two important messages for known in your ngo.
There is invitation for Internet meeting to deal with campaign activities
internationally and in countrylevel.
We hope that somebody from your organisation would register in that
meeting by sending a message to forestforum@elonmerkki.net
The other is urgent ask for action to support hot campaign in New Zealand
to halt the field trials with GM pines.
We hope that also your organisation could react and support their demand
by sending your message for New Zealand governement ON THE NEXT DAYS
BEFORE WEEKEND.
friendly in solidarity
Hannu
=================================
No right for contamination
Global Ban on GM trees
http://elonmerkki.net/forestforum
=================================
INFOLETTER AND URGENT ACTION ALERT 26th January 2005
1. Some news from Kyoto meeting in Buenos Aires
2. Invitation for Internet meeting on GM tree campaigning
3. Voluntary translators needed urgently
4. Action alert - urgent support for New Zealand campaigning
1. News from Buenos Aires
The visit in UN Kyoto meeting in Buenos Aires in December was succesfull
even thought none of campaigning groups could manage to arrange any side
event for dialogue with that meeting. However on the corridors we were
wery active.
World Rainforest movement and Friends of the Earth International published
GM tree report, a book edited by Chris Lang who has been doing great work
with this issue also earlier. Look more on the page http://www.wrm.org.uy
in the WRM publications.
Global Ban on GM trees campaign distributed about 1200 campaign broschures
for the meeting and with that work we got lot of good discussion with
countridelegates and also with specialist of environmental law. Look the
broschure here: http://elonmerkki.net/forestforum/uk/posters/
The whole visit in Argentina was an inspirating experience and we are now
collecting and publising videos, texts and photos in a workshop here:
http://elonmerkki.net/dyn/forum/topic/?catid=109
Besides UN documentation there will be presented videodocuments on
indigenious people´s demonstration and campaignin agains gigantic dam
project and the really worrying situation with GM soya invasion in
Argentina.
With one document we also present one really imphressive alternative for
this kind of land use, permacultural garden of local activist Jorge Rulli.
When looking the richnes of that garden, one can get immediately
convinced that the diversity is the real solution, not plantations and
transgenics.
Be free to make your comments and contributions on the forum.
2.Invitation to Internet meeting on GM tree campaigning
In some countries there is remarcable resistance but in most countries
there is not yet much activities, How to work with this issue in
different countries?
The global campaigning also needs good ideas and open cooperation, The
genetic pollution goes over the boarders and that is why the introduction
of GM trees in one country is conserning all other countries also.
Today the most worrying countries perhaps are China with million of GM
poplars, USA with hundreds of field trials, Hawai with GM papayas on
farms and Brasil which can be the first country starting to spread GM
trees into South America.
We invite ngo:s and activist to join in the Internet meeting for
dicussing, reporting and finding solutions these issues.
This online meeting is arranged during 14.-.28. Februaly, 2005 in the
web-adress which is informed with the keyword to all those who are
interested to take part.
We hope that all ngo:s which are interested to work against the thread of
GM trees would join in the meeting. Also individual activists and working
groups are wellcome.
For more information and registration, please take contact to:
forestforum@elonmerkki.net
3. Urgent need for voluntary translators
This campaign has untill now worked mainly in english lanquage and that is
a real problem. We would need translators at least for Spanish, French,
Germain, Russia and China and Japan if possible. With the help of
translators we would make the main information and videoreportages also
available for peoples who cannot follow english.
For the becoming Internet meeting we would need somekind of simultaneus
translating system also. Please take contact directly to
hannu@elonmerkki.net
4. Urgent support for campaigning in New Zealand
There is ongoing an interesting and important campaigning in New Zealand
against the the existing field trial with GM pines. Look more:
http://www.pmea.org.nz/pmea/?Stop_GE_Trees
Read specially the exellent campaign flyer which tell the exact
information about the risks of this worrying experiment.
We suggest to support their demand by sending a short message to these
persons below , if possible just NOW, before the weekend!
Here below is the letter by The Union of Ecoforestry for the New Zealand
governement. Please be free to use or modify it for your own letter to
these ministers. You can write as an individual cityzen or behalf of your
ngo.
We hope that those ministers would get plenty of messages around the
world on next days!
In solidarity
Hannu
PC
When sending your letter, please send the message also to our campaign
adress and campaigners in New Zealand,for following the action:
forestforum@elonmerkki.net, peoplesmoratorium@riseup.net
===========================================================
The Union of Ecoforestry in Finland 26th
January 2005
Prime Minister Helen Clark
pm@ministers.govt.nz
Marion Hobbs, Minister for the Environment
marion.hobbs@ministers.govt.nz
Jim Anderton, Minister of Forestry
jim.anderton@ministers.govt.nz
The Union of Ecoforestry has signed the petition for global ban on GM
trees http://elonmerkki.net/forestforum. We support the campaign in
New Zealand to stop the field trials with transgenic pines. It is not
acceptable to give any possibilities for irreversible contamination in
any country on the Earth,
We want to remind that
-Introduction of GM trees in open air growing involves serious risks
-These risks extend over national borders and across generations and can
be irreversible.
-Introduction of GM trees violates the precautionary principle agreed to
in the Biodiversity Convention and several other international legal
instruments, as well as the Cartagena Biosafety
Protocol.(Art.1,10.6,16.1,16.3,16.4,17.1 and 17.4)
-Through inevitable contamination over the boarders, releasing GM trees
violates the national sovereignty of each contaminated country
We also courage your national parliament to make the necessary decisions
and legal changes which assure that genetically modified trees are not
used in open air growing which could cause irreversible contamination to
other countries.
Behalf of The Union of Ecofrestry
Hannu Hyvönen
campaign coordinator