The Buycott campaign! palm oil, GM soybeans and American meats are gathering further membership. After the Association of Virtuous Municipalities and Disability Pride, join Égalité and GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade) also Coalition Against Land Grabbing, CALG, ed European Consumers.
CALG, Coalition Against Land Grabbingis an organization that has been active for years in Palawan, an archipelago of the Philippines, to protect indigenous peoples from land robberies and deforestations to create space for oil palm monocultures. International crimes against humanity and the environment that we have already written about, with ainterview with Dario Novellino, founder of CALG. In the feral silence of the press and international politics, but also of many Western associations.
Philippines they are one of the few countries to have a law that prescribes, at least in theory, since 1997, the protection of indigenous populations and natural ecosystems. (1) The 'indigenous concept of ownership'recognized by this law considers'the ancestral domains and all the resources contained therein' how 'material basis of their cultural integrity'. (2) Ancestral domains are therefore a collective property of indigenous communities, which 'belongs to all generations' and 'it cannot be sold, disposed of or destroyed'.
Palawan, moreover, it is also a 'natural and human biosphere reserve’, recognized by UNESCO. But protection is entrusted to local administrations and is effectively undermined by complex procedures, municipal ordinances and minor regulations. So, away from the maps and the media spotlight, land grabbing and deforestation continues.
CALG is committed on the territory to hinder the abominations described above, with a series of activities:
- assists local communities in procedures to obtain ancestral domain title certificates and to apply for licenses to legally collect and sell non-wood forest products,
- check it out and documents predatory activities against indigenous people and their ecosystems,
- takes legal action against land robbers and provides material assistance to affected communities,
- provides support basic for the subsistence of needy indigenous families,
- facilitates dialogue among representatives of indigenous communities, government officials and non-governmental agencies,
- exerts pressure on private companies, through strategic defense actions and international campaigns.
Share the battles of CALG in the international scenario is all the more necessary in the current local political context. Where Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez, re-elected in 2019, despite allegations of a swap vote, is a well-known supporter of large-scale agribusiness. (3) And it is a member of the governor's family who registered the forest of North Palawan, in the distant 80s, as well as presiding over the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
The Environmental Strategic Plan it should guarantee, in principle, the sustainable development of the entire province. (4) This plan requires the prior authorization of each development project in the territories, subject to an environmental impact assessment and consultation with the communities concerned. But its implementation is left to that same Palawan Council for Sustainable Development chaired by the governor's family member. And the massive expansion of oil palm crops in areas deforested for this purpose continues unabated without authorization whatsoever. (5)
European Consumers is an independent association, active in Italy since 2001 in the defense of consumers and the environment. The concreteness of his commitments finds expression in the recent warning notified to the 7914 Italian Mayors, the Government and parliamentary groups. In order to protect the territory and the population from the serious risks associated with electromagnetic fields and the 5G network. Risks highlighted in the technical / legal report created by European Consumers together with ISDE. (6)
The Buycott campaign! palm oil, GMO soybeans and American meats receives full support from European Consumers, proof of its independence in supporting initiatives determined to trigger positive and real transformations. Activism on social networks it only serves to enrich the Corporation monopolists who manage web traffic and Big Data. Instead, it is necessary to raise awareness among the population, to involve all citizens, users and consumers so that society can change.
'European Consumers it has always waged hard struggles against bad consumption and land degradation. In particular, it undertakes to protect local crops and to combat products patented by multinationals, GMOs and, more generally, any production with a high environmental impact. For which it adheres to the international campaign against GMO palm oil and soybeans. ' (Marco Tiberti, European Consumers, president)
We want to thank you European Consumers - together with CALG, Association of Virtuous Municipalities, Disability Pride Italy - and all those who intend to join, individually and collectively, the #Buycott campaign! A campaign whose only protagonists are indigenous communities driven from their lands with violence and threat, local activists threatened and killed, rainforests and other devastated ecosystems.
#NotInOurName, let's say #Enough to buy any product it contains Palm oil, in the spread as in the 'biodiesel'. #NotInOurNames products of animal origin from animals fed with GMO soybeans from the Amazon on fire. We want to see clearly, also to know where the meat comes from served in public places and canteens. To reject those of cattle grazed in the Gran Chaco, doped in the USA, fed on animal meal in Canada.
We are waiting to know the guidelines of the numerous associations we have already contacted. In this way we will verify who is committed and who is chattering, who is really against the globalization of the exploitation of human beings and natural resources. And who, on the other hand, is accountable to different masters. On Slow Food, which has already declined our invitation, there are rumors, for example, of a hypothetical rescue of the University of Pollenzo by the most indomitable user of palm oil in Italy in past years. Could it be true?
Dario Dongo and Giulia Caddeo
(1) Indigenous Peoples Rights Act 8371, 1997. See. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1997/10/29/republic-act-no-8371/
(2) Ancestral domains, according to the law referred to in footnote 1, must include such concepts of territories that cover not only the physical environment but also the total environment, including the spiritual and cultural links with the areas that local communities they own, occupy and use and to which they have ownership claims
(4) Strategic Environmental Plan, SEP (RA Republic Act 7611)
(6) European Consumers and ISDE, Independent report on electromagnetic fields and diffusion of 5G
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.