Thank you for your important work in standing up for our fellow non-human beings and swearing allegiance to the living Earth as a priority that stands above and apart from any allegiances to flags, legal systems or nationstates. As an author working within the Permaculture and Regenerative Gardening education fields I have recently attempted to highlight the aspects of our current legal, economic and government systems which are antithetical to the Permaculture Design Ethics.
In my recent essay I outlined 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬. I feel this ties into your highlighting how Ecocide is Legal in our current system of government so I will share the essay below for anyone interested in learning more.
Thank you for sharing your love with our Mother Earth and for giving a voice to those beings that cannot speak for themselves. You do our human (and non-human) family a great service through your meaningful works.
Having worked for the BC Ministry of Forests for 30 years I gained some insight on the road building, clearcutting permit process. In BC a company with a license -for example a Tree Farm License or a Forest License has to submit a cutting permit application or a road permit application for each clearcut or section of road built. The application is a 1 page checklist and the process relies on "Professional Accountability" meaning the submitting Forester is basically honest. There are no field checks in this process. Basically a cutting permit application can never be denied unless the First Nation from that area blocks the process.
BC's Forestry Legislation changed with a change of Government from the Forest Practices Code (FPC)to the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). FRPA was written together with the Forest Industry along with a package of tax reforms.
FRPA is an extremely weak piece of legislation. Part of my job was to inspect roads and timber harvesting. When issues occurred my job was to investigate contraventions of the legislation, however, in 90% of cases the legislation was completely unenforceable. The most effective parts of this legislation were around wood theft, which in most cases impacts individuals cutting firewood or cedar shake blocks without a permit.
Large Forest Companies have their own certification process (i.e. FSC or "Forest Stewardship Council). For one company FSC would call me yearly and ask if the company contravened any laws and even though they had multiple landslides I had to say they were in compliance because FRPA was useless legislation.
In short, Government gives out a steady stream of permits to build roads and to clearcut. The permit process is pretty much a rubber stamp and the legislation as we used to say at work was "smoke and mirrors".
Government is in the process of approving ecocide.
Thank you for your important work in standing up for our fellow non-human beings and swearing allegiance to the living Earth as a priority that stands above and apart from any allegiances to flags, legal systems or nationstates. As an author working within the Permaculture and Regenerative Gardening education fields I have recently attempted to highlight the aspects of our current legal, economic and government systems which are antithetical to the Permaculture Design Ethics.
In my recent essay I outlined 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬. I feel this ties into your highlighting how Ecocide is Legal in our current system of government so I will share the essay below for anyone interested in learning more.
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/why-involuntary-governance-structures?
Thank you for sharing your love with our Mother Earth and for giving a voice to those beings that cannot speak for themselves. You do our human (and non-human) family a great service through your meaningful works.
Thanks for sharing, Gavin!
Appreciate you pointing out that ecocide is legal. Not only that, but it is tax exempt as well.
I also like to point out that sustainability is illegal. I'm working on an article on that topic.
Having worked for the BC Ministry of Forests for 30 years I gained some insight on the road building, clearcutting permit process. In BC a company with a license -for example a Tree Farm License or a Forest License has to submit a cutting permit application or a road permit application for each clearcut or section of road built. The application is a 1 page checklist and the process relies on "Professional Accountability" meaning the submitting Forester is basically honest. There are no field checks in this process. Basically a cutting permit application can never be denied unless the First Nation from that area blocks the process.
BC's Forestry Legislation changed with a change of Government from the Forest Practices Code (FPC)to the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). FRPA was written together with the Forest Industry along with a package of tax reforms.
FRPA is an extremely weak piece of legislation. Part of my job was to inspect roads and timber harvesting. When issues occurred my job was to investigate contraventions of the legislation, however, in 90% of cases the legislation was completely unenforceable. The most effective parts of this legislation were around wood theft, which in most cases impacts individuals cutting firewood or cedar shake blocks without a permit.
Large Forest Companies have their own certification process (i.e. FSC or "Forest Stewardship Council). For one company FSC would call me yearly and ask if the company contravened any laws and even though they had multiple landslides I had to say they were in compliance because FRPA was useless legislation.
In short, Government gives out a steady stream of permits to build roads and to clearcut. The permit process is pretty much a rubber stamp and the legislation as we used to say at work was "smoke and mirrors".
Government is in the process of approving ecocide.
Great piece, Max
Thanks Kollibri, and hi!