Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia: Sites Don’t Spray Us campers have been protecting since September 13th will NOT be sprayed 10Oct2021

Something to celebrate this thanksgiving day. Announcement by Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia on their Facebook page, Fri Oct 8, 2021 (photos from the FB page):

“Good News! Today we learned that the sites Don’t Spray Us campers have been protecting since September 13th will NOT be sprayed. Nova Scotia Environment told us this morning the spray program is over for this year.

“ARF, the helicopter company approved to spray these sites with a glyphosate based herbicide, did spray other forests in mainland Nova Scotia this fall, but not Otter Brook or Halfway Brook/Smithfield where we set up camp, nor the Upper Stewiacke site where Jacob Fillmore camped in a tree.

“It is absurd that, in 2021, we have to go to these lengths — and heights — to prevent the government-approved poisoning of natural forests in the service of a version of industrial forestry that science no longer supports.

“But we do, and we did, and we succeeded.

“We learned a lot, camped out by those clearcuts. We learned this year in the hills around the Stewiacke Valley, as we did on the North Mountain in Kings County and the South Mountain in Annapolis County in 2020, that ordinary Nova Scotians really care about the natural world. They really hate clearcutting and spraying. But they despair of being able to do anything about it.

“In a small way we showed– again — that you can stand up and say no to the destruction. As Alexander Morton said, “Putting your body in the way of what is damaging life on Earth is a very, very powerful thing.”

Next year it will be harder for a big landowner to quietly hire a helicopter company to rain poison on the hillsides above people’s wells and springs. Local people are learning how to check the Nova Scotia Environment website so they will be ready if sprays are again approved for their area.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ban the aerial spraying of forests as they did in Cape Breton almost 40 years ago?

“In the meantime, join us. Taking action together feels far better than wringing one’s hands alone, in despair.”

———————–

 

Indeed it is. Thanks,  XRMi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia

 

Some related News Items

Oct 7, 2021:
Researcher on glyphosate spraying and the fascinating world underneath the forest floor (audio)
CBC Info AM. “We speak with the author of “Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.” Hear why Suzanne Simard questions the use of the herbicide glyphosate.”

Oct 4, 2021:
Meet a man who is spending his days up a tree to prevent glyphosate spraying (audio)
CBC Info AM “Jacob Fillmore has been spending his waking hours perched on the branch of a maple tree near Upper Stewiacke, in hopes his presence there will deter the spraying of the herbicide glyphosate — not only on the tree he’s in, but also in the surrounding clear cut.”

Sep 26, 2021:
Don’t spray us: Protesters opposed to glyphosate occupy private land in Colchester County
Chelsey Gould for Saltwire “Since Sept. 13, seven or more people opposed to the spraying have been camped out in two locations in Otter Brook and Halfway Brook. One camper, Jacob Fillmore, has moved up into a tree in the clear-cut scheduled for spraying. The spraying is approved to happen at any time until Sept. 30.”

Sep 24, 2021
Why some people who live near Stewiacke do not want glyphosate spraying
CBC Info AM “Hear from two women who live in the Stewiacke area who have concerns about glyphosate spraying planned for clear cuts close to their homes. Forest companies spray the herbicide glyphosate on clear cuts to kill deciduous trees.”

Sep 23, 2021:
New research shows glyphosate could be harmful to freshwater ecosystems
CBC News. “Concentrations of glyphosate as low as 0.1 milligrams per litre could kill zooplankton, studies show”

Sep 14, 2021:
Press release: Don’t Spray Us camps pop up on glyphosate spray sites
Rober DeVet in the Nova Scotia Advocate “In August, Nova Scotia Environment approved applications to spray 1,172 ha (2,895 acres) of private forested land in Colchester, Cumberland, Guysborough, Halifax and Hants Counties. Aerial spraying is scheduled to continue until September 30th. In 2020, the sprays planned for Annapolis, Hants and Kings counties were cancelled following the establishment of Don’t Spray Us camps on sites in those counties. The Don’t Spray Us campers are asking for a halt to spraying on all approved sites this year. They are calling on Nova Scotians to tell Tim Halman, the new Minister of Environment and Climate Change: End the aerial spraying of forests in Nova Scotia once and for all.”

Robert DeVet would be pleased.



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