7th MAY 2011,
NOTRE-DAME-DES-LANDES, near NANTES, FRANCE
DEMO-OCCUPATION
FOR THE ACCESS TO LAND!
AGAINST THE AIRPORT AND THE WORLD IT REPRESENTS!
LEAVING LA PAQUELAIS AT 10 O’CLOCK ON MAY 7TH
Contact: reclaimthezad[AT]riseup[DOT]net
http://reclaimthefields.org/
Reclaim the fields and the squats of the ZAD
FOR A FIGHTING FARM, LET’S SQUAT THE LAND!
For forty years, those who decide and those who tarmac have been salivating over a new airport near to Nantes to feed their voracious dreams of a metropolis and of economic expansion. This project would cover 1650 of agricultural land and rural hamlets: the ZAD (« zone of recorded planning » in french administrative language, in other words, the «Zone About to be Destroyed»). The Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project, which could have been shelved as a inopportune anachronism, has been adapted over time, becoming a flagrant symbol of the con and the ideological arrogance of «Green Capitalism».
The struggle has reached a critical stage with the signing, this January, of the construction and exploitation contract with the Vinci group, world leader in planning territories. The colossal propaganda offensive is being reinforced to justify the project, as it’s promoters must feel they are walking a tightrope. Although they aim to start work in the coming years, we know we can still win this fight and we are prepared to ensure that any attempt to tarmac these lands will cost them dear. The examples of victories won in this region in the past, including the defeat of the nuclear projects in Plogoff, Carnet or Pellerin, show that even the most megalomaniac companies can be paralyzed with enough determination and the right tools.
As well as the many actions in support of the farmers and residents resisting around the affected area, over the past two years, more and more people have begun to reclaim, bit by bit, the houses and lands that have bee bought up by the promoters of the airport. A living base is being constructed in the so called “ZAD”: tree houses and cabins, vegetable gardens, restored farmhouses, meeting spaces and workshops, a bakers, a library, a graphics workshop. There are currently more than sixty new inhabitants in the ZAD spread over more than fifteen sites.
AS PART OF THIS DYNAMIC, THE DEMO-ACTION OF THE 7TH MAY AIMS TO SET UP A COLLECTIVE AGRICULTURAL PROJECT IN ABANDONED FIELDS TO DEFEND THESE LANDS, LIVE IN THEM AND CONTRIBUTE TO FEEDING THE ZAD AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS.
This initiative is the fruit of the connections between Reclaim the Fields, network of european farmers and landless peasants, and squatters in the ZAD. It is a call to all those who fight for the future of agriculture, those who have been giving life to the local resistance for so long, and who will not give in to resignation and all those who today want to join this struggle.
WE INVITE YOU TO A MOMENT OF COLLECTIVE ACTION ON THE 7TH MAY, A GATHERING, AND A FESTIVAL. WE PROPOSE THAT YOU STAY FOR THE FOLLOWING DAYS TO HELP SET UP THE PROJECT.
FOR ACCESS TO LAND!
Many men and women want to cultivate the land in ways that defy the the agro-foods industry, synonym of global economic exploitation, environmental destruction, and of society’s managerialism. They face many obstacles.
One of the major problems faced is access to land, constantly disappearing under asphalt, or controlled by the dominant land owners, gobbled up by policies of constant expansion of the massive monoculture plots.
More and more people and collectives, particularly in the cities, are seeking ways to feed themselves with local produce based on direct exchange or producing to meet part of their own food needs. This process is also hitting barriers put up by agricultural policy and the current trends in urbanization and land grabbing.
There is a lot of agricultural land in the ZAD. Despite the initiatives that have sought to maintain their use over the past decades, some are now abandoned and others are facing expropriation. Existing rental contracts will cease to be renewed as the works advance. All the lands will be lost if the airport projects reaches completion.
The initiative of the 7th May is a step in the construction of a wider movement to liberate land.
AGAINST THE AIRPORT AND THE WORLD IT REPRESENTS!
The fight against Notre-Dame-des-Landes Airport is at the crux of the problems that motivate us to unite, reflect and seek collective strategies. Through this struggle we are fighting against low quality long distance food, industrial society and the climate change that goes with it, policies of economic development and control of land, the megapolis and the normalization of its ways of life, the privatization of common goods, the myth of growth and the illusion of democratic participation…
Now, as preparations for the works intensify, the challenge is to give new energy to the struggle. That could involve directly opposing the geological and land surveys, public consultations, and possible evictions, or upping the pressure against the promoters of the project and the companies involved, or it could mean building moments of collective mass action. The squatting of the ZAD is an important foundation on which to build the fight against the airport. Squatting the affected area enables us to unite our creativity and construction with our resistance. It connects our experiences of life and production with an offensive dynamic that aims to stop any construction work before it begins.
THE AIRPORT SHALL NOT PASS
WE WILL NOT BE PART OF THEIR PLAN
PRACTICAL INFO:
There will be action, but also food, dance, speeches and exchanges. For those of you coming from far away who would like to help with the preparation in the days before, or stay to support the work setting up the project after the 7th May, there will be the possibility to camp. Come, if you can, with tools, gloves, pruning shears, hoes, pitchforks,… All for the farming project is also welcome:: agricultural material, seedlings, seeds, financial support,…
https://reclaimthezad.potager.org/7th_may-Notre-Dame-english.pdf
reclaimthezad at riseup dot net
