The Penan Blockade Against a New Gas Pipeline in Borneo

from Survival International

The Penan in Long Seridan are protesting against the building of a gas pipeline which is cutting through their ancestral land.
© Survival

Penan from the Long Seridan region have mounted a blockade to protest against the building of a gas pipeline which is cutting through their ancestral land and destroying their source of drinking water.

The 500km pipeline is being built by the Malaysian national oil company Petronas and is nearing completion. It will transport natural gas from the Malaysian state of Sabah, south to the coast of Sarawak.

Breaking News: Cops Move in on Willits Treesit; Cutting and Construction to Follow

If you are anywhere near Mendocino County, get out there and help!

Willits, CA-Opponents of the Caltrans Willlits Bypass through endangered wetlands are converging on the site to protect a tree-sitter as dozens of California Highway Patrol vehicles arrived at the Bypass protest area in Willits in Mendocino County at 7 a.m. this morning. CHP officers began cordoning off the access roads to the area, keeping a gathering number of protesters and witnesses away from the tree-sit and Caltrans’ proposed construction area. The 24-year old local farmer in the tree who calls herself “the Warbler” has been aloft next to Highway 101 since January 28.

 

Four arrests have been made of Willits residents, and the situation is still actively unfolding. Another Bypass protester has been standing in front of the brush crushing machine that is in the jurisdictional wetlands and has repeatedly blocked it after having been removed several times without arrest. Caltrans’ permit process is not complete with regard to the Migratory Bird Act, in effect until September 15 for the nesting season.

 

Updates will be released as the situation unfolds.

Indigenous Amazonians Unite against Canadian Oil Giant

by Survival International

Indigenous Amazonians from Peru and Brazil have joined together to stop a Canadian oil company destroying their land and threatening the lives of uncontacted tribes.

Hundreds of Matsés gathered on the border of Peru and Brazil last Saturday and called on their governments to stop the exploration, warning that the work will devastate their forest home.

The oil giant Pacific Rubiales is headquartered in Canada and has already started oil exploration in ‘Block 135’ in Peru, which lies directly over an area proposed as an uncontacted tribes reserve.

In a rare interview with Survival, a Matsés woman said, ‘Oil will destroy the place where our rivers are born. What will happen to the fish? What will the animals drink?’

University of Tennessee Proposes Fracking On its Own Land

from the AP

Photo provided by the University of Tennessee shows Wilson Mountain in the Cumberland Forest, a state-owned research area used by the University of Tennessee.

The University of Tennessee wants to allow hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas on a state-owned tract of rolling woodland, raising the hackles of environmentalists who question its stated goal of raising funds to research the environmental impact of such drilling.

With debate over “fracking” continuing, the unique proposal is being considered when many universities say they don’t have enough money to properly study the environmental implications of an increasingly popular and lucrative method for energy companies to remove gas or oil from rock formations by forcing liquids underground at high pressure.

Canada Prevents UN Rapporteur Visit to Probe Natives’ Rights

from Press TV

The Canadian government continues to prevent the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, from making an official visit to the North American country.

Anaya says that the federal government continues to disregard his year-old request to visit Canada in an attempt to investigate the “human rights situation of Indigenous peoples,” according to a February 20 letter sent to the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).

Protests Against the Indian-European Free Trade Agreement

from the Asian Human Rights Commission

Several peaceful protests took place in the Northeast states of India over the past month to address concerns over the implications of the EU-FTA with India. Protestors are concerned over the lack of transparency in the Bill, violation of the rights of the indigenous people, and the threat increased imports would make to local businesses and livelihoods. They have also voiced concern over the perceived threat of the agreement favoring large companies and pursuing corporate agendas favorable to multinational EU corporations to the detriment of locals.

Indians Protest Rail Line Through the Sathyamangalam Jungle

from the Times of India

The Moyar River in the Sathyamangalam reserve forest.

COIMBATORE: A day after the Union railway budget revived the controversial proposal to lay a broad-gauge railway line through the jungles of Sathyamangalam, connecting Mettuppalayam with Chamarajnagar, the local community joined hands against the project, as it would spell trouble for the huge elephant population in the area.

Animal Torture Called ‘Regular Practice’ within Federal Wildlife Agency

By Cristina Corbin

This photo, provided by Gary Strader, shows three dogs attacking a trapped coyote allegedly as part of his work for the USDA’s Wildlife Services.

It was a productive day for Gary Strader when he pulled his vehicle up to a remote site in northeast Nevada and found nine coyotes caught in leg hold snares set by the federal government. As was routine, Strader, a former trapper with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, signaled his dogs to attack.

His supervisor, who had accompanied him that day, watched and laughed as the dogs circled the coyotes and ripped into them, Strader recalled.

Anarchists Killed Nanotech Scientist in “Feral Defense of Wild Nature”

[eds. note: the following article is from a pro business, military and defense journal]

by Geoffrey Ingersoll / Business Insider Military and Defense

An Anarchist terror group calling themselves “Individuals Tending Toward Savagery” (ITS) has recently claimed responsibility for a high profile attack on a scientist two years ago, and made several death threats, according to reports.

Dr. Ernesto Méndez Salinas, a biotechnology expert, was shot and killed in 2011, but until this admission his death was largely attributed to the general rise of violence in Mexico, and even later attributed to a rash of car jackings.

The ITS followed its shocking claim of responsibility by issuing threats against any prominent researchers in the field of nano and biotechnology, whom they plan to take out with Ted Kaczynski-like tactics. (A particular hero of theirs.)

New York Assembly Votes to Ban Fracking for Two More Years

By Karen DeWitt : NYS Public Radio/WXXI

Machine used for hydrofracking (NYS Department of Environmental Conservation)

The New York State Assembly has approved, by a 95 to 40 vote, a two-year moratorium on hydrofracking in New York. While it’s unlikely to be passed in the Senate, the action reflects state lawmakers’ growing worries about potential health impacts from the natural gas drilling process.