Brazil's MST plants 5,000 seedlings and protests incinerator in São Paulo

The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) mobilised around 10,000 people across 15 Brazilian states during the National Journey for Nature and Peoples, which runs from 1 to 7 June to mark World Environment Week. Participants planted more than 5,000 tree seedlings and sowed roughly 30 tonnes of seeds in states including Alagoas, Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, São Paulo and Sergipe. The movement used the campaign to denounce what it calls “environmental crimes” of agribusiness and to promote agrarian reform as a solution for environmental protection.

On 6 June, MST activists joined local residents, environmentalists and indigenous groups in a protest in the Perus neighbourhood of São Paulo against the city’s plan to build an incinerator as part of the EcoParque Bandeirantes project. The project also includes a biodigestor, composting and waste‑sorting facilities and is presented by the municipality as a way to improve recycling and generate low‑emission energy. MST criticises the incinerator, with state director Luciano Carvalho stating, “The incinerator project shows the plan of the bourgeoisie and agribusiness for Brazil: it pushes pollution onto the poor and workers.”