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[ [link removed] ]Members of the Misaka community protecting their land in the Columbian
rainforest

John,

A brave Indigenous community has finally found a way to stop one of
Europe’s paper giants from decimating the Colombian rainforest. And they
could use our help to keep their resistance going.

For decades, paper company Smurfit Kappa has wiped out huge swaths of
irreplaceable forest to mass-plant the invasive species they use to make
packaging materials -- drying up the water supply for local communities
and destroying the local ecosystem.

Just months ago, the Misak people decided to take on Smurfit by camping
out on their land in protest. And it’s working: they’ve been able to stop
70% of the paper giant’s activity! 500 protesters have stayed there day
and night, but the company’s attacks are escalating. Security forces have
started attacking the protesters, injuring and even killing them.

The Misak community is refusing to give up, but desperately needs our
support. They need money to buy food, equipment, and shelter to keep their
protest going. John, can you chip in now to help?



[ [link removed] ]Chip in
$1[ [link removed] ]Chip
in another amount

The Indigenous Misak people have lived in the Cauca region of Southern
Colombia for thousands of years. This land is part of their cultural
identity and is full of sacred spaces.

But Smurfit Kappa has scooped up the most fertile land in the region and
is destroying it all to make paper. By planting non-native eucalyptus and
pine to cut down to use for their packaging, the paper giant has dried up
the nearby river, leaving the local communities without the water they
need to survive.

For decades, the powerful multinational has gotten away with it. It
convinced the Colombian government to give it big chunks of land, bought
up tens of thousands of additional hectares, then lobbied the government
to change laws so it could say these dirty tactics are ‘legal’. Now to top
it off, it’s sending the police to attack Indigenous communities who dare
to fight back.

The protesters have already faced 40 attacks, and many have been injured.
In August, a young man, Huver Samir Camayo, was shot dead by the police.

Despite all this, the Misak community isn’t giving up. They say they won’t
stop their protest until they get their land back, but they desperately
need financial support to keep going. Together let’s help power their
protest and support other Indigenous communities around the world:



[ [link removed] ]Chip in
$1[ [link removed] ]Chip
in another amount

When the SumOfUs community comes together to rally behind Indigenous
groups fighting against corporate greed, we can make a massive difference.
Now let’s rally behind the Misak people to help them reclaim their land.



  Thanks for all that you do,  
Allison, Alys, Yasmin and the SumOfUs team



---------------------------------

More information:

[ [link removed] ]Smurfit Kappa in Colombia: Chronicle of a Death Foretold. World
Rainforest Movement. 5 March 2020.

[ [link removed] ]Obstruction of Peace; Militarization and the Final Peace Accords.
Witness for Peace. 1 November 2019.

[ [link removed] ]Smurfit-Kappa, Colombia. Environmental Atlas Justice. 8 June 2016.

 

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]