Peoples for Forests: Global Gathering
12 Mei 2025
Forest protectors join together to build shared hope for the future
On 20-22 May, 90+ environmental activists from 53+ countries came together in the French countryside, to learn from ancestral wisdom, to take time to reflect, to make connections, to share lessons and to think about what can be achieved in the future, including at the next United Nations climate conference in Belem, Brazil (COP30).
Imagined more than a year ago as a space to go beyond Fern’s usual Forest Movement Europe meetings and MidiaNINJA’s coordination of Latin American activism, it was co-organised by BLESS Foundation (Indonesia), Centro Indígena de Acción Integral (CIAI) (Latin America), Fern (Europe), Initiatives pour le Developpement communautaire et la conservation de la Forêt (IDEF) (Côte d’Ivoire), Mídia NINJA & Climax (Brazil), and TINTA – The Invisible Thread (Global).
Based on the idea that only the unity of the people can help the world to heal, this meeting of the ancestral and the future from across the world wove alliances and spoke about how to make a better tomorrow possible.
Pessimism is a privilege.
We don’t have that privilege.
Hope is an active verb
The event starting with an opening ceremony by members of Indigenous and traditional communities, helping participants to think beyond traditional patterns of meetings and bring connection to the land and the wisdom of our ancestors into the space. With this hopeful, defiant spirit within us we joined in a circle and spoke of how culture can help solve the global crisis.
We are fighting too much from within the system, we need to fight the system
We then spoke about the history of the forest movement and learned from leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. We spoke about how unified the destroyers of forests are and why we need to be more unified, to be more open, to be more welcoming of all groups.
With the sun shining we then took to the forest to experience its many facets, choosing a walk to encompass exercise, spirituality, education or relaxation.
Other sessions focused more on the hard work and complexity of finding solutions to the seemingly intractable problems of deforestation. A solutions fair offered examples that have worked from every corner of the globe, a trade flows session connected campaigners from the countries driving deforestation with those from countries buying the products of that devastation. It was clear how China and the shipping industry is at the heart of many transactions, and that despite the Middle East’s growing forest footprint it is a region that campaigners have few connections in.
They are destroying houses to welcome you
The final day ended with plans and inspiration: we spoke about the difficulties so far experienced in planning for the COP as well as the need to see it as part of a process, not as an end goal in itself. Much damage is being done to forests in order to make the COP work and many are likely to be sidelined from the event. One participant pointed out that “This is the first time the COP is on Indigenous land; we need to make noise and be visible. If we don’t show up, we don’t exist.” We agreed we need to be mobilising at home, outside the COP and inside the COP. There needs to be united narratives and a common strategy. Indigenous Peoples will come together under the flag of “The answer is us.” We need to be inside and outside the room.
In the final hours, alongside dancing and celebration we spoke of Marielle Ramires who was one of those who sparked the original idea of the event and who we sadly recently lost.
Much was learnt and many new relationships were built, and we return to our homes with the literal and metaphorical seeds we need to grow a better world.
The Peoples for Forests: Global Gathering was organised by the BLESS Foundation (Indonesia), Centro Indígena de Acción Integral (CIAI) (Latin America), Fern (Europe), Initiatives pour le Developpement communautaire et la conservation de la Forêt (IDEF) (Côte d’Ivoire), Mídia NINJA & Climax (Brazil), and TINTA – The Invisible Thread (Global).
Images: Katie Mähler (@katie_maehler) / Midia NINJA
Category: Events