Day: February 18, 2021
The inhabitants of Mwingi and Bolesa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo need our help: Local activists were jailed after a protest against PHC, a palm oil company.
The inhabitants of more than 100 villages are being impacted by the PHC oil palm plantations (© RIAO-RDC)
Call to action
To: the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
“We demand the release of the activists and an end to violence and land grabbing. Local people must finally get their land rights and the right to free consent.”
Read letter
Communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have suffered under palm oil companies for decades, and violence has erupted time and again: In 2015, a couple accused of stealing palm oil fruits was killed, and in 2019, the villager Joel Imbangola was beaten to death.
In February 2021, following a protest march against the palm oil company PHC, villagers, including local members of RIAO-RDC, were beaten and jailed.
Two reportedly received death threats, and women were sexually assaulted.
The occasion for the protest march was an anticipated visit by Kalaa Mpinga, the new CEO of Feronia-PHC. His Mauritius-registered corporation took over the plantations in 2020.
The villagers are accused of “inciting revolt”. Their taking photos of the protest march and giving interviews to journalists is also being held against them.
The roots of the conflict go back 110 years when the first plantations were established.
The local people were never consulted but were simply robbed of their ancestral land and thus their livelihood.
Continue reading “Congo: Criminal oligarchs against indigenous people and nature”
Hi all;
18/2/21 – well this is sort of an update; with no update !
You may remember that back on 12 November 2020, we wrote to the Danish Ambassador in London regarding the mass Mink killings which were taking place in Denmark at the time.
Read more here and see a copy of our letter – England: WAV Writes to the Danish Ambassador In London re Denmark’s Mass Mink Murders. – World Animals Voice
Well, just to let you know; that as of today; 18/2/21, we have still not had anything back from the Danish Embassy, London; regarding our original letter. I went to London rather than write to Denmark, as from past experiences I have with embassies; they have to make contact with ‘home’ to inform them of what is being asked in different locations around the world.
The fur industry mink murder has been a huge issue for Denmark.
If you wish to check out all that we have posted on the Danish Mink issue then please go to the following and select the different posts.
Search Results for “danish mink” – World Animals Voice
I think we can safely say that if the Danes were going to respond to us, then we would have already heard by now.
Regards Mark
Enjoy – Rick Wakeman – English Musician and animal rights campaigner !
http://ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2005/2005-03-02-05.asp
https://www.four-paws.us/our-stories/press-releases/celebrities-join-dog-meat-free-coalition
sexy female vegan – Google Search
Plant-based diets will be essential to the planet’s future, report says
- A new report explores the role of the global food system and its role in accelerating biodiversity loss.
- The quest for ever cheaper food prices leads many farmers to adopt unsustainable practices, the paper from UK think tank Chatham House says.
- These practices harm biodiversity and exploit valuable resources like land and water.
- Switching to a primarily plant-based diet could prevent the loss of thousands of wildlife species.
- Setting aside and protecting more land for nature and farming in a more nature-friendly way are also recommended.
Read it all here:
Report: We urgently need to move to plant-based diets | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
All right; I give in – I guess I have to put something on for the girls !
Regards Mark
Help the elephants! Public consultation on new EU measures to ban trade in ivory
16 February 2021
On January 28th the European Commission published draft measures aimed to effectively ban EU trade in ivory.
The draft Commission regulation and guidance are now open for final public feedback before being adopted by the Commission. The period of public feedback will last until 25 February 2021.
Across Europe, ivory continues to be traded online, in auction houses and markets. The EU and Japan are among the last countries with large, legal domestic ivory markets, while other major markets in the USA, China and the UK are now closed or in the process of closing.
Luckily, there is wide support in the EU for the closure of domestic elephant ivory markets, from the EU Council to the European Parliament, and among EU citizens and civil society.
Help the elephants and take part in the EC public consultation.
You have time until February 25th
The European Commission has the mandate to introduce comprehensive measures aimed at closing the EU domestic ivory market, thereby showing global leadership. Only by so doing, the EU will remove any financial value from ivory, reduce the opportunity for new ivory to be laundered through legal markets, and send a clear message to the rest of the world that the EU no longer considers ivory a commodity.
We therefore welcome the European Commission’s draft measures to ban the ivory trade in the European Union (EU) and urge the EU and its Member States to support and implement them without further delays.
We would nevertheless like to highlight the following recommendations for the European Commission’s public consultation:
- We strongly recommend that the EC assess within the next few years the real effectiveness of both the implementing Regulation and the Guidance.
- We ask that the changes made to the guidance document on the EU regime governing trade in ivory is integrated into the EU Commission Regulation, in order to ensure that the guidance becomes legally binding and a consistent language in both the Guidance and the proposed Regulation is used.
- We fully support the proposed measures which provide that antique worked ivory may only be traded within the EU with a certificate. However, only independent approved/recognised experts should be authorised to assess whether an item has been legally acquired or not in order to avoid conflict of interests.
Read more about Wildlife trade and trafficking.
World Animals Voice 