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GaiaFoundationVideo uploaded a new video
(19 hours ago)
A film of edited highlights from the Gaia Evening Talk 'The Forgotten Connections: Indigenous Knowledge, Sacred Sites and Climate Change Resilience...
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A film of edited highlights from the Gaia Evening Talk 'The Forgotten Connections: Indigenous Knowledge, Sacred Sites and Climate Change Resilience in Africa' given by Gathuru Mburu in November 2011.
Gathuru Mburu, coordinator of the African Biodiversity Network (ABN) and Director of the Institute for Culture & Ecology, Kenya, talks about ABN's journey over the last decade to develop a holistic approach to building resilience with communities across Africa. The ABN has been finding innovative ways to work with communities in order to revive and instill new confidence in local indigenous knowledge, and thus enable Africa's true identity to re-emerge. Reflecting on this approach, Mburu discusses the different strategies that have evolved in response to growing threats and climate instability in Africa, and highlights the key role that elders play in revitalising traditional practices.
Find out more about the African Biodiversity Network www.africanbiodiversity.org
Listen to the full talk as a podcast here: https://www.gaiafoundation.org/galler...
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GaiaFoundationVideo uploaded a new video
(1 month ago)
On 14th December in Central London, a small silent protest took place outside the General Meeting of Shareholders of Australian mining company, Coa...
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On 14th December in Central London, a small silent protest took place outside the General Meeting of Shareholders of Australian mining company, Coal of Africa Ltd (CoAL). The protest was held in solidarity with the communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa, who face untold ecological, social and economic damage to their ancestral homes should the mine go ahead.
Watch this short video to find out more and to show your solidarity. You can also find more information on www.gaiafoundation.org and www.mupofoundation.org
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GaiaFoundationVideo uploaded a new video
(2 months ago)
A Race to Protect the Sacred Forests
Follow this link to 'Gift a Tree'!
http://www.sponsume.com/project/gift-...
The forests of Venda (Vhembe distric...
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A Race to Protect the Sacred Forests
Follow this link to 'Gift a Tree'!
http://www.sponsume.com/project/gift-...
The forests of Venda (Vhembe district), in Limpopo, the most northern and most rural province of South Africa, help to maintain the climate of the region. They are the source of springs that feed into the local river system and provide water for the surrounding land and communities. The local VhaVenda people revere the forests as sacred - the places where the ancestors are present.
Venda forms part of the Soutpansberg mountain range and is well-known for its richness in flora variety and the cultural heritage of its people. But only 0.45% (less than 10,000 hectares) of Venda's indigenous forests remain, and the region is threatened by the mining company, COAL of Africa (Limpopo "boasts" 50% of South Africa's coal deposits) and the expansion of commercial plantations. There is huge pressure on the precious water and forests.
It is the Makhadzis of Venda's local clans who are the traditional custodians of the sacred forests. Makhadzi is the name given to women who are recognised as leaders in their community. This respected role includes safeguarding the sacred sites, among other tasks. They have also come to be known as "rainmakers" for their traditions and rituals which assure rain for the region.
Tree planting & food security
In 2009, a group of Makhadzis established Dzomo la Mupo, a community association "to protect Nature in all her forms, and especially indigenous forests". With support and training from The Mupo Foundation, a small South African NGO, they have shared ways to improve their soils, water harvesting, seed saving and have set up their own tree nurseries.
The results and the enthusiasm have been remarkable - increased soil fertility and food production, the revival of millet and other nutritious crops which had been forgotten, household seed banks, and family tree nurseries. These tree nurseries have a dual purpose: income generation, and to reforest the riverbanks and restore the sacred forests.
Right now, the rains have come and the Makhadzis are calling urgently for support to plant the 2,500 seedlings they have been raising in their family tree nurseries. They need transport and some assistance with tools.
"There comes a time every year when the rain comes and we come together as a community to plant trees to support ourselves for the New Year. Our forests, cultural heritage, precious water and our very livelihoods are now under a new threat from a massive coke coal-mining project. It is important for our community to come together, stronger than ever in restoring our heritage and claiming our land. Tree planting does this".
With just £5,000 we can make sure that 2,500 indigenous trees are planted along riverbanks and in degraded areas of Venda's sacred forests, covering costs of local transport, tools and the printing of fliers to promote the tree planting and the protection of the forests.
"The home based nurseries have recorded over 2500 indigenous trees propagated and taken care of. These trees could green up an area of about 125,000m2, the size of about 20 soccer fields, being quite a contribution to Venda". Community facilitator and permaculture specialist, John Nzira, 2011.
Gift a Tree
What better present for Christmas or to mark the New Year than to take part in this project?!
A donation of just £2 will see the planting of one tree in the sacred forests of Venda. Help plant one, two, twenty or a hundred trees - any contribution will be valued greatly.
We have fifty days to raise £5000.00. The rains have come so the planting must take place soon. We really need your support!!
Contribute for yourself or on behalf of someone else and send them the link to this page so that they can see what a wonderful gift you have given. If they appreciate the importance of the gift, we would suggest that they then pass your good deed forward and contribute on behalf of somebody else again. We hope that by creating a chain of giving, we can raise the funds needed by the Makhadzis, the rainmakers and custodians of Venda's sacred forests, to restore and protect their precious land.
We also hope that this short (but very jazzy) animation will spark your interest in the issues around Sacred Sites; the crucial role they play in maintaining biodiversity, ecosystems and cultural identity and their increasingly vulnerability to commercial interests.
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GaiaFoundationVideo uploaded a new video
(2 months ago)
Extracts from the Gaia Evening talk Justice for the Earth Community: Defending the Rights of Nature and Holding Corporations to Account, given by N...
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Extracts from the Gaia Evening talk Justice for the Earth Community: Defending the Rights of Nature and Holding Corporations to Account, given by Nnimmo Bassey in September 2011.
Nnimmo Bassey is a Nigerian environmental activist and poet, and head of Friends of the Earth International. In 2010 Nnimmo received the Right Livelihood Award (alternative Nobel Peace Prize) and featured in Time Magazines 'Heroes of the Environment' in 2009.
In this talk Nnimmo explores the severe environmental impacts of oil extraction in the Niger Delta. He also discusses the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster off the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, the Rights of Nature and corporate responsibility campaigns in relation to cases in Ecuador and Nigeria.
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GaiaFoundationVideo uploaded a new video
(3 months ago)
Global agriculture has changed more in the past 50 years than in the previous 10,000. Nowhere is this conflict more poignant than in the story of s...
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Global agriculture has changed more in the past 50 years than in the previous 10,000. Nowhere is this conflict more poignant than in the story of seed.
This is the trailer for the film Seeds of Freedom, to be launched in early 2012. The film explores the history of the corporate takeover of seed, and the impact that this is having on communities across the world. The loss of indigenous seed goes hand in hand with the loss of biodiversity, the loss of cultural traditions and practices, the loss of livelihoods and the loss of independence in agriculture.
Please share this trailer far and wide.
This film is co-produced by the African Biodiversity Network www.africanbiodiversity.org and The Gaia Foundation www.gaiafoundation.org
With thanks to the contributions of Navdanya International www.navdanyainternational.it and the Source Project www.thesourcefilm.org/
Camera: Jason Taylor, Jess Phillimore and Damian Prestidge
Produced by Jess Phillimore
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