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Tea Estate Expansion Threatens Bangladeshi Khasi People and Forest March 15th, 2009
In early January 2009, the Zhimai Tea Estate Authority cut-down a number of trees in the Pan-zoom of Zhimai. Thousands of trees have been demarcated to be felled and construction of labor-quarters has begun in an expansion of the tea garden. This activity threatens displacement of the indigenous Khasi people of Zhimai Punji, and directly interferes with their livelihood, which depends on the betel plant which grows on tall trees. Apart from the destruction of the land & livelihood of the Khasi, the tree felling severely affects the bio-diversity, and overall environment of the hills & forest of Sylhet Division, Bangladesh.
Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI has been working with the Khasi people and APRA (Adibashi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon), the movement administered by BAPA, a national Bangladeshi environmental organization, for the protection & conservation of Bangladeshi forests.
Read report on the forest destruction (Download PDF)
SOS Amazon March 3rd, 2009
One of the most lasting images of the World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil was the human banner made by indigenous leaders, who used their bodies to spell out a bird´s eye message of “SOS Amazon” in Portuguese, to draw attention to the fragile region.
The human banner was organized by the Coordinating Group of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, one of the major groups that participated in the forum, campaigning for indigenous rights, particularly in the South American jungle, where various economically-driven projects are having grave reverberations on native peoples.
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