Civil Society 'Perspectives of Forestry' : A call for presentations, displays and videos

A call for events, presentations, displays and videos
'Making the Voices of Global Civil Society Heard and Heeded!'

 

Background
In parallel to the World Forestry Congress (WFC2015) being held in Durban this September, local and international civil society organisations will be hosting a separate programme of activities and events aimed at providing a broader perspective of what "forestry" and "forest industry" mean to the indigenous peoples, local communities, wildlife, and natural ecosystems that bear the direct and indirect environmental and socio-economic effects of industrial logging in forests, large-scale tree plantations that replace farmland and natural habitats, and industrial timber processing activities that pollute air, soil and water. See www.timberwatch.org for more information.

 

As part of the civil society programme planned for the week of 7th to 11th September, there will be talks, presentations, debates, slide shows and video screenings to give opportunities to both international visitors and interested members of local communities to learn about the social and environmental problems that arise from large-scale production, consumption and disposal of industrially produced wood-based commodities: paper and packaging, wood chips and pellets used as fuels in energy generation, and cellulose pulp used to make cheap throw-away products.

 

The programme will also explore practical solutions to the land-grabbing and community displacement that  industrial logging and large-scale conversion of natural habitat and farmland into ecologically sterile single-species tree plantations.   

 

This is a call for the submission of proposals in English for short (5-15 minutes) videos; short presentations on relevant research, publications and projects, as well as poster displays. Note: Non-English language videos should include English subtitles.   

Please submit abstracts or brief summaries (100-150 words) describing your proposed videos, slide shows, static displays or presentations, together with full personal details and contact information to timberwatch@iafrica.com before 30th April, 2015. Links to any relevant online media e.g. news reports, blog articles, you-tube videos, etc. should also be provided.

 

All submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail, and shortlisted applicants will be notified by 31st May, whereafter digital copies of the selected material will be requested.