Forests and Indigenous Rights Threatened by GE Trees with Anne Petermann

Founded in 2003, Global Justice Ecology Project believes in the fundamental equality of all peoples and the intrinsic value of the natural world. Global Justice Ecology Project's mission is to identify, expose and address the intertwined root causes of social injustice, ecological destruction, and economic domination.

In this episode of Breaking Green, we talk with Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project, about current threats to forests and indigenous peoples from attempts to genetically engineer trees for use in plantations and release into the wild. Anne Petermann co-founded Global Justice Ecology Project in 2003. She is the international coordinator of the Campaign to STOP GE trees, which she also co founded. Petermann is also a founding board member of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series.

Petermann has been involved in movements for forest protection and indigenous rights since 1991, and the international and national climate justice movements since 2004. She participated in the founding of the Durban group for climate justice in 2004, in Durban, South Africa, and Climate Justice Now! in 2007, at the Bali Indonesia UN climate conference. She is the author of several reports and numerous articles detailing the dangers of genetically engineered trees, and is a contributor to Truthout, Z Magazine Counterpunch, and numerous others.

She was adopted as an honorary member of the St. Francis-Sokoki band of the Abenaki in 1992 for her work in support of their struggle for state recognition. In 2000, she received the Wild Nature Award for Activist of the Year.

Link to public comment on GE American chestnut

Link to GJEP Press Conference and UN Conference on Biodiversity

The Global Status of Genetically Engineered Tree Development: A Growing Threat

CBAN  information on FSC

Stop GE Tree Petition to FSC

Stop GE Tree American Chestnut petition

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This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Breaking Green
• 0:27 Episode Introduction
• 1:10 Anne Petermann's Bio
• 2:22 What inspired the founding of Global Justice Ecology Project?
• 3:55 What distinguishes GJEP?
• 5:23 Notable Success
• 7:40 Hoodwinked in the Hothouse Project
• 8:35 What is a false solution?
• 11:51 GJEP's Press Conference at UN Conference on Biodiversity
• 14:28 International Campaign to STOP GE Trees
• 16:55 Impacts of GE Trees on Indigenous Peoples
• 19:53 International and tribal boundaries will be crossed.
• 21:40 Unprecedented Release of GE Plant to Spread into the Wild
• 24:30 How to comment on plan to release GE trees.
• 25:00 Reasons to Oppose GE Chestnut
• 30:41 Natural efforts to promote increased American chestnut population
• 34:30 Outro