climate crisis and protect ecosystems.

Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. It is locally used as cooking oil, exported for use in much commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel. It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area than soybeans, rapeseed or sunflowers.

The Okomu Forest Reserve is a forest block covering an area of 1081 km2 in Edo State, about 50 km west of Benin City, Nigeria. The Okomu National Park lies within the larger reserve, maintaining a small part of the forests that once covered the region as the last habitat for many endangered species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerian lowland forests</span> Ecoregion in Nigeria and Benin

The biogeographic regionalization of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity, known as Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (TEOW), is made up of 867 ecoregions that are divided into 14 biomes. In addition to offering a comprehensive map of terrestrial biodiversity, TEOW also provides a global species database for ecological analyses and priority setting, a logical biogeographic framework for large-scale conservation strategies, a map for enhancing biogeographic literacy, and a foundation for the Global 200.

Green grabbing or green colonialism is the foreign land grabbing and appropriation of resources for environmental purposes, resulting in a pattern of unjust development. The purposes of green grabbing are varied; it can be done for ecotourism, conservation of biodiversity or ecosystem services, for carbon emission trading, or for biofuel production. It involves governments, NGOs, and corporations, often working in alliances. Green grabs can result in local residents' displacement from land where they live or make their livelihoods. It is considered to be a subtype of green imperialism.

Indigenous rainforest blockades in Borneo began during the late 1980s and 90s. Borneo’s forests contain a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, peatlands, mangroves, heath forests, and palm trees. The Sarawak Region had been ruled by the White Rajahs of the Brooks for the previous 100 years. These forests supply ecosystem services to Indigenous communities in Southeast Asia. Due to anthropogenic land-use changes, particularly logging and dam building, the Borneo rainforests have been deforested and fragmented at a rapid rate. Indigenous people, non-human species and entire ecological landscapes have been impacted by these land-use changes.

Environmentalism of the poor is a set of social movements that arise from environmental conflicts when impoverished people struggle against powerful state or private interests that threaten their livelihood, health, sovereignty, and culture. Part of the global environmental justice movement, it differs from mainstream environmentalism by emphasizing social justice issues instead of emphasizing conservation and eco-efficiency. It is becoming an increasingly important force for global sustainability.

Regenerative cacao is defined as cacao that is produced on a farm that employs regenerative agriculture and agroforestry methods. It is most closely associated with the Ecuadorian chocolate company To’ak, the organic food supplier Navitas, the rainforest conservation organization TMA, and the social-agricultural enterprise Terra Genesis. Cacao is the raw material that is used to produce chocolate.

References

  1. World Rainforest Movement. "About us".
  2. "WRM - World Rainforest Movement | Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade" . Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  3. "World Rainforest Movement". www.cfa-international.org. Retrieved 2020-06-15.